iOS 15 beta 4 automatically removes lens flare in iPhone photos

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iOS 15 automatically removes lens flare in iPhone photos
Before and after lens flare has been removed.
Photo: Doubleluckstur

Apple’s newest iOS 15 beta automatically removes lens flare in iPhone photos. The feature, first spotted by testers, appears to work under certain conditions as part of the Camera app’s post processing tricks.

Lens flare is a problem almost all cameras suffer with. It happens when bright lights — such as the sun — get scattered across the camera’s lens and it produces often unwanted reflections or artifacts in your photos.

But in iOS 15 beta 4, it seems Apple has made improvements to iPhone’s image processing that allows it to automatically remove lens flare under certain conditions. The change was first spotted by a user on Reddit.

iOS 15 takes care of lens flare

“So I’ve noticed something that I haven’t seen reported elsewhere,” wrote Doubleluckstur. “While out and about I took this photo and thought it was ruined/needing to be edited later due to lens flare (as I’ve done numerous times in previous photos with the iPhone 12 Pro as it’s so prone to lens flare).”

“However, I got home and noticed the lens flare has automatically gone in the original photo despite it being obviously still in the Live Photo,” the post continued, “meaning the automatic post processing has gotten smart enough to remove lens flares now!”

iOS 15 automatically removes lens flare in iPhone photos
The feature only works in certain conditions.
Photo: Doubleluckstur

According to other testers, automatic lens flare removal or reduction seems to be supported on iPhone XR or later, but it only works under certain conditions. And if the flare is particularly prominent, it gets left alone.

“It doesn’t appear to do it when the flare is on certain surfaces, like trees,” wrote DementedAvenger. “It does fine for grass, sky, and most other textures though.”

iOS 15 lands this fall

Apple hasn’t mentioned this change publicly or in its release notes for any iOS 15 beta. It will be interesting to see whether the feature improves or indeed remains at all in future iOS 15 releases.

Apple’s next-generation software update for iPhone is scheduled to roll out to everyone this fall, and will be free to download on all compatible devices.

Via: MacRumors

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