Google's Magic Eraser photo tool is coming to iPhone

AppleInsider

Google's once-exclusive Magic Eraser tool for editing photographs is coming to iPhone users through the Google One subscription.

Google Photos gets a new feature

The tool debuted with the company's Pixel 6 in 2021 and can automatically remove unwanted parts of a photo using artificial intelligence.

Users can manually remove things from an image, and Magic Eraser makes them disappear. And Magic Eraser's Camouflage feature can adjust the color of items in a picture, so they organically blend in with the background.

Google One subscribers on iPhone will get other editing tools, such as an HDR effect to enhance brightness and contrast in videos and exclusive collage editor designs including styles from artists Yao Cheng Design and DABSMYLA.

Magic Eraser

The tools are rolling out today in Google Photos for Google One members on all plans. The cloud storage and device backup subscription starts at $1.99 per month.

Additionally, Google One members can get free shipping on orders from the print store in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom starting today.

Google Photos is available for free on the App Store and requires iOS or iPadOS software version 15.0 and later.

Read on AppleInsider

ihatescreennames

How well does this tool work? I’ve used some ML tools for image editing that do a mostly decent job but sometimes a very poor job. For instance, in the example photo this article uses I would potentially see some sand smeared up into the surf where people used to be. I find these features are nowhere near as good as how they are portrayed. 

AppleInsider said:

Additionally, Google One members can get free shipping on orders from the print store in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom starting today.

I’m very disappointed that Apple discontinued their print services directly inside Photos. We used that all the time. The replacements I’ve used (Mimeo and Motif) are OK, but clunky and more limited. 

mikethemartian

George Costanza really could have used this feature.

danox

No, thank you Google…….

foregoneconclusion

Not sure why Apple hasn't already ported the healing brush from macOS Photos into the iOS/iPad OS Photos app. It does the same thing and it's been around for years. 

hexclock

ihatescreennames said:

How well does this tool work? I’ve used some ML tools for image editing that do a mostly decent job but sometimes a very poor job. For instance, in the example photo this article uses I would potentially see some sand smeared up into the surf where people used to be. I find these features are nowhere near as good as how they are portrayed.

My sister-in-law has a Google phone, and she said sometimes it will erase the people in the background, but their shadows will remain. Pretty funny. 

eightzero

This as a free feature on the iPhone camera app would be better.

ihatescreennames

JP234 said:

ihatescreennames said:

How well does this tool work? I’ve used some ML tools for image editing that do a mostly decent job but sometimes a very poor job. For instance, in the example photo this article uses I would potentially see some sand smeared up into the surf where people used to be. I find these features are nowhere near as good as how they are portrayed. 

AppleInsider said:

Additionally, Google One members can get free shipping on orders from the print store in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom starting today.

I’m very disappointed that Apple discontinued their print services directly inside Photos. We used that all the time. The replacements I’ve used (Mimeo and Motif) are OK, but clunky and more limited. 

I don't know what you see in the sample, but to me it's real obvious that "after" photo is altered. You can see exactly where the people were deleted and background cloned to replace them. (disclaimer: I did this for a living {with Photoshop} for over 20 years.)

I agree, the removed subjects appear to be cloned out. I’m just curious how well Google’s tool works. The example photo in the article could easily be a PS job meant to be representative of how their tool works. 

My point was only that the ML object removal tools I’ve seen don’t always work well (and even when they do are only as good as a so-so clone tool job). My “smearing sand” comment was only an example of when those ML object removal tools do a bad job, that’s the type of thing I’d see. Not a well done removal, a poor removal with obvious signs left behind. 

fastbagger

Add gmail push to iOS mail app and I will subscribe to Google One. 

gatorguy

JP234 said:

ihatescreennames said:

How well does this tool work? I’ve used some ML tools for image editing that do a mostly decent job but sometimes a very poor job. For instance, in the example photo this article uses I would potentially see some sand smeared up into the surf where people used to be. I find these features are nowhere near as good as how they are portrayed. 

AppleInsider said:

Additionally, Google One members can get free shipping on orders from the print store in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom starting today.

I’m very disappointed that Apple discontinued their print services directly inside Photos. We used that all the time. The replacements I’ve used (Mimeo and Motif) are OK, but clunky and more limited. 

I don't know what you see in the sample, but to me it's real obvious that "after" photo is altered. You can see exactly where the people were deleted and background cloned to replace them. (disclaimer: I did this for a living {with Photoshop} for over 20 years.)

For what the photos are intended for, social sharing, it works great in some cases and pretty good in others. With a distinctly detailed or cluttered background it might be a total fail. 

It's not a PS content-aware fill replacement or intended to be a professional tool. Bonus: At least it's not trying to make someone look twenty years younger than they are, which seems to be the "thing" now. 

As for the inclusion at no charge with a Google One subscription, that's smart of them. Right now it's a fresh-in-the-mind feature coming off the Super Bowl ads, and will probably result in significant interest in new subscriptions. Every once in awhile Google's marketing department delivers, just not often enough.