Video: Apple's Coolest iOS 16 Feature Lets You Drag Subjects Right Out of Images

With iOS 16, Apple introduced a curious new feature that's kind of like instant Photoshop, as you can use it to pull the subject out of any image or photo, pasting it into another photo or using it as a sticker in the Messages app. It's nifty enough that we thought we'd show it off in our latest YouTube video.


Apple calls this feature "Lift subject from background," and it is part of the Visual Look Up suite of functions. To use it, you just long press on any image and then you can drag it out into a different app or copy it.

It works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and even videos, and it is available on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. There's not a lot of practical use for it, but it is certainly impressive and fun to use. Make sure to check out our video to see it in action.

Top Rated Comments

rickpoet Avatar
24 months ago
Since 90% of my life is spent removing my friends out of photos and putting them in weird situations in other photos (plus adding mustaches) this is a life-changing feature.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KaplanMike Avatar
24 months ago
As a graphic artist, I can’t tell you how many thousands of hours I’ve spent carefully outlining the subjects of photos. Adobe rolled out a similar feature a couple of years ago on their high-priced apps. Yea for Apple for baking it into the new versions of their (free) OSes!
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ruggy Avatar
24 months ago

As a graphic artist, I can’t tell you how many thousands of hours I’ve spent carefully outlining the subjects of photos. Adobe rolled out a similar feature a couple of years ago on their high-priced apps. Yea for Apple for baking it into the new versions of their (free) OSes!
And that's why I find it a little bit terrifying Mike. We've gone from hours for a skilled professional to a couple of clicks by a complete idiot.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
24 months ago
This should be useful to create new memes on the forums ?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erikkfi Avatar
24 months ago
Ain't no drag. Papa's got a brand new bag.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stromos Avatar
24 months ago
Probably M1 only ?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...