Users of the second developer beta of iOS 18.2 report that they are now being allowed to test the new Apple image generator more quickly. This also applies to the other two platforms that offer the function: iPadOS 18.2 beta 2 and macOS 15.2 beta 2. Previously, those interested had to wait a long time, especially in Europe: after being added to the waiting list, at first nothing happened.
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Three features the Apple way
Image generators are part of Apple Intelligence, which must first be activated on the device. On Mac, this is possible starting with macOS 15.1 as long as the system language is set to US English. For iPhone and iPad, which have not yet been officially activated by Apple for AI systems within the EU, the App Store or media account must be based in the USA – plus the system language is US English. After activating Apple Intelligence, which can take a few hours to days, but sometimes happens instantly, the image generator must be activated.
Apple has another queue for this. To do this, open the new Image Playground app and add yourself to the list. As mentioned, this has been possible since iOS 18.2 beta 1, but many users were left on hold and couldn’t use the app. Once you move through the list, the system first downloads the data to prepare the model. A total of three image generation functions can then be used.
bus comics and illustrations
At its center is the aforementioned Image Playground, with which you can create recordings from a mix of text prompts, Apple’s suggestions, and template images. These are always in a comic or at least drawing style because Apple doesn’t want to get into any fake news problems. Even in this early version, the app is fun to use because it’s possible to layer image content, for example placing a person with a crown in front of a giraffe in the forest.
Image Playground in German: An anomaly that left us after the restart.
(Image: Mac and I)
The optical quality sometimes seems old-fashioned compared to modern models like the Midjourney, Ideogram or Flux. In addition, logos and company names are often filtered out, and even the Apple logo is not easy to access. Image Playground also doesn’t handle fonts; All that is visible is a jumble of characters.
Genmoji and Image Wall
The second image creation feature is Genmoji, which is a way to create your own emoji. It’s a little hidden: You can find this feature when you open the Emoji Keyboard. Then an emoji icon in Apple Intelligence colors will appear on the right. In our attempts, sometimes it was not there and we had to go to the keyboard again. Like the Image Playground, several variants have been created. The preferred version can then be sent and saved automatically.
On devices without iOS 18.2 / iPadOS 18.2 / macOS 15.2, Genmojis appear as images with descriptions, unfortunately currently with a special question mark at first. Apple is probably still working on it. The third new feature is called Image Wand and it’s only available on iPads with Apple Pencil. She turns highlighted words in the Notes app into pictures for illustration. This feature seems to be the weakest to us and sometimes is far ahead of the desired feature. New versions will probably come out in December. The EU version – which also includes the German language – is not planned until April 2025. Meanwhile, Apple is putting developers first API information about the new “Onscreen Awareness” Voice assistant Siri, which is also expected for spring. This means that for the first time the system will be able to “see” what users are currently doing – and help like an agent accordingly.
(B.Sc.)
