People’s biggest complaint about the new iPhone16 the lineup was that it was missing the most heavily marketed feature: Apple Intelligence. When it came to upgrades, it quickly became clear that the new phones were essentially vehicles for Apple to showcase its range of new AI features. Given this, it was particularly ironic to be told that we would have to wait a few months to get these features. They have finally started to deploy, as shown in iOS 18.1 released a few weeks ago. Now, iOS 18.2 is available in beta and should be available to the public sometime in December. Here are some features that caught our attention during the long, long list.

Image generation

This iOS version focuses on generative art. With a new Image Playground app, you can create custom images based on text prompts you enter. Although similar to any online AI image generator, this feature is built into your iPhone and is free. Plus, with Image Wand, you can now supplement your memos on the Notes app with images. The ability to create custom emojis, Genmojis, has generated a lot of interest during this period. WWDC when the feature was announced. It finally becomes available on this iOS version. This will work the same way as Image Playground: you’ll enter a text prompt and convert it to an emoji.

Vehicle movement cues

iOS vehicle movement signals arrive on the dynamic island. Honestly, this is the feature I’m most looking forward to since I suffer from extreme motion sickness. Motion cues aren’t a new feature (they were introduced with iOS 18), but their integration on the dynamic island is. Using your phone during a car ride makes it worse, so this feature will allow me to easily navigate Google Maps as long as I have the dynamic island at the top of the screen in my peripheral vision.

Mirroring iPhone with Hotspot

With iOS 18.2, when you connect your iPhone to a Mac via hotspot, it will also automatically mirror your phone. Previously, the hotspot didn’t have mirroring capabilities, so this will be a nice bonus feature.

Tap on Siri

More good news is that you can finally talk to Siri like a human instead of typing on it. Siri becoming multimodal (accepts multiple input modes) makes me happy because it doesn’t work well with all kinds of accents. It would have made me happier if Apple had worked to be more inclusive, but I’ll take what I get for now.

Siri integrated into ChatGPT

It’s old newsbut Apple Intelligence is also make Siri less stupid by integrating ChatGPT directly. This means that all your queries will now be forwarded to the AI ​​Assistant without you needing to create an OpenAI account. ChatGPT-Siri integration also means your results will include images in addition to text.

Volume limit

The new volume limit feature will be incredibly useful in quiet public spaces where you might want to not accidentally play a loud video or song on your phone. On iOS 18.2, you’ll be able to set a maximum volume limit for how loudly your iPhone can play songs, media, or other content through the speaker. Fortunately, this does not apply to reminders, calls and alarms.

Default apps

You know how your iPhone sometimes asks you what your browser preference is for opening a link? And you have to enter a preference each time? With iOS 18.2, you’ll be able to navigate to a new Default Apps section in Settings and set preferences for email, messaging, calls, browser, and more. It will take note of all your choices so you don’t have to repeat it repeatedly.

Removing main applications

I like that the EU is slowly teaching Apple that they can’t have their weird rules about everything and that they need to conform to a universal standard. This Cupertino giant really needs to be humbled in several areas. First, it imposed a universal system Type C charging standard for Apple, and now ensures that users can delete core apps such as App Store, Safari, Messages, Camera, and Photos. However, the main functionality of the app is currently exclusive to the EU. We hope it will be rolled out worldwide soon.

Visual intelligence

The new iPhone 16 benefits from a Google Lens-like visual intelligence feature that will allow you to point your iPhone at any object and ask it to describe it to you. A long press on the camera control button will activate the function, after which you simply point your iPhone at the object of your choice. Interestingly, if you nominate a restaurant, it will read you its reviews and opening hours.

Writing tools

Apple Intelligence’s vaunted writing tools already rolled out with iOS 18.1, but the second-generation software adds more styles and tones. Currently, tools are limited to only three styles.

Availability

Apple hasn’t announced when it plans to release iOS 18.2 to the public. All we know is that it will be in December. The good thing about this release is that unlike iOS 18.1, Apple Intelligence supports more than just US English on 18.2. It now covers English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. However, it is still only limited to one language, which I hope will change soon.