iOS 18.2 official rollout begins: here's what's new

Apple is now rolling out its iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates to users worldwide with several big additions. These include an expansion of the Apple Intelligence suite, though once again limited to English-speaking countries.

Users are getting their first set of AI image generation features with Image Playground, Genmoji and Image Wand in Notes. iOS 18.2 is available to iPhone XS/XR and newer, with the Apple Intelligence features limited to iPhone 15 Pro and newer devices.

Apple Intelligence is also expanding its available languages to include localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K.

Once updated, iOS 18.2 users will get a new Image Playground‌ app which allows you to create stylized AI images of people in your Photos. You can combine the images with pre-made prompts or describe what kind of image you want the AI to generate for you. Apple currently offers two styles: animation and illustration. Image Playground is also integrated in the Messages app.

Image Playground

Genmoji allows you to create custom emojis based on a text prompt directly from the emoji keyboard. Users on iOS 18.2 and 18.1 will be able to see your Genmoji as a normal emoji in texts, while those on previous versions of iOS or Android will simply get an image.

Genmoji on iOS 18.2

Apple is also bringing ChatGPT integration to Siri so you can directly get answers to queries from OpenAI’s chatbot without even opening its app. The ChatGPT integration is also expanded to iOS’s system-wide Writing Tools which lets you quickly draft up emails and messages with specific tone and intonation. All of the ChatGPT features will work without the need to sign into your ChatGPT account.

Visual Intelligence is an exclusive feature for the iPhone 16 series and allows you to search and identify objects in your surroundings with a long press on the Camera Control button.

Once triggered, Visual Intelligence can detect objects, summarize and copy text, translate between different languages and detect contextual information like working hours, phone numbers and email addresses. Visual Intelligence also integrates with Google and ChatGPT so users can continue their search on those platforms.

Other tweaks in iOS 18.2 include more Control Center toggles, categorized filters for the default Mail app, a redesigned video player inside the Photos app, and a system-wide volume limit. EU users can now delete system apps like the Camera, Photos, Messages, Safari and the App Store.

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