Samsung Hid the Best Photo Tool in One UI 8.5 (Here’s How to Get It Back)
Samsung’s One UI 8.5 just landed on my Z Fold 7 this morning. As expected, a massive wave of advanced AI features dropped right alongside it, building heavily on the foundation we already saw established in One UI 8. It’s smooth, the animations feel dialed in, and the multitasking layout on the inner screen is genuinely impressive. But while digging through the updated Gallery app, I noticed something absolutely baffling.
Samsung tried to quietly axe the classic Object Remover from the default photo editor. It seems like a blatant push to force users onto their newer, fully cloud-dependent AI Object Remover. I love a good AI tool when it makes sense, but forcing it for every tiny manual edit is where things get messy.
The Problem with the New AI Object Remover
Here’s the rub: the moment you use the new AI Object Remover, Samsung immediately stamps your photo with an embedded generative AI watermark and alters the file’s metadata. It does not matter if you didn’t generate a fake sunset or add a flying car to the background. If you just tap to remove a tiny piece of lint off a shirt or a stray wire on a desk, the phone still permanently brands your original photo as AI-generated content. It bewilders me that they are doing this to personal, everyday photos without offering a clear, local processing alternative right out of the box.
⇄ Swipe for more data
| Feature | Classic Object Remover | New AI Object Remover | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processing Method
How the edit happens |
Local / On-device processing | Cloud AI / Generative fill | AI requires internet & extra time |
| Watermark & Metadata
What happens to your file |
Clean (No watermark added) | “AI Generated” Watermark applied | Ruins photo authenticity |
How to Get the Classic Object Remover Back
Thankfully, some rogue engineer at Samsung decided to keep the original feature alive, they just buried it deep in the settings menu so the average user won’t easily find it. If you want to clean up your photos without turning them into a generative AI science project, here is exactly how to bring the classic tool back to your editor toolbar on One UI 8.5.
- Open your standard Gallery app and tap the menu icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Settings from the pop-up list.
- Scroll down until you find Photo Editor Settings and tap into it.
- Look for Object Eraser and toggle the switch back to the ON position (as shown in the attached image).
Once that box is ticked, the original, non-AI Object Eraser will reappear in your standard photo editing toolkit. You can go back to removing photobombers and minor blemishes locally, instantly, and without the dreaded AI watermark slapping your metadata.
It is completely fine that Samsung wants to push generative features. The tech is genuinely impressive when you actually need it to reconstruct a heavily modified background. But treating a simple blemish removal the exact same as generating an entire fake landscape is a wild move on their part. For now, at least we have a hidden toggle to keep things local. Let me know down in the comments if you plan on using the new AI tools or digging through the settings to stick with the classic editor.