Apple introduced a new app in iOS 18.2 called Image Playground. It is an Apple Intelligence feature that uses artificial intelligence to create image based on photos, text descriptions and themes. As of December 2024, the following Apple devices can use Apple Intelligence when upgraded to iOS 18.2 or higher.

Supported Devices

• iPhone: All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
• iPad: iPad Models with M1 or later and iPad Mini (A17 Pro). Requires iOS 18.2 or later
• Mac: Mac Models with M1 or later. Requires macOS 15.2 or later

How to create an avatar using Image Playground

1. Launch the Image Playground app. (It may just be called Playground on the iPhone.)
2. Click the “+” button to begin creating a new image.
3. Select a person. Tap the person icon (resembling a silhouette) located near the bottom of the screen. Choose a person from your photo library.
   
4. Alternately, you can select an image. This often works better because the images Playground chooses are not always the most recent or best ones in my opinion.
   • Click the “+” button next to the person icon to select a photo.
   • Tap Choose photo
   • Tap All to see your entire library. It defaults to Featured.
   • Find a photo you want to use and select it
5. Playground will start generating images.
6. You can refine this by either using the suggestions below the image or typing in other descriptions in the “Describe an image” field.
   The Suggestions include things like themes, costumes and accessories. You can add multiple suggestions or write multiple descriptions. Playground will continue to refine and create new images. For example, I added a suggested “Scarf” and added “2 long braids” to match my favorite hairstyle.
   
7. Swipe through the generated images until you find one you like. It will continue generating up to 10 images.
8. Tap the three dots (…) to see options like Copy, Share, Save Image and Report a Concern. I like this image, so I have chosen to Save it.
   
9. The Saved Image will now be in your saved Playground Images, but not your Photo library.
   To save it to your Photo library, tap on the image and click the upload icon (square with an up arrow) at the bottom of the screen. Tap Save Image. It will now be available in your Photo library.
   

Caveats

The first times I tried this, I could not get an avatar that looked like me. I ended up taking several selfies and using those. The only ones that looked like me were without my glasses, but I always wear my glasses. I had great luck with photos of some friends. They may have more distinctive features. If you don’t like what you get the first few times, keep trying. Try taking more photos until you start getting something that looks more like you.