iOS 18.2

iOS 18.2 adds a brand new app to your iPhone’s Home Screen

Chance Miller | Dec 9 2024 - 3:02 pm PT

iOS 18.2 is set to be released to everyone as soon as this week. The update comes with big changes for iPhone users, including new Apple Intelligence features, upgrades to the Find My app, and changes to the Photos app.

After you update to iOS 18.2, you’ll see an entirely new app on your iPhone’s Home Screen: Image Playground. Here’s what it is…

What is Image Playground?

Image Playground is one of the new Apple Intelligence features included with iOS 18.2. The app allows you to generate “fun, playful images” based on text descriptions, people in your Photos library, and more. The photos are generated right on your iPhone or iPad, unlike other platforms where images are generated in the cloud.

Apple explains:

With Image Playground, users can create fun images in seconds, choosing from three styles: Animation, Illustration, or Sketch. Image Playground is easy to use and built right into apps including Messages. It’s also available in a dedicated app, perfect for experimenting with different concepts and styles. All images are created on device, giving users the freedom to experiment with as many images as they want.

In the Image Playground app, you can choose an image from your Photos library as a starting point. You can create pictures based on yourself or other people in your library. You can customize that image by using text descriptions, letting you create infinite combinations of custom images.

You can choose from various themes, places, costumes, and accessories as you create your image. These suggestions are curated by Apple editors and are meant to inspire your custom images.

The pictures generated by Image Playground are not photorealistic. Instead, you can choose from two different styles: animation and illustration. When you generate an image, you can swipe through multiple previews and pick the one you like best.

In addition to being available as a standalone app, Image Playground is integrated into multiple other places on your iPhone. For instance, you can find it in the Messages app for easy access. It will also be built into apps like Keynote, Pages, and Freeform. There’s also an API available to let third-party developers integrate Image Playground into their apps.

iOS 18.2 devices

iOS 18.2 is supported on all devices capable of running iOS 18. However, Apple Intelligence features, including the new Image Playground app, are only available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Wrap up

iOS 18.2 is expected to be released to everyone this week. In the meantime, are you planning to use the new Apple Intelligence features when they’re released? Will the Image Playground app remain on your iPhone’s Home Screen? Let us know in the comments.