Apple has just released what is expected to be the final beta version of iOS 18.2, which means the official launch for all eligible iPhone owners is just around the corner. If you own an iPhone compatible with Apple Intelligence and the new features it brings to iOS, you’ll be excited about the latest version of the software. Those with older phones probably won’t be as thrilled, but getting new software is always nice.
Based on Apple’s typical release times, we could see the public release of iOS 18.2 next week, so the wait is almost over.
Picture Playground
When it comes to what’s new in iOS 18.2, much of the update focuses on bringing Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone. Image Playground is the first feature mentioned in Apple’s release notes. The company describes it as “a new app that lets you use concepts, descriptions, and people from your photo library to create fun, playful images in multiple styles.”
Genmoji
Another new feature is Genmoji, which lets you create custom emoji directly from the keyboard. This seems like a nice feature, but not as revolutionary as Image Playground.
ChatGPT comes to Siri
Perhaps most interesting is the addition of support for ChatGPT, which was announced during the initial Apple Intelligence announcement. Apple notes that “OpenAI’s ChatGPT can be accessed directly from Siri or Writing Tools.” Apple also says that “Siri can access ChatGPT when relevant to provide you with a response.”
The release notes also mention logging in with your ChatGPT account to receive your benefits, but that an “account is not required and your requests will be anonymous.”
Visual intelligence
Other features include visual intelligence with camera control, mail categorization, enhanced video display, improvements when navigating Collections views, and layered recording in Voice Memos.
Visual Intelligence is a lot like Google Lens and Circle to Search. You can point your iPhone’s camera at a restaurant, for example, and get the rating and other information. Or you can add a concert date directly to your calendar after scanning a matching poster.
This specific update is mainly about fixing bugs with these new features, which is always a good thing. As this is the release candidate, it should be the final release, so aside from any massive bugs, the developers should have a handle on what we get next week.