Apple's new Image Playground App

Image Playground app will only generate cartoonish images, not photorealistic ones

Tech Desk - Jun 15, 2024

An undated image of Swift Playground features. — Apple

Apple's iOS 18 update is bringing a lot of exciting features, including a customisable Home Screen and Apple Intelligence. Apple's upcoming app, Image Playground is the part of "Apple Intelligence" suite, through which the user will be able to generate images by giving text commands or based on a photo of someone.

The Image Playground app marks a significant move in AI technology, as the Apple’s decision to label AI-generated images aims to stop false information.The iOS 18 app will label AI-generated images in their metadata, labeling that they were created by Apple Intelligence.

According to Craig Federighi, Apple's VP of software engineering, the app will "mark up the metadata" of generated images, making it clear that they were created by Apple Intelligence.

Interestingly, the app will only generate cartoonish images, not photorealistic ones, whcih is also a deliberate design choice to prevent misinformation spread.

In iOS 18 beta 1 another framework ‘VisualGeneration’ includes references to a "forensics" feature for labeling and identifying AI images.

Additionally, these Apple Intelligence features are not available yet in iOS 18 beta for testing but will be announced later this year. The company has already announced that some features displayed at WWDC 2024 won't be available until 2025. However, the iOS code suggests that there will be a waiting list for the users interested in enabling Apple Intelligence during beta period.