Apple rolled out the iOS 18.2 Public Beta 1 update for iPhone on Tuesday. It arrives almost two weeks after the developer beta was released. The latest update expands the range of features on offer powered by Apple Intelligence — the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) suite. This includes Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration in Siri and other additions. It also bundles several Camera Control-related features exclusive to Apple’s latest iPhone 16 series.
Apple previewed a host of AI additions at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June, but only a handful of them were released. Image Playground and ChatGPT integration in Siri were announced as the most anticipated features but both of them remained eluded from Apple’s public beta updates, until now.
iOS 18.2 Public Beta 1 adds the Image Playground — a standalone app which lets users create AI images based on descriptive prompts leveraging generative AI. They can select a reference person from their Photos app for inspiration and can choose from different art styles. The app also bundles the Genmoji feature which does everything as Image Playground but for creating custom emojis. Apple says the created images can be shared in apps such as Messages, Notes, and Keynote.
Another notable addition is the Image Wand feature which can transform a rough sketch into a related image in the Notes app using Apple Intelligence.
Apart from features related to image and emoji creation, another notable highlight of the iOS 18.2 Public Beta 1 is the integration of ChatGPT to Siri. iPhone users can now take advantage of OpenAI’s large language model (LLM) to receive more in-depth responses to queries and insights about photos and documents from Siri — Apple’s voice assistant. ChatGPT also becomes a part of writing tools in the Apple Intelligence suite. It can now alter text even further based on textual prompts or compose a new one altogether by analysing what the user has previously written.
Apple says using ChatGPT as part of Siri on iPhone requires optional sign-in. iPhone users with a paid ChatGPT account can use their account to get access to more powerful OpenAI models without any daily limits.
For iPhone 16 users, the Camera Control button gets additional capabilities courtesy of Visual Intelligence. It is said to be Apple’s own version of Google Lens, allowing users to point the camera viewfinder towards an object search for it on the web or ask ChatGPT for more information.
Other features of the update include a revamped email app with an on-device categorisation system and the expanded availability of Apple Intelligence to more English-speaking locales such as English (Australia), English (Canada) and English (New Zealand).
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