iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 3 is released bringing a cool new AI feature to the Photos app

Apple has released another set of beta updates including iOS 18 Developer Beta 8 (software build 22A5350a). The date that Apple will release the stable version of iOS 18 will be announced on September 9th during the Glowtime event that will introduce the iPhone 16 line, the new Apple Watch Series 10, the Apple Watch SE 3, and the Apple Watch Ultra 3. We could also see two versions of the fourth-generation AirPods with a premium variant offering Active Noise Cancelation.

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, and you live in the U.S., you can now install iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 3 which includes the Apple Intelligence Beta giving users an advanced preview of Apple's AI initiative. The latest iOS 18.1 Developer Beta includes a feature for the native Photos app called Clean Up which is similar to the Magic Eraser feature that Google introduced in 2021 with the Pixel 6 line.

With Clean Up, the user selects some distraction in a photo and has it removed. AI is used to fill up the now-empty pixel space by matching the area around the now-removed object. Here's how this feature works. Open the Photos app and tap on a photo. Press the three-slider edit icon on the bottom in the gray bar. On the bottom is a new tab for Clean Up. Press on it and the first you use it, you have to wait for the software to load. After that is done, everytime you tap on Clean Up, you can immediately use your finger to circle the item you want removed and a few seconds later the distraction is gone.

If you want to bring back the item you had erased, that can be done with a simple tap of the yellow Reset button which is found just under the Dynamic Island.

Right now, if you want to try Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, you'll need to own an iPhone with 8GB of RAM which limits you to stateside iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max units. All four iPhone 16 models will support Apple Intelligence although Apple will not release Apple Intelligence for the new models until iOS 18.1 is launched. This is expected to take place in October.

To install any of the available iOS 18 Developer Beta 8, iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 3 (again, the latter is for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max only in the U.S.), go to Settings > General > Software Update and follow the directions.

To learn about the previously released Apple Intelligence features, check out this article.