Apple is distributing iOS 18.2 to all starting today. apple Intelligence may have officially launched with iOS 18.1 earlier this year, but it was pretty small by comparison. Apple Intelligence is where it really comes into its own. It is.

iOS 18.2 does not deliver everything originally promised in Apple Intelligence, and at least Sirir's Personal Context will have to wait until next year. This update turns Apple Intelligence into what Apple had announced and adds features such as AI image generation, ChatGPT, and Visual Intelligence for the iPhone 16.

Here are all the features coming in iOS 18.2 and which you should try first.

iOS 18.2 will roll out to all iPhones up to (and including) the iPhone Xs, but Apple Intelligence will not. Even the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will not be available to those with earlier devices, as they do not have the required 8GB of RAM.

Besides, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max do not get all the Apple Intelligence features; Visual Intelligence is exclusive to the iPhone 16, for reasons Apple has not explained. It is not clear if this is due to hardware limitations or if Apple simply wants to limit this feature to models with camera control buttons: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

iOS18.2 also brings multiple languages to Apple Intelligence, including English outside the U.S., including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK

First announced at the iPhone 16 launch event, Visual Intelligence, which launched in beta earlier this year, is an entirely new camera mode accessible through the camera control buttons. This feature is Apple's take on Google Lens, which is like AI Vision. Your phone uses artificial intelligence to look at the world around you through the camera lens and analyze and understand what is there.

All you need to do is point your phone's camera at something you want to learn more about and tap the shutter button on the screen. The results vary, but Apple promises that Visual Intelligence will adapt to what it sees. Features include object recognition to support shopping, extract business information, summarize content, and translate foreign language text.

There is also the option to get follow-up information from Google search or by asking ChatGPT.Siri is useful, but Apple's assistant is very limited compared to recent AI chatbots. So if Siri cannot answer your question or you need to know more than Siri can provide, ChatGPT will answer for you.

ChatGPT in iOS18.2 is an opt-in feature and must be intentionally turned on to use this feature. Once turned on, however, it adds a conversational AI feature to Siri that allows you to speak with the assistant in a much more natural way than otherwise.

ChatGPT will also be integrated with Visual Intelligence and Image Playground to provide more information about what your phone is seeing and be able to generate images with text prompts. In addition, like a good chatbot, you can create new text with the iOS writing tool.

AI image generation will come to iOS 18.2 through Apple's Image Playground feature. If it is in beta, you may need to sign up for a waiting list before having your iPhone generate an image out of thin air.

This can be done either with text prompts or with Apple's collection of objects and themes. You can also use a combination of both.Image Playground also supports the new Genmoji feature, which allows you to create your own emoji using text prompts in the Apple Messages app. When regular emojis are not enough.

The writing tool was introduced in iOS 18.1, and some upgrades were made in iOS 18.2 as well. These include a new tool called “Describe Your Change,” which allows you to enter specific instructions for rewriting text rather than relying on Apple's three preset options. In doing so, the AI-assisted revisions should have a more personal touch.

AI does not create images out of the blue. iOS 18.2 adds a feature called Image Wand. This feature is in the Notes app and converts your sketches into more sophisticated images. Alternatively, you can fill in the blanks in the Notes app and use your notes as the context and prompts you need to create new ones.

Siri was upgraded in iOS 18.1, but the real changes won't come until iOS 18.4 (we expect). This will bring Siri's Personal Context feature, which will give the assistant more power and allow it to recognize what is happening inside your phone.

Upcoming features will include on-screen awareness, allowing Siri to see what is happening on your screen when you are talking to Siri. Personal context means that Siri will remember details that are unique to you, and remembering those details will make your answers more personalized and act more like a real person. Ultimately, Siri will have access to more apps and will be able to perform certain in-app functions through the assistant without having to navigate to the app yourself.

Apple initially announced that Image Playground would allow users to create images in three styles: animations, illustrations, and sketches. However, it turns out that sketches were removed from the iOS 18.2 beta without notice. The bad news is that it will not come to the public version of iOS 18.2, but the good news is that it should arrive in a future update. We just don't know when.