Apple’s latest iOS 26 update introduces exciting new features in the Image Playground, allowing users to experiment with AI-generated art styles powered by ChatGPT. This update brings popular styles such as anime, oil painting, watercolor, vector, and print, integrating seamlessly with Apple’s existing Animation, Illustration, and Sketch styles.
A notable addition is the flexible “Any Style” option, which enables users to describe the image they want to create more freely, akin to how ChatGPT operates. Users can either generate an image from text or upload a photo to be reimagined in a different artistic style.
AI-powered image generation has quickly gained popularity on social media, with users transforming their selfies into various artistic versions, including Studio Ghibli characters and Funko Pop figures. This creative trend has become a fun way for users to share personalized images within their social circles, resulting in a viral exchange of these unique creations.
However, it’s important to note that using ChatGPT for image generation requires users to grant their iPhones permission to send images to external servers, making it slightly slower than Apple’s built-in styles. Additionally, while Apple’s tools enforce stricter content regulations, ChatGPT offers more relaxed guidelines, allowing for the generation of images that may include copyrighted characters.
Apple does provide warnings regarding this and clearly labels images that originate from ChatGPT. Another enhancement in iOS 26 is the improvement of Genmoji, a feature that allows users to create custom emojis by merging existing ones or describing new ones in text form.
The earlier version of Genmoji was met with some criticism for its limited functionality, but this update aims to improve its usability and flexibility. Overall, these new features make image creation more accessible to iPhone users, eliminating the need for third-party applications.
With the public beta set to launch in July and a full release anticipated in September, iOS 26 promises to provide users with even more creative opportunities.