How to Remove Photo Backgrounds in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura


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Apple has introduced a new system-wide feature that lets you remove the background from photos in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. Here’s how it works and when to use it.

Apple’s latest operating systems have received an overhaul in terms of machine learning for handling photos. Now apps like Photos recognize the subject and background of an image, giving users new superpowers across the operating system.

Subject detection in photos appears in places like the iOS 16 Lock screen which can use the subject of a photo to obscure the clock. Images that take advantage of this feature don’t have to be portrait photos with depth data – subject detection uses machine learning algorithms.

However, the feature is not limited to the lock screen. Users can take advantage of image subject detection across the operating system using a new whimsical tool called ‘lift subject from the background’.

On iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, users can press and hold a photo in Safari or Photos to copy the subject directly from the image. After a short press, haptic feedback will tell you that the subject has been selected. Release to see a copy or share button, or drag to pick up the topic for use elsewhere, such as Messages.

Press and hold an image in Safari to copy the subject.PNG without saving it

Press and hold an image in Safari to copy the subject.PNG without saving it

on macOS is coming the system is a little more robust, at least for the first beta. Apple says users can copy subjects from photos found in screenshots, Quick Look, and Safari, at least on macOS. We’ve only been able to grab photos from Safari and Photos on iOS.

Sometimes a menu has the option to copy the subject after a long press; this option is most common in Safari. Otherwise, the tap and hold gesture works. Since there are no tap gestures on macOS, users will find the Copy Topic feature in the right-click menu.

macOS supports lifting topics from Spotlight, Quick Look, and the web

macOS supports lifting topics from Spotlight, Quick Look, and the web

There are countless reasons why someone might want to take the subject of a photo, but we think it’s best used as a tool for sending pet PNGs in iMessage. The system isn’t perfect and parts of the background sometimes come together with the subject, so it’s probably not something to rely on for professional work, at least not at this early stage.

Dragging subjects from the Photos app to other locations is easy, even on iPhone. Just make sure that wherever you put it, it accepts PNGs. Oddly enough, Photos doesn’t let you drop a subject into the app as a separate PNG, nor does Finder let you paste a subject copied from an image. Some apps, such as Twitter, support PNG images that can be dropped into the text field.

On iPhone, devices require the A12 Bionic or newer to lift subjects from photos. Apple has not specified requirements for the feature on macOS Ventura, but an M1 processor or better may be required.