Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.4 in April, and that update will likely bring more emoji and a new Food section to Apply News. But when the tech giant released iOS 18.2 in December, it introduced more Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone 16 lineup, as well as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. And if you have one of those iPhones, you can use Apple's AI-image generator, called Image Playground, to create some fun — and sometimes absurd — images.
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Read more: Your iOS 18 Cheat Sheet
This app uses Apple Intelligence to generate custom images on your device. You can choose from a list of suggested prompts, or you can enter your own description of an image and your iPhone will create the image.
Here's what you need to know about Image Playground.
How to access Image Playground
The app icon
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If you have a compatible iPhone with the latest iOS update, Image Playground is an app on your home screen. The icon looks like a kitten in a soap bubble.
You can also access Image Playground in Messages. Here's how.
1. Open Messages.
2. Tap into a chat.
3. Tap the plus (+) symbol next to your text box.
4. Tap Image Playground.
How does Image Playground work?
Image Playground uses Apple Intelligence on your iPhone and works like other AI image generators. Once you open the app, you can type a description of the image you want to create into the text box, or you can choose suggestions. (Check out CNET's guide to expert image prompting.)
But you can't use too many suggested prompts or descriptors. You can only use up to six suggestions and descriptors at once. If you try to use more, Image Playground starts replacing older suggestions with newer ones. If you have too many suggestions or descriptors, you might get a message that says, "Try fewer concepts." You can add or remove the suggested prompts and descriptors at any time in the creation process as well.
Image style
Apple/CNET
You can also create an image based on a photo in your Library. Tap the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the app and then choose Choose Photo. This will let you use one of your own images as inspiration for Image Playground. You can also take a photo by tapping Take Photo and your new pic will be used.
If you tap the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the app, you can also choose the style your image will be generated in. There are two styles to choose from: the default, Animation, which is like a 3D image; and Illustration, which is more flat and cartoony. Apple might add more styles in the future. Beta version of iOS 18.4 introduce a new animation style to Image Playground called Sketch, which creates images that are supposed to look like they are hand drawn.
There's also an option to insert a generated person into these images. Tap the silhouette of a person in the bottom-right corner of Image Playground, tap Appearance twice, and you can generate people to insert into your images.
Once you're happy with the image, tap Done in the top-right corner of the app and the image will save to the app. The next time you open Image Playground, you'll see all your saved images in one place. Tap the plus (+) symbol across the bottom of the screen to create a new image.
Can I use my own pictures in Image Playground?
You can use your own pictures as a basis for an AI generated image, yes. When you're creating a new image in Image Playground, tap the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the page then tap Choose Photo to select a photo from your Library or Take Photo to use your Camera to take a new picture. Then you can describe the image or select a prompt. You can swipe through the generated images until you find one you like, then tap Done in the top-right corner of the app and the image will save to the app.
Can I edit generated images in Image Playground after they're saved?
After you've created an image in the app, you can go back and edit it further. Open the app and tap the generated image you want to edit, and tap Edit in the bottom-right corner of your screen. You can choose more suggestions, enter another descriptor or change the art style.
Will Image Playground always make an image?
In a very technical sense, yes, it will always make an image. Whether it's what you're looking for is another story. I entered the prompts "chef," "bowtie" and "volcano" and got an image of a kitchen that had grown a volcano on its countertop. Sadly, there was no chef or bowtie in sight. Maybe the volcano got them?
Kitchen volcano
Apple/CNET
Apple will likely continue to make improvements to Image Playground in the future so hopefully images will more closely match your descriptors. In the meantime, we have kitchen volcanoes.
For more on iOS 18, here's what you need to know about iOS 18.3.2, iOS 18.3.1 and iOS 18.3. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.
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