iOS 26 brings new styles to the Image Playground application.
While iOS 26 is relatively light in terms of Apple Intelligence upgrades, Image Playground was one of the few apps that received a worthwhile enhancement. Here’s how.
On June 9, at its annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference, Apple unveiled its latest assortment of operating systems, all of which feature the company’s new design language known as Liquid Glass. The software updates, which were rolled out as developer betas on Monday, introduced only a handful of Apple Intelligence upgrades, and they largely build upon the features introduced in 2024.
There’s a new Foundation Models framework that lets developers use Apple Intelligence tools for third-party apps, Visual Intelligence now works with screenshots, and Shortcuts were made more useful than ever. Image Playground received a similarly useful enhancement at WWDC 2025, in the form of more image styles, powered by ChatGPT.
There’s even an additional option labeled “Any Style,” which lets you specify the style of the image through text. This can be used to, for example, create images in the style of a particular artist or ones that resemble existing franchises and formats. With it, you can create custom images for events, like a poster for a baby shower with a realistic depiction of a stork.
Specifically, iOS 26 delivers five entirely new image styles with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT:
- Anime
- Oil Painting
- Vector
- Watercolor
ChatGPT has fewer restrictions relative to the standard version of Image Playground, which is powered solely by Apple Intelligence. As a result, it may be possible to generate copyrighted or objectionable content through known ChatGPT-related workarounds. You’ll also see a warning before any images are shared with ChatGPT.
However, the new ChatGPT image styles understandably require ChatGPT tokens. In practice, this means that you’re limited to one or two images, unless you opt for a paid ChatGPT subscription. ChatGPT functionality in iOS was previously limited to text, via the Writing Tools feature.
Image Playground, known during development as Generative Playground, previously let you use generative AI to create images in one of three Apple-approved styles:
- Animation
- Illustration
- Sketch
Apple’s initial batch of image styles is powered by Apple Intelligence and is available offline, as on-device processing is used for image generation. These three styles were available in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Apple also had plans for a fourth style known as “Line Art,” which was unfortunately never released.
Image Playground is also free to use, but the new ChatGPT-powered styles will require a ChatGPT subscription if you plan to generate lots of images.
Also related to image generation, Genmoji received an update with iOS 26. Apple’s latest version of the iPhone operating system lets you combine multiple emoji characters to make an entirely new Genmoji creation. You can also use text-based descriptions with existing emoji characters to create Genmoji.
If you’re making a Genmoji of your friend, iOS 26 now lets you adjust the facial expression or hairstyle. You can even choose whether or not the Genmoji will have facial hair or glasses, thanks to the added appearance customization options.
In addition to the new Genmoji and Image Playground features, Apple has created a dedicated Image Playground API that developers can use for their applications. Overall, iOS 26 includes a variety of different features, including Live Translation, a new “Clear” look for the Home Screen, and more.
