Apple Intelligence · iOS 27

Remove Metadata from Apple Image Playground and Clean Up Photos

Apple labels AI output in metadata. An independent forensic analysis found that Image Playground names itself in EXIF, and that photos edited with Clean Up get the IPTC credit “Apple Photos Clean Up” and the digital source type compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia, while camera model and GPS are dropped. Apple says selected tools add SynthID from iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS 27.2. Older images are not automatically watermarked when you update; the editing tool and software version matter.

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EXIFGPSXMPIPTCC2PAPNG text

What Apple adds

LayerPresentDetailsBlankAI
C2PA Content CredentialsNot documentedApple has not documented C2PA for Image Playground or Clean Up. Removed if present
EXIF / XMP / IPTC labelYesImage Playground names itself in EXIF. Clean Up adds the credit “Apple Photos Clean Up” and compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia (independent analysis). Removed
Invisible watermarkSometimesSynthID applies to images created or edited with the Apple Intelligence tools listed in Apple's support guide, starting with software version 27.2. An update alone does not watermark earlier files. Not removed
Visible watermarkNoNo visible mark. Photos shows “Modified with Clean Up” in the info panel. Nothing to remove

Clean Up removes your location but adds an AI label

The forensic analysis found an unusual trade: a photo edited with Clean Up loses its camera model and GPS but gains an AI label. If you share the edited photo, the location is already gone, and the label says an AI edit was made.

SynthID on Apple devices

Apple's support guide, published on 5 November 2026, lists SynthID support from iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS 27.2 and visionOS 27.2. It covers Clean Up, Extend and Spatial Reframing in Photos, plus Image Playground and Image Wand. Images made before updating do not gain that watermark unless you edit them with a listed tool. SynthID is a pixel-level signal, separate from the file metadata BlankAI removes.

What BlankAI removes, and what it does not

The same rules apply to every file, whatever made it. BlankAI cleans the metadata that travels with a file. It cannot reach anything that is part of the image itself.

LayerWhat it holdsBlankAI
EXIF and GPSCamera or phone model, serial numbers, capture time and location coordinates.Removed
XMP and IPTCCreator tool, edit history, captions, credits and the IPTC Digital Source Type AI label.Removed
C2PA Content CredentialsWho or what created the file and how it was edited, signed by the issuing app.Removed
PNG text chunksStable Diffusion prompts, seeds and model names, ComfyUI workflows.Removed
Invisible watermarksSynthID (Google and OpenAI images), Meta's Content Seal, TikTok and ByteDance watermarks.Not removed
Visible watermarksLogos, sparkle icons and corner badges drawn onto the image.Not removed
AI classifiersModels that judge an image by how it looks. File metadata plays no part.Not affected

Questions

Does Clean Up leave a mark on my photo?

It leaves metadata: an IPTC credit and an AI digital source type, according to independent analysis. There is no visible mark.

Does Image Playground add a watermark?

Apple says Image Playground adds an invisible SynthID watermark starting with its 27.2 software releases. Older images are not automatically watermarked by an update. Metadata cleaning does not remove SynthID.

Why is my photo's location missing after using Clean Up?

The analysis found Clean Up drops camera model and GPS when it saves the edit.

Sources