Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.2 is rolling out to iPhone users today. The update includes major fresh Apple Intelligence features, upgrades to the Camera Control on iPhone 16, a redesign for the message app, and much more. Head below for the full details on all the fresh iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 features.
Also with iOS 18.2, Apple Intelligence is now available with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, fresh Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K.
iOS 18.2 releases today
iOS 18.2 will rotation out to the general public today. You can check for the update by going to the Settings app, choosing General, and then choosing Software Update. If you don’t see iOS 18.2 as an option right away, keep checking over the course of the day.
Which iPhones get iOS 18.2?
iOS 18.2 is available to all iPhones capable of moving iOS 18. Apple Intelligence features are limited to iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models.
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS and XS Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 and 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 and 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15 and 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2nd gen)
- iPhone SE (3rd gen)
What’s fresh in iOS 18.2?
New Apple Intelligence features
The large change in iOS 18.2 is the addition of fresh Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT integration, and more.
- Image Playground
- A fresh app that lets you usage concepts, descriptions, and people from your photograph library to make fun, playful images in multiple styles
- Swipe through previews and choose from as you add concepts to your playground
- Choose from animation and illustration styles erstwhile creating your image
- Create images in Messages and Freeform, as well as 3rd organization apps
- Images are synced in your Image Playground library across all your devices with iCloud
- Genmoji
- Genmoji allows you to make a customized emoji right from the keyboard
- Genmoji are synced in your sticker drawer across all your devices with iCloud
- ChatGPT support
- ChatGPT from OpenAI can be accessed right from Siri or Writing Tools
- Compose in Writing Tools allows you to make something from scratch with ChatGPT
- Siri can get into ChatGPT erstwhile applicable to supply you an answer
- A ChatGPT account is not required and your requests will be anonymous and won’t be utilized to train OpenAI’s models
- Sign in with ChatGPT to access your account benefits, and requests will be covered by OpenAI’s data policies
- Image Wand turns sketches and handwritten or typed notes into images in Notes
- Describe your change in Writing Tools allows you to propose how you’d like something rewritten, for example as a poem
Camera Control updates
For iPhone 16 users, iOS 18.2 continues to refine the functionality and features of the Camera Control. Most notably, the update brings Visual Intelligence. This feature can be activated by long-pressing the Camera Control. Then, you can point your iPhone’s camera at something to learn more about it.
- Visual Intelligence with Camera Control helps you instantly learn about places or interact with information simply by pointing your iPhone at the object, with the option to get into Google Search or ChatGPT
- Camera Control two-stage shutter lets you lock focus and vulnerability in Camera erstwhile light pressing the Camera Control
- Double-click speed: Adjust the velocity of the Camera Control double-click in Settings > Accessibility > Camera Control. You can choose from Default, Slow, and Slower.
- Require Screen On: A single press of the Camera Control will automatically open the Camera app regardless of whether or not your iPhone 16’s screen is on, adjustable in the Settings app.
Mail app upgrades in iOS 18.2
iOS 18.2 brings a major redesign to the message app that sorts your messages into 4 different categories:
- Primary: individual and time-sensitive emails
- Transactions: Confirmations and receipts
- Updates: News and social media notifications
- Promotions: Marketing emails and coupons
If you disagree with how the message app has categorized a circumstantial email, you can manually recategorize it, and that preference will be saved for future emails from that sender.
The update brings a fresh “digest view” that shows all emails from a circumstantial business. You can besides show notification badges only for unread messages in the “Primary” category.
iOS 18.2: Photos app changes
Photos app in iOS 18.1 (left) and iOS 18.2 (right)iOS 18 introduced a dramatic redesign to the Photos app, and iOS 18.2 makes a fewer changes to that fresh plan based on user feedback. Here’s how Apple says it has addressed that feedback in iOS 18.2:
- Video viewing improvements, including the ability to scrub frame-by-frame and a setting to turn off auto-looping video playback
- Improvements erstwhile navigating Collections views, including the ability to swipe right to go back to the erstwhile view
- Recently Viewed and late Shared album past can be cleared
- Favorites album appears in the Utilities collection in addition to Pinned Collections
Find My upgrades
iOS 18.2 makes any large changes to the Find My app. Now, you can share the location of a misplaced AirTag or another Find My item by generating a link.
That link can be shared with others to aid you find the lost item. People can access a website displaying the item’s location on an interactive map utilizing the link. The website automatically updates with fresh locations and includes timestamps for the most fresh updates.
Apple has besides announced it is teaming up with more than 15 airlines to implement systems to accept location links to aid find lost luggage.
Safari
The iOS 18.2 release notes besides tout fresh features for Safari, including fresh customization options and a Live Activity for
- New background images to customize your Safari Start Page
- Import and Export enables you to export your browsing data from Safari and import browsing data from another app into Safari
- HTTPS precedence upgrades URLs to HTTPS whenever possible
- File Download Live Activity shows the advancement of a file download in the Dynamic Island and on your home screen
iOS 18.2: Odds and ends
In addition to these major fresh features and changes, iOS 18.2 besides includes a ton of smaller updates. Here’s a full breakdown:
- Voice Memos supports layered recording, letting you add vocals over an existing song thought without the request for headphones – then import your two-track projects straight into Logic Pro (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
- You can permanently add the volume slider back to your iPhone’s Lock Screen. Go to Settings, Accessibility, Audio and Visual, and toggle on or off “Always Show Volume Control.”
- The previously-announced changes to the browser choice screen for iPhone users in the EU are now live. The update besides makes the App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos, and Safari apps deletable.
- iOS 18.2 lets users set default apps for Messaging and Calling worldwide. This is managed through a fresh “Defaults” menu in the Settings app.
- iOS 18.2 adds a fresh “Type to Siri” widget for Control Center.
- A fresh “Volume Limit” option in the Settings app lets you set a maximum volume limit for playing audio content like songs, movies, and another media through the iPhone’s built-in speaker.
- In Settings > Apps > Safari there is simply a fresh option to import or export browsing past and website data.
- In the Podcasts app, you can now mark circumstantial categories as favorites.
- You can now usage iPhone Mirroring while utilizing your iPhone as a hotspot for your Mac.
- There are fresh Shortcuts actions for the Fitness app.
- Natural language search in Apple Music and Apple tv app lets you describe what you’re looking for utilizing any combination of categories like genres, moods, actors, decades, and more
- Favorite Categories in Podcasts allows you to choose your favourite categories and get applicable show recommendations that you can easy access in your Library
- Personalized Search page in Podcasts highlights the most applicable categories and editorially curated collections tailored to you
- Sudoku for News+ Puzzles provided in 3 difficulty levels and available for News+ subscribers
- Support for the proceeding Test feature on AirPods Pro 2 in Cyprus, Czechia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, United arabian Emirates, and United Kingdom
- Support for the proceeding Aid feature on AirPods Pro 2 in United arabian Emirates
- Pre-market price quotes in Stocks lets you track NASDAQ and NYSE tickers prior to marketplace open
Apple besides outlines 2 bug fixes included in iOS 18.2:
- Fixes an issue where late captured photos do not appear immediately in the All Photos grid
- Fixes an issue where Night mode photos in Camera could appear degraded erstwhile capturing long exposures (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
9to5Mac’s Take
iOS 18.1 introduced the planet to Apple Intelligence with useful fresh features like Writing Tools, notification summaries, a fresh plan for Siri, and fresh summarization and precedence features in the message app. iOS 18.2, however, builds upon that foundation. It besides includes Apple’s first foray into image generation technology.
Genmoji is the standout feature in iOS 18.2. It makes it fun and easy to rapidly make an emoji of anything. 1 of the best parts of Genmoji is how well it’s integrated into the keyboard. For example, if you search for an emoji that is not available, you’ll have the option to instantly make 1 with Genmoji based on your description.
Image Playground is another feature of Apple Intelligence that stands out thanks to its deep integration with iOS. Image Playground is available as a standalone app and integrated into another places, specified as messages.
Image Playground creations aren’t the most groundbreaking images you can make utilizing artificial intelligence. They are, however, easy, fun, and fast to create. Image Playground can besides get into your Photos library to make pictures based on your friends and family. I’ve found it to be a fun feature that strikes a large balance of image quality and speed.
Plus, all Image Playground and Genmoji creations are generated straight on device without cloud processing.
With iOS 18.2, you can besides now get into ChatGPT through Siri. I’ve found this to be a useful fallback for erstwhile Siri fails to answer a question properly. You can access ChatGPT through Siri without signing into an OpenAI account, and no evidence of your conversations will be kept. Your IP address is besides obscured.
Optionally, you can sign into your ChatGPT account to unlock higher usage limits. If you choose to sign in, your usage falls under ChatGPT’s data-use policies. erstwhile signed in to your ChatGPT account, your requests are saved to your chat past so you can access them later.
Apple has struck a large balance of integrating ChatGPT into Siri while besides maintaining its own stance on privacy. It’s useful to have ChatGPT as an option for additional planet cognition erstwhile talking to Siri, but I hope Apple can bring this functionality in-house sooner alternatively than later. I’d besides like to see Apple refine the kind to Siri interface to handle longer-form interactions of multiple messages better. Right now, the interface isn’t very conducive to those interactions.
More Apple Intelligence features are coming next year with iOS 18.3 and beyond, but as 2024 comes to an end, the Apple Intelligence suite is impressively strong. There are adequate features throughout iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 that I think everyone will find a way Apple Intelligence benefits their life.
iOS 18.2 is simply a well-rounded update beyond Apple Intelligence. The upgrades to the Find My ecosystem should make it even easier to find your lost items. The changes to the Photos app address user feedback while maintaining what I think is an overall excellent redesign. The fresh categorization features in the message app fall a bit short for how I usage email, but Apple has made it easy to revert back to the single inbox view.
What do you think of iOS 18.2 and the current state of Apple Intelligence? Are you utilizing the features regularly? Let us know in the comments.
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