I have used Genmoji and now I am convinced that Apple Intelligence will be a great success
Genmoji is finally available to the public thanks to the new public beta of iOS 18.2, which was released this week. I’ve been using Apple’s Generative AI Emojis for the past few weeks and after my initial testing period, I’m not only hooked, I’m now convinced that Apple Intelligence will be a huge success.
Why? Well, aside from how fun it is to make emojis out of anything that comes to mind, including a frog drinking beer or a French bulldog riding a skateboard, Genmoji feels like the kind of feature that will immediately have an impact on society and our online life.
It’s fun, cute, and the perfect way to entice users to invest in Apple Intelligence.
What even is Genmoji?
Genmoji is one of the key features of Apple Intelligence coming to iOS, iPadOS and macOS later this year. It’s an easy-to-use image generator that is arguably one of the best AI image generators just because of how accessible it is.
Genmoji is built into your iPhone’s emoji keyboard and is always just a tap away. This allows you to create useful emojis that work just like your standard yellow smiley. So not only can you use Genmoji in a text message, but you can also respond to messages and even use them with Apple’s message effects. Third-party apps like Messenger and WhatsApp should also be compatible when the feature launches in December.
Many software features built into today’s best smartphones are fun to use, but quickly become gimmicks that never make it into your daily life. Others, like Genmoji, become meaningful as soon as you use them for the first time and you start incorporating them into your daily life.
I’ve found Genmoji to be one of the most accessible and easy-to-use AI features, not just because of its user interface, but because it makes sense to anyone who tries it out. I’ve shown Genmoji on my iPhone 16 Pro Max to the least tech-savvy friends and older family members, and they all “got it.” Within moments of trying Genmoji, everyone had the same reaction: hysterical fits of laughter, followed by wondering how they could use it on their iPhones too.
That reaction is often when you know something will be a success, that first introduction where people show interest and flock to the Apple Store to test it out. I previously worked at the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store, and you could always tell when a feature was going to be a success depending on how many normal people came in to ask about it.
I imagine Apple Stores around the world are bombarded with questions about Apple Intelligence these days, and I suspect Genmoji is the best way to show what AI on an iPhone looks like: it’s just that good.
A gateway to Apple Intelligence
Genmoji is the perfect gateway to Apple Intelligence, an easy-to-use feature that will quickly become part of communicating with your friends. Apple’s strategy with Apple Intelligence is very clever: add a fun Apple-specific instant messaging tool, like Genmoji, with viral potential, and then watch everyone scramble to get a new Apple-Intelligence-compatible device that are just as cool as their friends.
With viral culture a major part of today’s world and sites like TikTok spreading consumerism like never before, Gen Z will fall in love with Genmoji and therefore enter a world of Apple Intelligence that they might not otherwise have been interested in. Try telling a teenager that writing tools are cool, and he’ll most likely shrug. But if you show a teenager Genmoji, he’ll immediately want to show off his creations to his friends.
If Genmoji picks it up the way I think it will, it does raise some questions about cyberbullying. For example, one of the best ways to use Genmoji is to create emojis from photos of people you have on your phone. In high school, this could be used to humiliate classmates, and that could cause major concerns.
However, this problem is not limited to Genmoji; it’s a problem with AI image generators in general. So far in my testing I’ve noticed that Apple won’t edit my likeness, which could be to combat issues like bullying. For example, if I ask Genmoji to create me as an ogre (Shrek), my t-shirt simply turns green and the human elements remain as they are. I also haven’t seen any use of Genmoji that would be considered concerning, which makes me hopeful that Apple has found a way to combat the dangers of image generation.
Genmoji will launch in early December and will be available on top iPhones and iPads, including the iPad mini 7, the cheapest device with Apple Intelligence.
If my gut feeling is correct, I think we’ll see a lot about Genmoji and in turn hear more about Apple Intelligence, as mainstream consumers start to see AI as the perfect holiday gift. Apple is on to something with Genmoji, and it’s perhaps the best Apple Intelligence feature, ready to expose other AI tools to the average customer.
