Genmoji are here in iOS 18.2, your iPhone’s new emoji superpower

iOS 18.2 is now rolling out to iPhone users, bringing one of the most anticipated new features Apple smart functions: Genmoji Temple. Here’s everything you should know about this new emoji’s superpowers.

Create a new Genmoji on iPhone with iOS 18.2

Genmoji is a combination of two phrases: “emoticon” and “artificial intelligence generated”.

In short, in iOS 18.2, you can use Apple Intelligence to create new emojis on the fly.

Turn on the emoji keyboard on an iPhone running iOS 18.2, and you’ll see a new glowing smiley icon in the upper right corner.

Click on the icon and describe the emoji you want to create – that’s it!

Apple Intelligence will create a new emoji to match your description. In effect, it creates multiple options for you to choose from.

After you create your first emoji, you can swipe through the other options to find the right emoji. If the results still don’t exactly match your expectations, you can modify your description to be more precise.

Another way to create a Genmoji is to simply search for an emoji in the emoji keyboard. If you find what you’re looking for, great, no Genmoji required. But if the search doesn’t find any matches, you’ll see a suggestion: “Create a new emoji.”

Clicking on this suggestion will result in a new emoji being created based on your search terms.

All of this sounds easy.

Once you create a Genmoji, it’s saved to your emoji keyboard for easy reuse in the future.

You could make Minamoto Shigeji based on a real person rather than a known character

When creating new emojis, there are some details worth knowing:

Genmoji can be based on people you know: When entering an emoji description, you can include a person’s name to make an emoji that looks like them – provided there’s a photo based on the emoji. Apple Intelligence uses the person’s photo as a reference point when creating new emojis, so you can say things like “Jacob is a superhero.”

You can’t make Genmoji for recognized IP: While it’s fun to create emojis for IPs like Mickey Mouse, Elphaba from Wicked, Darth Vader, and more, Genmoji doesn’t support such depictions. Recognized IPs are off-limits for obvious copyright reasons, so Apple will not recognize your request as a valid one.

Genmoji requirements and device compatibility

Genmoji is a feature of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.2. This means only AI-compatible iPhone will gain this new ability.

If you have an iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max, that’s no problem. Your device fully supports Genmoji.

There are two other iPhone models that are also compatible: iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

As with all other iPhones, while these devices can receive Genmoji in Messages, even Save them to resend yourself– They can’t create Genmoji themselves.

While it’s difficult to tell how much Apple Intelligence is driving the iPhone 16 series upgrades, Genmoji may just be the turning point that spurs a wave of pre-holiday buying.

What are your top Genji creations? Let us know in the comments.

Best iPhone Accessories