What it does
Photo Eraser is a mobile photo editing application that leverages AI to simplify complex editing tasks. Its primary functions include removing unwanted objects or people from photos, erasing and replacing backgrounds, enhancing the quality of old or blurry images, and performing detailed facial retouching. The app consolidates a suite of powerful tools into a single, accessible interface.
Where it shines
The app truly stands out in its execution of AI-powered features. The background removal tool, for instance, works almost instantly at 01:40, cleanly isolating the subject. A particularly strong pattern appears whenever a generative AI task is completed (01:29, 03:29); instead of providing a single, final output, the app presents a tray of several generated variants. This gives the user creative control and mitigates the risk of a single imperfect AI result. The photo restoration feature is also impressive, using a simple slider to show a dramatic before-and-after improvement on an old photo at 05:45.
UX highlights
- Feature-centric home screen: The main screen (00:39) acts as a visual gallery of the app's capabilities, with each card representing a core tool. This makes navigation intuitive and feature discovery easy.
- Just-in-time instructions: Rather than a lengthy upfront tutorial, the app presents small, contextual modals when a new tool is used for the first time, like the AI expansion prompt at 02:25.
- Live preview sliders: For adjustments like face retouching (04:42), the app uses sliders that provide a real-time preview of the changes, allowing for precise and satisfying control.
- Multiple AI variants: As mentioned, offering several AI-generated results (03:29) is a key UX win, empowering users with choice and improving the chances of a successful edit.
- Clear visual feedback: Actions like selecting a person for removal (01:09) are confirmed with a clear overlay, leaving no ambiguity about what the tool is targeting.
Monetization & growth
The app employs an upfront monetization strategy. After a quick, value-focused onboarding carousel, it presents a paywall at 00:16. The paywall offers a free trial, which is cleverly framed as an option the user must actively 'enable' via a toggle. This interaction may reduce the friction associated with starting a subscription. After a photo is saved, the app uses a custom in-app modal (05:13) to ask for an App Store rating, which is a common growth tactic to improve store visibility.
Who it’s for
Photo Eraser is designed for social media creators, casual photographers, and anyone looking to quickly clean up or enhance their photos without needing professional software like Photoshop. Its use cases range from removing distracting background elements and photobombers to restoring old family photos or creating clean product shots by changing the background. The simple, tool-based interface makes it accessible to users with little to no editing experience.
Notes & opportunities
The sheer number of editing tools, while powerful, could be overwhelming. The horizontal scrolling navigation for tools at the top of the home screen (05:35) might cause some features to be overlooked. The app also presents the system-level App Tracking Transparency prompt (00:35) without a warm-up screen to explain the benefits, which could lead to a lower opt-in rate. Adding a brief explanatory screen beforehand could improve this.