Picture Playground: How you can make AI photographs without spending a dime on iPhone

Apple’s Picture Playground is a free app for iPhone and different Apple gadgets that allows you to generate limitless AI photographs without spending a dime. You’ll be able to generate photographs based mostly in your mates, from a textual content immediate or completely from scratch, in all kinds of themes and kinds.

It’s a part of Apple Intelligence, the rising set of AI options that work on the newest iPhones, Macs and iPads. Right here’s use Picture Playground.

Generate AI photographs in your iPhone with Picture Playground

The flexibility to create imagery from easy textual content prompts rocketed merchandise like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Dall-E to reputation, for higher or worse. With the free Picture Playground app, Apple desires to horn in on that motion. And for the reason that app runs on appropriate iPhones, without spending a dime, it places the ability of AI artwork within the arms of tens of millions of customers who won’t in any other case dabble in such endeavors.

As with all issues Apple, Picture Playground is straightforward to make use of and (principally) sanitized. To assist keep away from deepfakes and misinformation, Apple restricted the picture software to 3 cartoonish kinds: Animation, Illustration and Sketch. The corporate additionally makes an attempt to cease individuals from producing offensive or copyright-protected photographs.

Desk of contents: Generate AI photographs in your iPhone with Picture Playground

1. Set up iOS 18.2 and allow Apple Intelligence
2. Launch Picture Playground and decide a beginning picture
3. Edit your picture and add extra particulars
4. How good do Picture Playground photographs look?
5. Extra Apple Intelligence options

Set up iOS 18.2 and allow Apple Intelligence

Picture Playground is a part of the second spherical of Apple’s AI options, accessible in iOS 18.2. As with all Apple Intelligence options, you’ll want an iPhone, Mac or iPad with an M-series chip, an A17 Professional chip or better to make use of the app.

Should you don’t have already got iOS 18.2, you may set up it by going to Settings > Common > Software program Replace. After you replace, head to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri to allow Apple Intelligence.

Launch Picture Playground and decide a beginning picture

After you replace, you’ll see the Playground app in your iPhone’s House Display that can allow you to generate AI photographs from scratch. To get began, open the Playground app and faucet the large + button on the backside proper of the display. (Picture Playground can be accessible inside Apple’s Messages app, from the app menu.)

There are 4 methods to create AI photographs in Picture Playground:

1. Describe an Picture: Faucet this feature to sort a textual content immediate, and Picture Playground will generate a picture based mostly in your description.
2. Select a Particular person: Faucet the Select Particular person button on the backside to pick a photograph of somebody in your Photographs library. The app pulls photographs out of your Photographs library’s “Folks and Pets” part, so be sure that to tag individuals and pets first. Alternatively, faucet the Look button within the higher left and choose Edit to generate an individual from scratch.
3. Select Type or Photograph: Faucet the + icon on the backside proper and choose Select Photograph to choose a picture out of your library as a place to begin. Should you can’t discover the photograph you’re searching for, faucet All on the prime of the photograph picker. You may also change between Animation, Illustration and Sketch kinds from the + menu.
4. Suggestion Bubbles: Faucet any of the suggestion bubbles on the backside of the display. These can be utilized as inspiration or to refine your picture in progress.

Edit your AI picture and add extra particulars

When you select a beginning immediate, Picture Playground will generate 4 choices at a time. You’ll be able to swipe to see extra variations.

Should you’re not pleased with the outcomes, you may alter the picture additional. Faucet the sq. picture preview to return and edit the prompts. You’ll be able to add preset tags from Apple, corresponding to themes, costumes, equipment, and locations, or sort in extra descriptions within the textual content field. To take away a immediate, merely faucet on any of the floating bubbles.

Whenever you’re happy, faucet Finished within the higher proper to avoid wasting your picture. You’ll be able to share it, delete it, or return to edit it anytime. Moreover, you may present suggestions by giving it a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, as this can be a beta characteristic and should produce sudden outcomes.

Are Picture Playground photographs any good?

Personally, I’m not impressed by this much-hyped Apple Intelligence characteristic. The pictures created by Picture Playground are disappointing. When in comparison with superior AI picture turbines like Midjourney, the outcomes from Picture Playground look outdated by at the least two years.

It struggles with primary duties like drawing straight strains, and lots of components of the pictures are likely to mix collectively. Whereas it’s attention-grabbing that every part occurs on-device with no limitations, the novelty doesn’t make up for the truth that it produces subpar outcomes.

Regardless of Apple’s makes an attempt to implement safeguards towards dangerous or express prompts, I discover it regarding that you may generate photographs utilizing something out of your photograph library. In truth, I used to be simply capable of obtain a picture on-line and use it to create a picture of Adolf Hitler standing on the White Home garden. If I had been a malicious middle-schooler, I might simply create embarrassing or dangerous photographs to bully or harass classmates.

For my part, Apple ought to rethink releasing the Picture Playground characteristic. It appears destined to develop into a relentless battle to stop misuse, providing little worth in return. Even the perfect photographs it creates aren’t significantly spectacular.

Extra Apple Intelligence options

This text on Picture Playground was initially revealed on November 21, 2024. We up to date it with new info on December 11, 2024 and April 22, 2025.