iPhone Photo Clean-Up Tool

The Parthenon, on the Athenian Acropolis in Greece, has been on my bucket list since I was in grade school. This magnificent temple, completed in 438 BC, lived up to my expectations. However, the crowds at the grounds made my photos distracting. Thanks to the iPhone 16 Pro's Clean-Up tool, the distracting visitors disappeared.

The “clean-up” tool, within the iPhone editing suite, allows users to remove unwanted objects from photos, leveraging Apple AI. The tool can automatically highlight potential distractions, or users can manually select and remove objects

Tap the multi-color highlighted area to initiate the clean-up. In most cases, the area appears normal after the item vanishes.

Tip: Clean up small areas and review the results before moving on to the next unwanted object. If you're not satisfied with the outcome, undo the last clean-up step, narrow your selection, and try again.

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In the example below, I display the original photo, after the iPhone “clean-up,” and one where I removed distractions using Lightroom. The results suggest that there was a minimal number of people there enjoying this historical landmark.

Original Photo

Edited using Clean-Up

Edited with Lightroom

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Clean Up is only available in the iPhone 15 Pro & Max and all iPhone 16's with IOS 18.1 or higher.

This photography editing tool, along with the other cool features of the iPhone Camera, is discussed in detail at my iPhone Photography Class. Next class is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 23, at 6:30 pm (three sessions). An Adobe Lightroom class, for more advanced photo editing, starts on August 5th.