iOS 18.2 public beta 1 update rolling out now: Here’s what’s new

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 powered by Apple Intelligence, the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) suite. This includes Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration into Siri, and other additions. It also bundles several Camera Control-related features that are exclusive to Apple’s latest iPhone 16 series.

iOS 18.2 public beta 1 update: What’s new

Apple previewed a host of AI additions at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 in June, but only a handful have been released. Image Playground and ChatGPT integration in Siri were announced as the most anticipated features, but both remained hidden in Apple’s public beta updates until now.

iOS 18.2 Public Beta 1 adds Image Playground, a standalone app that lets users create AI images based on descriptive prompts using generative AI. They can select a reference person from their Photos app for inspiration and choose from different art styles. The app also bundles the Genmoji feature that does everything like Image Playground, but for creating custom emojis. Apple says the images captured can be shared in apps like Messages, Notes and Keynote.

Another notable addition is the Image Wand feature that can turn 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 iOS 18.2 Public Beta 1 is the integration of ChatGPT with Siri. iPhone users can now take advantage of OpenAI’s Large Language Model (LLM) to receive deeper answers to questions and insights about photos and documents from Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. ChatGPT will also become part of the authoring tools in the Apple Intelligence suite. It can now modify text even further based on textual clues or compose an entirely new text by analyzing 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 access more powerful OpenAI models without daily limits.

For iPhone 16 users, the Camera Control button gets extra options thanks to Visual Intelligence. It’s said to be Apple’s own version of Google Lens, which allows users to point the camera’s viewfinder at an object, search for it on the web, or ask ChatGPT for more information.

Other features of the update include a redesigned email app with an on-device categorization system and the expanded availability of Apple Intelligence to more English-speaking countries, such as English (Australia), English (Canada) and English (New Zealand).