Genmoji rollout in iOS 18.2 beta might take a few weeks

Apple this week released the first beta of iOS 18.2 to developers, which brings additional Apple Intelligence features – such as integration with ChatGPT, Image Playground and Genmoji. However, when it comes to the features related to image generation, beta users may have to wait a few weeks before trying them out.

The rollout strategy is part of Apple’s emphasis on its Responsible AI principles…

Using Genmoji and Image Playground requires joining a long waitlist

In a note to developers, Apple emphasizes that it will be rolling out access to Image Playground, Genmoji, and Image Wand “over the coming weeks.” To access these features, users have to join a waitlist – similar to how Apple rolled out the first set of Apple Intelligence tools in the iOS 18.1 beta.

However, given that the initial rollout of Apple Intelligence was faster, many developers believed something isn’t right with iOS 18.2 beta. But again, Apple is making it clear that users may need to wait a few weeks on the waiting list.

“We will roll out access to Image Playground, Genmoji, and Image Wand over the coming weeks. When the features are ready for you to test, you will be notified. After you receive access, you can tap the thumbs up or thumbs down that appear with each result in Image Playground, Genmoji, and Image Wand in order to provide feedback,” Apple explains.

Apple Intelligence works with both on-device and online language models. There’s also the fact that the language models used for image generation are downloaded after the iOS 18.2 beta update. Most likely, Apple anticipated that many users would be interested in testing the new features and opted for a phased rollout to avoid possible overloads.

Developers can join the waitlist within any of the image creation experiences in iOS 18.2, such as the Image Playground app or the emoji keyboard. Once you request access within one of those experiences, you’ll be put on the waitlist for all three image generation features: Genmoji, Image Wand, and Image Playground.

Furthermore, Apple has repeatedly emphasized its set of Responsible AI principles. As part of this, Apple is taking precautions to identify how its AI tools may be misused or lead to potential harm. This is an acknowledgment of the fact that generative AI models, including those powering the image generation features in iOS 18.2, can lead to unexpected results.

Throughout the iOS 18.2 beta, Apple is prompting testers for feedback on their experiences. Apple is taking the feedback it receives into consideration as it decides when to more broadly roll out the features for testing among beta users and eventually to the general public.

“We take precautions at every stage of our process, including design, model training, feature development, and quality evaluation to identify how our AI tools may be misused or lead to potential harm. We will continuously and proactively improve our AI tools with the help of user feedback,” Apple promised when it first debuted Apple Intelligence in June.

For now, iOS 18.2 beta is only available for devices compatible with Apple Intelligence. That means iPhone 15 Pro or later and M1 iPads or later. Of course, the update will eventually be available for other devices too. Apple previously suggested that iOS 18.2 will be released to the public in December.

iOS 18.1 will be released next week with Apple Intelligence Writing Tools and Summarization of notifications and text.

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