Here’s everything you need to know about making custom images in just a few words.
Here’s everything you need to know about making custom images in just a few words.

Apple released iOS 18.2 on Dec. 11, more than a month after the tech company released iOS 18.1. The latest update brings a handful of new features to all iPhones, like a redesigned Mail app, and it also introduces more Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone 16 lineup, as well as to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. If you have one of those iPhones, you’ll also get a new app called Image Playground.
This app uses Apple Intelligence to generate custom images on your device. You can choose from a list of suggested prompts, or you can enter your own description of an image and your iPhone will create the image.
Here’s what you need to know about Image Playground on iOS 18.2. Note that before you use Apple Intelligence, you have to request it for your iPhone. To do so, go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and tap Get Apple Intelligence.Where is Image Playground on my iPhone?
If you have a compatible iPhone with iOS 18.2, Image Playground will be a new app on your home screen. The icon looks like a kitten in a soap bubble.
You can also access Image Playground in Messages. Here’s how.
1. Open Messages.
2. Tap into a chat.
3. Tap the plus (+) symbol next to your text box.
4. Tap Image Playground.How does Image Playground work?
Image Playground uses Apple Intelligence on your iPhone and works like other AI image generators. Once you open the app, you can type a description of the image you want to create into the text box, or you can choose suggestions. (Check out CNET’s guide to expert image prompting.)
But you can’t use too many suggested prompts or descriptors. You can only use up to six suggestions and descriptors at once. If you try to use more, Image Playground starts replacing older suggestions with newer ones. If you have too many suggestions or descriptors, you might get a message that says, „Try fewer concepts.“ You can add or remove these suggested prompts and descriptors at any time in the creation process as well.
You can also create an image based on a photo in your Library. Tap the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the app and then choose Choose Photo. This will let you use one of your own images as inspiration for Image Playground. You can also take a photo by tapping Take Photo and your new pic will be used.
If you tap the plus (+) symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the app, you can also choose the style your image will be generated in. There are two styles to choose from: the default, Animation, which is like a 3D image; and Illustration, which is more flat and cartoony. Apple might add more styles in the future.
There’s also an option to insert a generated person into these images. Tap the silhouette of a person in the bottom-right corner of Image Playground, tap Appearance twice, and you can generate people to insert into your images.
Once you’re happy with the image, tap Done in the top-right corner of the app and the image will save to the app.
The next time you open Image Playground, you’ll see all your saved images in one place. Tap the plus (+) symbol across the bottom of the screen to create a new image.Can I edit generated images in Image Playground after they’re saved?
After you’ve created an image in the app, you can go back and edit it further. Open the app and tap the generated image you want to edit, and tap Edit in the bottom-right corner of your screen. You can choose more suggestions, enter another descriptor or change the art style.Will Image Playground always make an image?
In a very technical sense, yes, it will always make an image. Whether it’s what you’re looking for is another story. I entered the prompts „chef“, „bowtie“ and „volcano“ and got an image of a kitchen that had grown a volcano on its countertop. Sadly, there was no chef or bowtie in sight — maybe the volcano got them?
Apple will likely continue to make improvements to Image Playground in the future so hopefully images will more closely match your descriptors. In the meantime, we have kitchen volcanoes.

Amazon Autos is open for business
You can now buy new vehicles and trade-in old ones via Amazon Autos
It’s initially available in 48 cities across the US
More automotive brands are set to join the platform next year
The world’s leading online shopping marketplace announced that it was teaming up with Hyundai to start selling its vehicles at the tail end of last year, with Amazon users able to browse models and register interest, but not physically purchase them.
Now, Amazon has announced that Amazon Autos (Beta) is now open for business in 48 US cities. The service allows buyers to browse vehicles at leisure, pay with a customized finance option (or pay cash, if you’re a baller), or select optional protection products. You can either head to a local dealership for collection or arrange to have the shiny new car delivered.
The general idea is to beat Tesla at its own Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) game by offering a convenient sales channel that circumvents the need to sit in a stuffy dealership and haggle with a salesperson over the sometimes inflated price.
According to numerous Cox Automotive studies, which ask customers about their car-buying experience, overall satisfaction with the traditional dealer model is on the wane in the USA. However, Fan Jin, global head of Amazon Autos, says the new online platform is making shopping for a new car more transparent, convenient, and customer-friendly.
Arguably merging a number of online car-buying tools into a single online destination, Amazon Autos allows customers to get an “instant valuation” on their existing used vehicle, with the ability to trade it in toward the price of the new car.
Although the final valuation of said used vehicle will be decided by an independent third-party.
Currently, Amazon Autos only lists select Hyundai vehicles, chiefly the Ioniq 5, although the brand says it plans to roll out new models and feature additional automotive brands next year, while potentially expanding its business model to territories outside the US.Analysis: Just another shop window
Steven Suh, general sales manager of South Bay Hyundai, said in a statement that Amazon Autos „allows us to showcase our vehicles to millions of daily shoppers“, revealing that customers „come in excited to pick up their new car“.
So however novel it may seem, Amazon Autos is just another online shop window that will eventually see a customer set foot in a local dealership, either to collect their vehicle or when they eventually have to return for servicing, repairs and routine maintenance.
Sure, it avoids the awkward haggling with a salesperson in the first instance, but it still doesn’t completely eschew a ‘legacy’ dealership model.
Secondly, Amazon doesn’t make it clear how a test drive arrangement would work, with interested parties likely contacting a local dealer through the online marketplace to arrange some time with the vehicle. Free returns and Prime delivery don’t really work with something as large and expensive as a car.
Alas, Tesla has been successful with its mobile technician offering and the automation of its servicing schedules and routine maintenance. Remote diagnostics allow its mechanics to work out issues from anywhere in the world and if a vehicle absolutely has to visit a shop, Tesla will recommend and book in via one its trusted local repairers.
Because electric vehicles require less frequent servicing due to a reduction in mechanical parts, an increasing number of manufacturers are looking for more convenient ways for customers to interact with their products.
Tesla has proven that you don’t necessarily need a network of dealers to be successful, while Hyundai is clearly testing the waters to see if it too can future-proof its brand with an increasingly digital offering.

Satellite connection may only be available on the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
The next-gen Apple Watch Ultra may get satellite messaging and blood pressure monitoring, Bloomberg reports.
Apple introduced non-emergency messaging via satellite for iPhones earlier this year, and could bring the same capability to the anticipated Apple Watch Ultra 3 in 2025. Satellite capabilities means wearers could be out of cell service zones and would only need to carry their smartwatch for satellite communication—no iPhones or other devices would be required.
Globalstar, a satellite services company Apple acquired a 20% stake in last month, may enable the Watch Ultra 3’s satellite connectivity.
Apple is reportedly ditching Intel’s cellular modems for MediaTek ones for the next Apple Watches. This would introduce low-tier 5G connectivity to some of the newer Apple Watches, an upgrade over the 4G LTE technology on current watches.
Apple is also reportedly working on adding blood pressure monitoring to its next watches. The feature, like the sleep apnea detection released earlier this year, would not give out specific numbers. It would instead send an alert if a user’s blood pressure levels indicate a chance of hypertension.
The blood pressure feature has been in the works for years and has been delayed several times, but it could arrive on new Apple Watches in 2025. Apple is also working on blood sugar monitoring, according to the report, but that feature isn’t expected anytime soon.
All of these new features could help spur sales—or at least inspire existing smartwatch wearers to upgrade to the latest edition. Apple’s wearables and smart devices revenue has declined in the past two years, and its pricey wearable headset hasn’t sold too well, either.
Samsung already offers blood pressure monitoring and sleep apnea features on its Galaxy Watches. The US Food and Drug Administration hasn’t yet approved any watches yet for blood sugar monitoring, however, so be wary of questionable wearables that claim to do so without pricking the skin. Some wearable sensors have been approved, though, that work with an app on your smartphone.