Hands-On With Apple's Genmoji AI Emoji Generator (Beta)

Earlier today Apple released their first developer beta for iOS 18.2, giving registered users their first hands-on experience with their new Genmoji image generation tool.

First announced as part of a selection of AI-based “Apple Intelligence” features in June, the Genmoji feature allows users to generate emoji-like stickers through text prompts entered directly into their Apple keyboards.

[Editor's Note: we use the term "emoji-like stickers" for Genmojis here due to the technical differences between Genmojis and Unicode's standardized emoji set that are discussed later in this article.]

Users signed up for the Apple Developer Beta Program can now download the first beta for iOS 18.2. However, to access the new Genmoji feature iOS 18.2 must be used on an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, or an iPhone 16.

How To Make Genmojis in iOS 18.2

Access to the Genmoji tool has been added directly to Apple's default emoji keyboard in iOS 18.2.

Once the emoji keyboard has been opened, to the right of the emoji search bar (which now contains the text "Describe an Emoji" instead of "Search Emoji") is a multi-colored smiley face icon with a plus (+) symbol over it.

Selecting this icon will open the Genmoji creation screen, from which you can describe your desired emoji image via a description field placed above your iPhone's keyboard.

Once you have entered several words into the description field, your emoji sticker image will begin to generate with a Siri-like icon acting as the loading screen.

There is an alternative route to begin the generation process. If you enter a description of an emoji into the emoji keyboard's search bar and it does not yield any results, you will be presented with a "Create New Emoji" option. Selecting this begins the generation process based on the description you added within the search field.

Load times can vary, but they tend to be within the 3-6 second range for the initial generation.

You can also create a Genmoji based on your contacts' associated picture - this option will appear when you type in a contact's name within the Genmoji description field.

Using this feature, at least one X/Twitter user has been able to create Genmoji images of different public figures and TV characters.

Note that a particularly complex description will yield a "Try Another Description" error message, effectively asking you to simplify your request.

A similar error message appears if you attempt to generate a Genmoji based on NSFW descriptions: in these cases, you will see the message "No Results - Trying describing something different to create a new emoji".

Once the Genmoji image has been generated, you have several options.

If you are happy with the image you have created and wish to use it within the app from which you accessed the Genmoji feature, you can select the "Add" option at the top right of the screen to add the Genmoji creation directly to your message.

Alternatively, you can begin to swipe through different alternative generations based on the same prompt that the tool.

Note, however, that underneath each generated image Apple states that "Some descriptions may create unexpected results".

This explanatory note is intended to excuse any visual oddities or deviations from the provided description - outcomes that will be familiar to any user of other AI image generator tools.

Given this possible variability in output, you can also provide feedback on a given Genmoji image via thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons placed underneath.

Finally, an ellipsis (...) icon opens an options menu that allows you to copy the image to your iPhone's clipboard, share it to another app, or save it to your keyboard's saved stickers without having to use it in text.

If you select "Add", you will be taken back to the Messages app and the Genmoji will have been added to your text input field.

The Genmoji will also be added to your Recent Emojis section of your emoji keyboard for swift access, and will also appear if you search using the same description used to create the Genmoji image.

If you had already begun to type a message before opening the Genmoji feature, the Genmoji sticker will be added in line with the text that had already been added to your input field.

This functionality emulates how the standardized set of Unicode emojis operate, though it is only available within supported platforms.

If you have yet to enter any text, the Genmoji will be added as a large sticker image, which can be sent on its own or have text added before or after it to reduce its size to match that of other text.

You can also send up to three Genmojis in a row and have them appear in line with the blue text message bubble surrounding them, as with other stickers within Messages since the launch of iOS 18.0.

While Genmojis can only be generated by users of eligible iPhone devices, iPhone users using recent iOS versions can receive them.

Additionally, once a Genmoji has been sent, the recipient can also save that Genmoji to their own devices, regardless of whether they have access to Genmoji via iOS 18.2 or not.

Are Genmojis Actually Emojis?

In short, no. From a technical perspective, Genmojis differ considerably from the standardized emojis that have been a core feature of various devices' keyboards for over a decade.

Our traditional emojis are drawn from recommendations made by the text encoding and standardization organization Unicode: they adhere to a text-based standard of codepoints and sequences, with their colorful designs implemented through our devices' font systems.

You can learn more about Unicode here.

Genmojis are not based on any standardized text-based encoding or font system. Instead, they are images with an emoji-like aesthetic generated based on users' descriptions being fed into an AI art model managed by Apple.

As such, they aren't emojis but stickers - just like Apple's previously released Animoji and Memoji features.

However, a recent update to how Apple platforms can handle sticker images within text will almost certainly blur the line between stickers and Unicode's standardized emojis. In fact, this is the intended outcome of this update.

This update was the introduction of the NSAdaptiveImageGlyph API within iOS 18.0 back in September of this year.

This update allowed Apple platforms to place sticker images, including Apple's long-standing Animoji and Memoji as well as the new Genmoji, directly in line with text within supported platforms such as their Messages, Notes, and Mail apps.

Before the launch of iOS 18.0, Apple provided instructions to third-party app developers on how they can enable the NSAdaptiveImageGlyph API within their own apps' rich text content blocks.

It is expected further Apple-based platforms will support this new type of data object in the future, likely leading to a further blurring of the lines between Unicode-based emojis and emoji-like stickers amongst end users.

One must assume that if this emoji-like sticker-embedding experience proves popular within Apple devices, other OS systems such as Android and Windows will follow suit with their own NSAdaptiveImageGlyph-like API for similar image-within-text embedding.

Release

Genmojis can be created using iOS 18.2 beta 1, which is now available to developers. The feature is expected to be released to the general public with the official launch of iOS 18.2 by the end of 2024.

However, Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, will only be accessible on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 models. This restriction applies to both the iOS 18.2 betas and the upcoming official release.

Genmoji and other Apple Intelligence features are also currently not available in the European Union (EU) countries or China, even on eligible devices with iOS 18.2 beta 1 installed.

Since this is beta software, the Genmoji feature may change before the official release of iOS 18.2.