Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18.2 on Wednesday, just over a week after the tech giant’s release iOS 18.1 to the general public. While iOS 18.1 brought a few new features and fixes to all iPhones, and a few Apple Intelligence features has othersThe latest beta brings more AI features to some developers and beta testers. There are also a few new features in the beta that aren’t part of Apple Intelligence, meaning anyone can access them.

Learn more: Expert’s Guide to iOS 18

Since this is a beta version, I recommend only downloading it on a device other than your primary device. As this is not the final version of iOS 18.2, the update may be buggy and battery life may be short, so these issues are best kept on a secondary device.

Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18.2, so there might be more features landing on your iPhone when iOS 18.2 is released. It is not yet clear when Apple will release iOS 18.2 to the public.

Here are some of the features that could soon come to your iPhone with iOS 18.2. And just a reminder that only developers and beta testers with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or the iPhone 16 line can access the AI ​​features at this time. If you have another iPhone, you will not have access to these features.

Genmoji

There is over 3,000 emoji you can use it, but sometimes you can’t find the one you really want. Genmoji is here to help you. With Apple intelligence Genmoji feature, you can describe the emoji you’re looking for and iPhones with Apple Intelligence will attempt to generate a new emoji based on your description.

To use Genmoji, go to a message and tap the emoji keyboard in the lower left corner of your keyboard. Next, type the emoji you are looking for into the search bar. If no emoji matches your description, tap Create a new emoji just below the search bar. Your iPhone will then show you some examples of what it offered based on your description. You can browse emoji and when you find a Genmoji you like, tap Add in the upper right corner to permanently add this new emoji to your keyboard.

Visual intelligence

It’s Apple’s answer to Google Lens. Visual intelligence is an Apple Intelligence feature that lets you point your camera at something, like a dog, and your iPhone will then use the photo to perform an online search to help you identify it. The feature can also be used to detect phone numbers to create contacts, scan QR codes and translate languages.

You can also integrate this functionality with ChatGPT to help you identify elements, as well as help you better understand what’s on a page or screen. It’s important to note that you don’t need a ChatGPT account to use the integration.

This feature is also only available on the iPhone 16 line as it uses the series’ new side camera control button. If you have one of the new iPhones, press and hold the new side button where the SIM card tray used to be to quickly bring up Visual Intelligence.

“Camera Control provides instant and easy access to the camera with a single click. It allows you to adjust various camera features simply by swiping your finger,” Apple said at its “Glowtime” event in september. “Its practical design ensures it is always within reach.”

Picture Playground

This Apple Intelligence feature takes Genmoji a step further and lets you create entire images based on text prompts called Image Playground. This feature is a standalone app and it can also be found in Message by tapping the plus (+) to the left of your text box.

Image Playground is full of quick suggestions, themes, locations, and more to get you started. You can enter multiple prompts to make the image more specific, but once I entered seven prompts, a pop-up appeared asking me to use fewer. There is also an option to change the art style of the default 3D cartoon images to illustrations.

If you want to put yourself, your friends, your family or your pet in one of these images, you can. Press the plus (+) sign in in the lower right corner, then tap either Choose a photo Or Take a photo. You will still need to choose or enter a prompt in addition to the photo.

The feature can create simple images, and it can be unintentionally funny with the weirdness of other images. In one case, I selected the astronaut, artist, and lighthouse prompts. One result showed what I can only describe as a half-astronaut propped up at an easel with blank pages behind them, facing another easel with a lighthouse drawn on it. Stellar work.

Learn more: Apple Intelligence’s new notification summary feature may be absurdly wrong

Brilliant Siri and ChatGPT

Apple announced at WWDC in May that its virtual assistant Siri was soon entering a “new era” thanks to improvements made by Apple Intelligence. And with the iOS 18.2 beta, Apple is bringing most of these improvements to select iPhones.

With Apple Intelligence, instead of seeing a logo appear on your screen when you activate Siri, you’ll see a glowing light around your screen. You can use Siri as you normally would, and you can also use ChatGPT for your queries.

I asked Siri to use ChatGPT to show me how to make a cup of coffee, and he wrote a seven-step process on how to make drip coffee in a standard coffee maker. The instructions were a little wonky, telling me to measure my water and coffee grounds before grinding my coffee beans. But there is a warning at the bottom of these ChatGPT queries, which says: “Check important information for errors.” »

You can also copy what Siri and ChatGPT show you by pressing a button in the upper right corner of the window that displays two pieces of paper. Then you can paste this into a message or note if you want – but again, you need to check the details of your request.

New mail categories

Your Mail app also gets an upgrade in the iOS 18.2 beta. Apple announced in September that Mail would soon be able to sort emails into multiple categories to keep your important emails in one place and advertisements or promotions in another, like Gmail and Outlook do. The new layout helps keep things tidy, but Mail doesn’t always get it right. For example, I found an email about digital tickets I had previously ordered in the Promotions category rather than the Main category.

You don’t have to use the new layout if you don’t want to. To change the layout of your mail, go to Mail, tap the three dots (…) in the upper right corner and tap List view.

Find my upgrades

The Find My app can be used to locate things like your AirPods and MacBook, and with the iOS 18.2 beta, Apple is making it easier to get help finding lost items. In the beta version, if you enter Find my > Items and tap on one of your items, you have a new option to Share item location.

If you enable this option, Find My will create a link that you can share with others so they can notify you if they find your lost or missing item. However, these links expire after a week, which may not be enough time to detect their absence.

There is also another option nearby Share item location called Show contact information. If you enable this feature, other people can connect to Lost Items to find ways to contact you and return your item.

These are just some of the new features that public beta testers can try with this iOS 18.2 public beta. There will likely be more beta releases before this version of the operating system is released to the public, so Apple has plenty of time to change these features. As of now, it is unclear when Apple will release iOS 18.2 to the general public.

To learn more about iOS, you can check out my review on iOS 18what to know iOS 18.1 and our iOS 18 Cheat Sheet.

Watch this: Apple’s Monster iPhone update: How Apple Intelligence works on iOS 18.1

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