The latest iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 beta brings the first set of image generation capabilities for Apple users. One of the most exciting features is Image Playground which lets you generate fun and original AI images using prompts. Image Playground is built right into several first-party apps like Messages and Notes, and you can also use the dedicated app to experiment with different styles and concepts. Read on to learn everything about Image Playground, including how to use it to create AI-powered images on iPhone, supported apps, and its limitations.
What Devices Are Supported by Apple Image Playground?
The Image Playground app is only available in iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, which is currently in beta. Apple is likely to roll out the stable versions of iOS 18.2, iPadOS.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 in early December.
If you’ve already installed the betas, here are other Image Playground prerequisites:
- The Image Playground app is only available on Apple Intelligence-supported devices.
- You must change the language on your device to English (US), English (Australia), English (Canada), English (UK), English (New Zealand), or English (South Africa) to access Image Playground and Apple Intelligence features.
How Long Is the Image Playground Waitlist?
Apart from the Apple Intelligence features waitlist, you have to opt for a second waitlist to access Image Playground, Image Wand, and Genmoji. You can request access in the Settings app, the standalone Image Playground app, or through the emoji keyboard.
Apple says it is rolling out this feature set ‘over the coming weeks’, so you might have to wait for a week or two to use AI-powered image generation features. You’ll get a notification when these features are available to test. On my M2 iPad Pro, I had to wait for around 10 days to get the Image Playground app.
How to Use Image Playground App on iPhone and iPad
On devices running iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 beta, there’s a dedicated “Playground” app on the Home Screen or the desktop with a purple & black icon featuring a white bear/cat/dog creature in a 3D style. When you tap on it, you’ll be greeted with a splash screen that briefs you about the app.
It’s worth knowing that all the processing for the Image Playground app is done on-device. So, whatever you’re typing isn’t sent to the cloud or shared anywhere else. Since Image Playground is currently in beta, Apple mentions that it is collecting feedback right now.
The app interface is quite straightforward and user-friendly, making it easy to get around. You’ll see Suggestions, a ‘Describe an image’ text box, Animation Styles, and more. We’ll explore every section one by one.
Apple Suggestions in Image Playground
If you don’t know where to start or need some inspiration for image creation, Apple offers several suggestions you can add to your image. Tap on the “Show More” option from the bottom right and you’ll see a boatload of themes like Fireworks, Adventure, Birthday, Disco, Halloween, Party, Sci-fi, and more.
When on tap on the ‘Next‘ icon, you’ll see ‘Costume‘ suggestions for Artist, Chef, Astronaut, Superhero, Robot, and more. Next up, there are ‘Accessories‘ to choose from like Beanie, Sunglasses, Bowtie, Flower Crown, Party Hat, Baseball Cap, and several others. Finally, Image Playground lets you choose from various Places, including City, Dessert, Forest, Stage, Space, Stadium, Volcano, and more.
Whenever you fall short of ideas, you can use these built-in Image Playground suggestions to create or fine-tune images.
Generate AI-Powered Images With Descriptions in Playground App
Image Playground lets you create fun images in seconds by simply providing a description of what you want. It’s worth knowing that Apple doesn’t want to generate images that can fool anyone so you can’t create photorealistic images. The app offers two styles- Animation and Illustration. Animation is a 3D-looking style that looks straight out of a Pixar movie. On the other hand, Illustration is a flatter, 2D image. Apple mentioned there would be three styles: animation, illustration, and sketch. The giant might add the Sketch style at a later date.
Here’s how to generate images with the Image Playground app in iOS 18:
- Open the Playground app. At the bottom, you’ll see a ‘Describe an image’ text box that lets you type in a word or phrase to generate images with the app.
- As you start typing, the Image Playground app starts working to create an image. You can type in anything like a ‘cat wearing a chef hat’ or ‘mouse riding a skateboard’.
- As soon as you hit the Send button, the app will create an image based on the description.
- You can also modify the image using the available Apple suggestions or additional word descriptions. To do this, tap anywhere on the screen and make the changes. As you make the modifications, Image Playground will refine the result to accommodate the changes.
- The app will show you four images for each description, and you can swipe through them to choose what you want. Also, you can remove the words to fine-tune the final image.
- You can tap on Style and choose from Animation or Illustration.
- Once you get the desired image, hit the Done button in the top-right corner. This will save the generated image to the Image Playground library so you can edit, delete, or share it later.
Since Image Playground is in beta right now, Apple is collecting feedback. You can use the thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons below the image to submit your feedback.
Create AI Images with Photos on iPhone
Image Playground also lets you create an AI image based on a photo. You can take a photo or choose one from your photo library and use it for your Image Playground creation. The app lets you choose any photo for the main subject or background of the image. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open the Image Playground app. If you’ve created images previously, tap on the “+” icon from the bottom.
- Now, tap on the Photos icon from the bottom right.
- If you wish to use an existing photo from your Photos app, tap on Choose Photo. To take a new photo, tap on Take Photo.
- Within a few seconds, you’ll see four AI-generated images based on your selected photo.
- Swipe to choose the one you like the most. You can further customize the image with descriptions or built-in suggestions.
- You can tap on Style to choose Animation or Illustration.
- Once finished, tap on Done.
Create an Avatar of a Person using Image Playground
What makes Image Playground more interesting is that you can select a face from your Photos app and whip an AI-generated out of it. This will let you create AI avatars of your friends and family. With this, you can turn your mom into a queen or bestie into a superhero. It’s worth knowing that you can only choose a photo from the People album in the Photos app or select an appearance from the built-in concepts.
Bear in mind, you can only do headshots when creating images of people. Apple doesn’t allow you to do strange or weird things with the bodies, at least not for now. That said, it’s super cool and fun putting yourself or other people into custom outfits and places.
Here’s how to create personalized images of a person:
- In the Image Playground app, tap on the Person icon.
- This will show you a list of people from your photo library, with their names (if you’ve entered them).
- Select the person you would like to create an AI image of. You can only select one person. The Playground app doesn’t support group shots as of now.
- You can also choose an appearance from built-in options.
- When you select a new person for the first time, the app will ask you to choose a starting point. It will show you different renderings based on the different photos of the person in your photo library.
- Swipe to choose the one you like and tap on Done in the top-right corner.
- Once you’ve selected the person, you can customize your image with suggested themes, costumes, places, or accessories. Also, you can use the “Describe an image” box to type in anything you wish to add or change.
You can also create an image first and then add the person at the end. It will swap the main subject with the person you’ve chosen.
Image Playground in Messages
Apple has baked the Image Playground experience in the Messages app, so you can create and share fun images right for your friends. Let’s see how you can do it:
- Launch the Messages app and head to an existing conversation or create a new one.
- Tap on the “+” icon from the bottom and choose Image Playground from the list of options.
- The Messages app will open a mini Image Playground app that works like the full version.
- Use the built-in suggestions or type in a description and follow the same steps to generate the desired image.
- Once completed, tap on Done and then hit the Send button.
With Image Playground in Messages, you can quickly create cool images and share them with your friends, without switching between the apps. Even better, Apple suggests personalized concepts based on your conversation. For instance, if you and your friends are planning a beach vacation in a group. you’ll see concepts related to your friends, destination, activity, and more. This makes image creation faster and more relevant.
Image Playground in Notes App
Just like Messages, Image Playground is built right into several other first-party apps like Notes, Keynote, Pages, and Freeform. In the Notes app, you can access Image Playground via a new Image Wand option in the Apple Pencil tool palette. This helps you make your notes more engaging and visually impressive by turning rough sketches into beautiful images. Also, you can simply draw a circle on an empty area, and Image Wand will use the surrounding context to generate a complementing picture.
For complete details, here’s our guide on how to use Image Wand.
Share and Use Image Playground Creations in Other Apps
You can easily share your Image Playground creations with others. Here are some ways to do it:
- To share an image you just created, simply tap on the Share icon from the top of the screen. You can then AirDrop the image, send it via message or mail, save it to the Photos app, and do much more. If you’ve installed social media apps like Instagram or WhatsApp, Share Sheet will show you an option to directly upload the image to your social media app.
- To share a previously created image, open the Image Playground Library (the first screen that shows up when you open the app), tap on the image, and then hit the Share icon.
Image Playground Doesn’t Work With Inappropriate Text or Copyrighted Images
Apple has learned from the mistakes of other tech companies that have introduced image-generation tools in the past. Therefore, there are certain built-in restrictions to ensure that Image Playground doesn’t generate inappropriate images. You can’t generate images based on alcohol, drugs, blood, murder, death, and other controversial words. Also, images based on politics or country-specific flags are forbidden in the Image Playground app. To prevent the creation of potentially infringing images, Apple also prohibits generating images of copyrighted characters, such as Spider-Man or Mickey Mouse.
When a word or phrase isn’t allowed, the Image Playground app will display the “Unable to use that description” message on the top. You’ll also see an Undo button to remove it.
Currently, Image Playground is in beta testing, and Apple mentions the app can create unexpected results. After a hands-on experience, I feel the app is pretty fast and does a good job of creating images with a single object, like a rabbit wearing a tutu. However, if you wish to create an image with multiple objects like a cat and a dog, Image Playground doesn’t work accurately. At the moment, the app struggles to work with multiple subjects in one frame. In addition, the app sometimes creates weird and unexpected results for certain descriptions.
Of course, I hope Apple will fix these glitches and inaccuracies in the stable version.
