Apple’s Clean Up tool, part of the iOS 18.1 developer beta, is an exciting feature that utilizes Apple Intelligence to remove unwanted objects from photos. However, it’s important to note that the tool is still in its testing phase and should only be downloaded after backing up your iPhone. To assess the effectiveness of Apple’s Clean Up tool, I conducted a face-off between it and other object removal tools like Google Magic Eraser and Samsung Galaxy AI.
For the test, I selected three photos of varying difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard. The first photo featured a couple walking along the beach in Grenada, and the challenge was to remove them from the picture. Apple’s Clean Up tool impressively auto-selected the couple and effortlessly removed them from the image with just a few taps. The result was a flawless removal without any traces left behind.
Moving on to the medium-difficulty photo, which featured a red car in a parking lot, Apple’s Clean Up tool pre-selected the car for removal. While it did a decent job, there were some subtle red hues left behind on the shadow. In comparison, Google’s Magic Eraser tool required more effort to circle and tap on the highlighted area for removal. However, it successfully removed the couple in the easy photo and performed well in interpreting what lies behind the eagle in the hard photo.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI, utilizing the S Pen that comes with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, also did an excellent job of removing the couple from the beach photo. Interestingly, it added a watermark to indicate that it was an AI-generated image. However, its performance faltered in the medium-difficulty photo, where it replaced the red car with what appeared to be a crate or bale of hay. The tool redeemed itself in the hard photo, accurately removing the obstructive eagle.
Considering the overall performance, Google’s Magic Eraser emerged as the winner of this object-removal face-off. While it struggled with estimating the object to be removed, it handled the easy and hard photos exceptionally well. Apple’s Clean Up tool secured second place with flawless removal in the easy and medium photos but struggled with the complex image. Samsung’s Galaxy AI came in last due to its questionable replacements in the medium-difficulty photo.
It’s worth noting that all AI-generated results exhibited a drop in quality compared to the original photos. It’s also important to keep in mind that Apple’s Clean Up tool is still in beta.