Google was pretty proud of its Tensor-powered Magic Eraser photo-editing tool when it introduced us to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and we think it does a pretty good job in complex situations though you can tell how obvious the healing patches are. Most people, in any case, have not been able to play with it because those shiny new devices are stuck out on a ship in the sea somewhere. That said, you can check the feature out with your own phone and a tricked-up Google Photos APK.
Nail Sadykov, who runs the GoogleNews Telegram group, shared what he was able to remove from his kitchen table with the help of Magic Eraser and his Pixel 4.
Supposedly, Magic Eraser relies on the Pixel 6’s Tensor SoC, but it seems any substantial AI computational capacity can be used to some success here.
Indeed, prolific Android expert Mishaal Rahman and a few other industrious types — including our own Prasham Parikh — have posted their own results from their Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 4 and Pixel 4a devices.
One person was even able to get some erasing magic on a device that’s clearly not a Pixel of any sort.
Sadykov shared a version of a Google Photos v5.64 APK to his group (here’s the general version from APK Mirror for reference). For clarity, we’ve been able to export a Google Photos APK from a Pixel 6 and have successfully been able to sideload Magic Eraser onto the Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, Pixel 5, and Pixel 5a. In the case of the Pixel 3a, we were not able to receive Magic Eraser by installing the APK Mirror package. And to see if we could, we also tested clean Google Photos installations for both APK versions on a ZenFone 8, neither producing any result.
You can look into the Telegram posts yourself, then install and play with the APK (or roll your own way by using a Magisk tool and spoof your device as a Pixel) at your own risk.
Clarification
This article was updated to remove implications that Sadykov’s APK was modified and includes more information about our testing as well as a potential solution for non-Pixel devices. User discretion is advised.
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