How Will Apple Intelligence Make Photos Better In iOS 18.1?

Apple announced a major update to Photos with the launch of iOS 18, including features such as new default collections and smart organisation of pictures, along with greater personalisation of Photos views with custom layouts and the option of pinning favourite collections.

Now with iOS 18.1 (expected to release Oct. 28), along with the much touted Apple Intelligence, the company is making AI-powered updates to Photos, helping users edit pictures and make custom movies with a tap of a button.

Here are three things you’ll be able to do in Photos after iOS 18.1:

Much like Magic Editor on Android devices, the Clean Up tool helps eliminate distracting elements from images. Apple Intelligence detects objects in the background and allows you to tap them to remove.

First you need to select a picture, tap the Edit button, then select Clean Up. When you use the Clean Up tool for the first time, your iPhone might need to download the feature. Possible objects to be removed will be highlighted with an Apple Intelligence-like glow. That glow means you only need to tap to get rid of them. You can also either brush or circle other objects you wish to remove. For a closer look of the picture, use a pinching motion to pan and zoom in.

Tap Done if the result looks fine to you; otherwise, tap Reset, which will discard changes you made to the image.

Using the Memories feature in Photos, you can make a movie with just a brief description or prompt. Based on the description you provide, AI will select the best pictures and videos from your collection and arrange them into a movie.

For instance, you can type “Dogs over the years” and the feature will create a custom movie with the collection of dogs in Photos. Or, as Apple suggests in this picture, the desserts you enjoyed in summer!

The Photos app will allow you to search for a specific image using natural language. Also, with a natural language prompt, it will even be able to recognise specific moments within video clips.

While earlier, the Photos app search was generic, iOS 18.1 allows you to be very specific in your requests. For instance, “Katie with stickers on her face,” as Apple puts it. The search is far more accurate.