Apple Intelligence

There are several new ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features in iOS 18.2, including Image Playground and Genmoji. It's a more fun update than iOS 18.1 thanks to the image generation features.

• Image Playground - There's an ‌Image Playground‌ app and Messages integration for creating stylized images based on prompts and images of you and your friends.
• Image Wand - Image Wand is for adding images to what you've written in the Notes app. On iPad, you can use the Apple Pencil to make a rough sketch and have ‌Image Wand‌ turn it into something nicer.
• Genmoji - With ‌Genmoji‌, you can create custom emoji. It's similar to ‌Image Playground‌, but on a smaller emoji-sized scale. People that have iOS 18.1 installed will see ‌Genmoji‌ and can even get information about them, but they can only be created in iOS 18.2. In earlier versions of iOS and on Android devices, they show up as an image.
• Siri ChatGPT - ‌Siri‌ can now hand over requests to ChatGPT, a feature that's entirely opt-in. You don't need an account, and anything you ask ‌Siri‌ can be sent to ChatGPT if you want. ChatGPT has more advanced info than ‌Siri‌ and can also generate images and text. If you want to make it simpler to turn requests over to ChatGPT, you can toggle off the Ask Every Time setting so ‌Siri‌ doesn't always need your permission to contact ChatGPT. ‌Siri‌ with ChatGPT integration supports on-screen responses, so you can do things like ask "what's in this photo?" when you're looking at an image.
• Visual Intelligence - On iPhone 16, Visual Intelligence can be used to identify objects and places around you. Long press the Camera Control button to get to Visual Intelligence, and then point your iPhone at something. You can get hours and reviews if the camera is looking at a restaurant, copy text, get text read aloud, search for items on Google, ask ChatGPT questions about objects, and more.
• Writing Tools - The Rewrite Writing Tools feature is no longer limited to three styles. You can describe the tone or content that you want, such as adding more dynamic words or turning an email into a poem.
• Languages - With iOS 18.2, ‌Apple Intelligence‌ supports English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK in addition to U.S. English, so if you're in Canada, you no longer have to set your ‌iPhone‌ to U.S. English to use ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

Camera Control

For ‌iPhone 16‌ users, there's now an option lock your auto exposure and auto focus settings with a light press. The AE/AF Lock toggle can be turned on by going to Settings > Camera > Camera Control.

There is also an option to adjust the double click speed of Camera Control. Options include Default, Slow, and Slower. The adjustment options join prior options to tweak the double light press speed and the light press force.

As mentioned above, Camera Control now supports Visual Intelligence.

The update also adds a new setting for the Camera Control button. In the Settings app under Display & Brightness, there is now a toggle for "Require Screen On." When this setting is turned on, you can only launch the Camera app or a supported third-party camera app with the Camera Control button when the ‌iPhone‌'s screen is turned on.

Mail App Categorization

In the Mail app, there are new built-in categories for separating out important emails, deals, newsletters, transaction emails, and more. ‌Apple Intelligence‌ is required for Mail app categorization.

The Mail app includes bigger pictures for contacts and businesses, and all emails from a single person or source will be pooled together.

You can swap between categories (the new option) and List View (the non-categorization standard view) by tapping on the three dots in the upper right corner of the app. In the Mail section of the Settings app, you may need to go to Notifications > Customize Notifications > and toggle on All Unread Messages if you're using list view, because the other setting only shows you unread messages categorized as "Primary," which can be confusing.

Tweaked Video Player and More in Photos App

Apple added a tweaked video player that takes up more of the screen in iOS 18.2. This change eliminates the thick borders around videos that appear on earlier ‌iOS 18‌ versions, meaning you no longer have to tap on a video for full-screen playback.

It's now possible to scrub through a video frame-by-frame, plus there is a setting to turn off auto-looping video playback in the Photos section of the Settings app.

When using the Collections views in the ‌Photos‌ app, you can swipe right to go back to the previous view, plus the Favorites album now appears in the Utilities collection along with the Pinned Collections section.

You're also now able to clear Recently Viewed and Recently Shared album history.

Safari

In the Safari section of the Settings app, there's a new "Not Secure Connection Warning" toggle that lets you know if you're visiting a website that does not have a valid SSL certificate for an encrypted connection. It is not advised to send passwords or other sensitive data on a site that pops up a "Not Secure" warning.

Apple's "Not Secure Connection Warning" toggle is not turned on by default. Apple says that HTTPS Priority will upgrade URLs to HTTPS whenever possible.

The Settings app has a new section for managing website data and history, with options for Clear History and Website Data. The Website Data section includes options for exporting data from Safari and importing data from another app into Safari.

Apple added new background images for customizing the Safari start page.

Safari Downloads

The progress of Safari downloads can now be tracked on the ‌iPhone‌'s Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.

Voice Memos

With Voice Memos, two tracks can be layered on top of one another. There's also an option to separate layers and edit layer mixes.

Two-track projects can be imported directly into Logic Pro on the iPhone 16 Pro and ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max.

Find My

Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced. Choosing the Share Item Location option creates a link that lets someone view the location of a lost item when they open the link.

The link can be opened on a non-Apple device, so an ‌iPhone‌ or Mac is not required to provide someone with your item's location. Links expire after a week or when you're reunited with your lost item.

There's also an option to Show Contact Info, which lets any phone or tablet connect to an item to view a website with more information about it, including the phone number and email address of the owner.

Apple Music

Apple Music now supports natural language search. You can search for genres, moods, activity, decades, and more. Examples include "songs about cats," "songs with a vibe," "relaxing songs," "artists similar to Taylor Swift," "sad 80s songs," and "songs about food."

‌Apple Music‌ now displays the disc number in some albums.

Apple TV

In the Apple TV app, you can also use casual language search terms to find exactly what you're looking for, typing in genres, actors, and moods. Searches like "movies about natural disasters," "movies with cats," "movies with Zendaya," and "exhilarating movies" all bring up relevant results.

The navigation bar in the TV app can be customized, with options to add different apps and Library categories. Existing options like MLS and ‌Apple TV‌+ cannot be removed.

Podcasts

You can favorite categories in the Podcasts app in iOS 18.2, and see categories in the library for a new way to navigate through shows and episodes.

A new personalized search page in Podcasts suggests the most relevant categories and editorially curated collections tailored to your listening preferences.

Apple News+

For Apple News+ subscribers in the United States, iOS 18.2 adds daily sudoku puzzles. The sudoku puzzles join existing the Crossword, Crossword Mini, and Quartiles offerings. There are three difficulty levels to complete each day, including easy, moderate, and challenging.