iPhone: iOS 16 allows you to remove the background from an image, here’s how to do it

iOS 16 has introduced a new feature that will be very useful for creators, since it is now possible to instantly remove the background from any image on your iPhone.

Previously, cutting out a person or object in an image as a transparent PNG file usually required the use of professional software such as Adobe Photoshop or a Wacom graphics tablet. However, in recent years, smartphone applications such as Cut Paste Photos or sites like Canva made it fasterbut the results are not always up to users’ expectations.

With iOS 16, Apple made a big change to its Visual Search feature that was introduced last year, asshe is now able to detach the subject from the background. It is therefore easier than ever to isolate an object or a person from an image, by removing the background.

How to isolate a subject from the background on iOS 16?

To use the new feature of iOS 16, you will first need an iPhone compatible with the update. As a reminder, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 6S, iPhone 7 and the first iPhone SE. A newer device is therefore necessary.

The main advantage of the new Visual Search is its ease of use. Indeed, to remove the background on a photo, just long press on the subject and they instantly stand out from the background. This feature is available for almost any image on your iPhonewhether in the Photos application, in a screenshot, in Quick Look, in Safari, in Messages or in Files.

So you can for example tap a person in a photo stored in your gallery, and paste it into the Messages app. The Messages application also has a new feature that allows you to edit your discussions or delete them.

Youtuber and XDA Developers editor @bencsin, for example, showed on Twitter how the feature helps him create his video thumbnails. We see him cut out his silhouette on several photos and stick them on the final image. According to him, creating a thumbnail now only takes a few seconds, down from several minutes before. Despite the arrival of this very useful feature, iOS 16 does not seem to have convinced Android smartphone users.