iPhone's 'Genmoji' feature makes custom emojis: Here's how
iPhone’s latest operating system allows some iPhone owners to create their own custom emojis thanks to artificial intelligence.
The Wednesday release of the iPhone’s upgraded operating system, iOS 18.2, extends Apple’s expansion into AI months after rivals such as Samsung and Google began adding the revolutionary technology to their devices.
FILE - Apple text message screen (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
What is iPhone Genmoji?
"Genmojis" is Apple’s description for emojis that iPhone users can ask the technology to create and then share.
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Apple says it is placing some limits on its AI’s emoji artistry to prevent the distribution of violent or hateful imagery.
Which iPhones have Genmoji?
The technology won’t work on iPhones that Apple made before 2023 because it requires a special processor that isn’t in older models.
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The AI will work on the iPhone 16 line-up that came out in September and the premium iPhone 15 models released last year. That exclusivity is expected to fuel a cycle of iPhone upgrades during the current holiday shopping season and into next year.
How to use iPhone Genmoji
To create a Genmoji, open your text message and click on the emoji keyboard. From there, you’ll find a special icon, shown in this Apple blog, to click for a Genmoji.
From there, you tell your phone what you want the Genmoji to look like and tap "done." To add it to a message, open the emojis keyboard to find the Genmoji you created, then tap "add."
You can also create a Genmoji of friends and family based on the photos you have of them in your phone.
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To do that, you’ll type the name of a person you’ve identified in your photo library and add a description – like Rachel’s birthday party – tap "choose a person," then "select a person identified in your Photos library" and choose a variation, Apple says.
You can modify your Genmoji by changing the description in the "New Genmoji" screen. Genmojis can be added to text messages or used as a sticker or reaction in a tapback.
Other new Apple AI features
Other new features of the latest iPhone operating system include an "Image Playground" for a variety of AI-styled illustrations, writing tools and options for summarizing emails.