iOS 18.2: What You Can Do With Visual Intelligence

Visual intelligence is a Apple information unique features iphone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro model because it relies on camera control buttons. Visual Intelligence is available since iOS 18.2, and this guide outlines its capabilities.

Activate and use visual intelligence

To use Vision Intelligence, you need to hold down the camera control button for a few seconds to activate Vision Intelligence mode.

Simply press to open the camera through Camera Control, so you do need a unique press and hold gesture to access it. Make sure you are not already in the Camera app as the app will not work if the camera is already active.

The Visual Intelligence interface features a camera view, a button to take a photo, and dedicated Ask and Search buttons. Ask queries ChatGPT, and Search sends the image to Google Search.

Using visual intelligence involves taking a picture of everything you see. You need to take a photo (which can be done using the camera controls) and then select an option. It doesn’t work with the instant camera view, and you can’t use previously taken photos.

Get details about a place

If you want to get more information about a restaurant or retail store while you’re out and about, click and hold Camera Control, then click Camera Control again to take a photo or tap the location name at the top of the display.

From there, you can check a merchant’s hours, place an order for delivery at the location, view the menu, see what’s on offer, make a reservation, call the merchant, or visit the location’s website.

summarize text

Take a photo of text from the Visual Intelligence interface. Select the “Summary” option to get a summary of what you wrote.

The Summary option is useful for long blocks of text, but it’s similar to other Apple Intelligence summaries in that it’s brief and not particularly in-depth.

Read text aloud

Whenever you capture a camera-controlled image of text, you can choose to hear it read aloud. To use this feature, just click the Read aloud button at the bottom of your monitor, then Xili Will be read aloud in the Siri voice of your choice.

Translate text

If the text you are capturing using Visual Intelligence is not in your language (currently English only), you will see the Translate option. You can click on it to get instant translation.

Go to website link

If there is a link in the image you captured using Visual Intelligence, you will see a link that you can click to visit the website.

Send emails and make phone calls

If there’s an email address in the image, you can tap it to compose an email in the Mail app. Likewise, if there is a phone number, you will see the option to call that number.

Create calendar events

Using Visual Intelligence on something with a date will give you the option to add the event to your calendar.

Apple says that for phone numbers, email addresses, and addresses, you can add this information to contacts in the Contacts app. You can also turn on the address in the Maps app.

Scan the QR code

Visual Intelligence can be used to scan QR codes. With QR codes, you don’t actually need to capture an image, you just point your camera at the QR code and click on the link that pops up.

QR code scanning also works in the Camera app without starting Visual Intelligence.

AskChatGPT

You can take a photo of anything and click the “Ask” option to send it to ChatGPT and ask questions about it. For example, if you use Visual Intelligence to take a picture of an item and want to know what it is, you can click “Ask” and then enter “What is this?” to enter the ChatGPT interface.

ChatGPT will respond and you can respond if you have follow-up questions.

Visual Intelligence uses ChatGPT Siri integration, which is opt-in. By default, no data is collected, but ChatGPT can remember conversations if you log in with an OpenAI account.

Search for products on Google

You can take a photo of anything you see and then click the Search option to find it on the web using Google Image Search. This feature is useful for finding items you might want to buy.

Read more

For more information on the Apple Intelligence feature, we have Dedicated Apple Intelligence Guide.