Apple has joined the AI game with Apple Intelligence, finally catching up to its competitors in that department. And with the iOS 18.1 update in October, most people who have a compatible iPhone can finally use those Apple Intelligence tools, including Clean Up.
The Clean Up tool in the Photos app is basically Apple’s version of Google’s Magic Eraser or Samsung’s Object Eraser. Back when I compared Magic Eraser and Object Eraser, Samsung’s tool was the better of the two. So, how does Apple’s Clean Up compare? Let’s find out.
Now that most smartphones on the market incorporate some kind of object removal tool in their native photo editing app, let’s first talk about the limitations of such tools.
We all take photos that may have some unwanted objects or even people in the background. This is especially true if you snap a picture in a busy environment. Typically, before we could do this on the phone, you would need some computer software like Photoshop to get rid of unwanted objects in your photos.
But now that phones have generative AI integration, we can simply remove those unwanted objects right on our phone — all with just a tap. However, keep in mind that erasing objects or even entire people in your photos will not be perfect. Clean Up and Object Eraser are just basic erasing tools, not advanced AI editing like Google’s Magic Editor and Samsung’s Generative Edit.
This means that Clean Up and Object Eraser really work best on smaller objects rather than something like large groups of people in the background. With that cleared up, let’s get into the comparison.
Basic object removal
Let’s start with something simple. After all, we’re only looking at the basic removal tools for both Apple and Samsung here.
This is a photo I took of my cat at the park, as she likes to follow us when we take my daughter across the street. I used the removal tool to get rid of the two large leaves and the two cars in the background.
Apple’s Clean Up did a better job of making the photo look natural after the retouch. You can hardly see any digital artifacts left behind in the wood chips where the big leaf in the front is, whereas Samsung left a blurry blotch in its place. The window of the house in the background (more toward the right) is weirdly distorted in Samsung’s version, while looking as it should be with Apple.
I’m not a car person by any means, but they’re great subjects for photos. I snapped this picture of a Pikachu-themed car at a local car show over the weekend, and I did some basic removal here. The orange cone in the bushes is distracting, and the person in the background. Samsung’s image has very obvious blotches where the person and cone were, while Apple’s is clean with the bush, though the spot where the person was is imperfect, but still a lot better than Samsung.
Next, let’s try a very easy edit by removing a stray tree branch against a clear blue sky at Disneyland train station. Very easy — just get rid of that branch in the top right, and it should just be a blue background. Both get the job done, but if you take a closer look at the Samsung image, it did leave behind a blotch that is slightly darker, while the Apple Clean Up didn’t really leave behind any digital artifacts. So even for something that is as simple as this, Apple’s is better.
Winner: Apple Clean Up
More challenging editing tests
For this next section, we’ll tidy up some more images with a bit more clutter in them. These bits of clutter do not bring joy, so let’s get rid of them with Apple and Samsung’s object removal tools.
This is a photo of me, my husband, and our daughter during my her birthday party over the weekend. In the original image taken by my grandmother, you can see someone’s leg to the left and another person in the background. I just did basic removal of the leg and background person, along with removing some of the chairs in the back.
As you can see, Apple did a much better job overall here. Samsung got the job done, but left a lot of digital artifacts and blotches. Heck, it didn’t even bother adding back the rest of the table, so it looks like it’s floating in thin air. There is also some serious frizz or something going on with my hair, and I have no idea what that is between my husband’s shoulder and the chair with his jacket hanging. The Apple version isn’t perfect either, but it appears to have made more of an effort in trying to retain the overall image, and also not add weird, nonsensical blotches.
Now, let’s look this photo of my daughter posing before going in to school. In the back, you can see a student walking and there’s also a red car in the background. There is also a planter with a small palm tree behind my daughter.
Both tools actually did a pretty good job of cleaning up the overall image, in my opinion. Apple Clean Up handled the removal of the person and car by inserting a repeating pattern of what I think are poles for the side of the road against the wall. Clean Up also added more fence in the back that camouflages well with the actual fence. Samsung handled the car and person removal by smoothing it out, and it also added more fence but with a burnt look at the top.
The dirt in the planter also looks flatter in the Samsung version, while Apple’s looks a bit bloated. The metal plates on the sitting area next to my daughter appears to be handled equally by both tools.
This is a photo of me when D23 2024 was happening this year. I used the tools to remove the sign in the back and the white rope. A simple task, but Apple’s Clean Up handled it better. In the Samsung image, you can see a blurry blotch right across the pavement where the rope was. Apple made the pavement look smoother, hiding the fact that there was a rope much better. There’s also a bit of a blurry smudge on my sleeve where the sign was in the Samsung version, while the Apple one is a clean removal.
Winner: Apple Clean Up
Apple Clean Up was worth the wait
These AI-powered object removal tools have been around for a few years now, since Google began with the Magic Eraser in the Pixel 6 lineup. Since then, many Android phones got their own version of it, such as Samsung Object Eraser, and now even have further advanced generative AI editors too.
Now that Apple finally launched Apple Intelligence, Clean Up has brought it in line with the rest of the competition — as long as you have a compatible iPhone, of course. Though it’s definitely late to the game, I think the results I got with Clean Up, compared to Samsung’s Object Eraser (which was better than Google’s Magic Eraser back then) were worth the wait.
Since my primary device is my iPhone 16 Pro, I’ll be using Clean Up much more when my photos need a bit of tidying up.
