Because it is the newest invention, the use of AI on smartphones is still limited. Currently, the option to remove unwanted objects from images is one of the most popular and appreciated options. To see which solution performs better, let's compare Apple's Clean Up feature on iPhone with Google's Magic Editor.
Scenario 1: Remove the fire extinguisher behind the Christmas counter
Let's start with something simple: A scene from a Christmas market in Mumbai, India, features a stall selling Christmas-themed ice cream. However, a fire extinguisher in the background spoils the festive atmosphere. For example used Magic Editor and Clean Up to remove a fire extinguisher and found that Google's Magic Eraser worked better.
Magic Editor effectively removed the fire extinguisher while preserving the shadows and details of the wooden wall. In contrast, Clean Up struggled, blending parts of the concrete floor into the wood wall area.
Scenario 2: Remove the main subject from the image
These object removal tools are often used to remove side or unnecessary objects from the frame, but what if you need to remove the main subject? This demo will explore that situation. In this image, an owl statue is placed on a white sofa with a pink cushion in the background. The task is to remove the owl statue. The results from Magic Editor and Apple Clean Up are compelling.
In this case, Apple's Clean Up tool works better. The erasure is done cleanly, with better blending and less visible artifacts – but still retains some shadow on the left side. On the other hand, the Magic Editor struggled, causing the cushion and the area where the owl statue was placed to be blurred.
In this photo of a boat on a lake, Magic Editor delivers significantly better results. While Apple's Clean Up successfully removed the boat, Magic Editor not only removed it but also blended the area seamlessly and removed the shadow from the lake as well.
Situation 3: Remove people in front of the church
This photo taken on the streets of Pescara, Italy, shows the architecture of a historic church. The original image includes a fairly busy street with a few people standing in front of the entrance, a few people on the sides, and a few bicycles. After comparing the results, Magic Editor performs better here.
While the iPhone produced cleaner results, it missed key details, such as completely erasing the stairs in front of the church, leaving the man on the left, and cutting out the bottom of the streetlight on the right. Magic Editor also had difficulty with the stairs but kept the lower part of the streetlight and deleted the man on the left.
Which object removal tool is better?
On a case by case basis, Google Magic Editor comes out on top. While Apple's Clean Up tool is a bit easier to use – you'll need to look in the photo editor's tools section in Google Photos to find Magic Editor – and often produces aesthetically pleasing results, the accuracy of it is not always consistent.
Often Magic Editor's results are better (its level of object removal is great) because it takes into account the surroundings of the removed object. However, for a beta tool, Apple Clean Up works very well. It's impressive to see how quickly Apple has caught up with impressive results.
However, like most AI tools, the object removal tools also have room for improvement – the results will be different each time you use Clean Up or Magic Editor on both devices. But most importantly, it's great to have these tools at our fingertips – something that would have been completely unimaginable not so long ago.
