Apple Could Add AI-Powered Emoji Generation, App Icon Customisation With iOS 18: Report

Apple is reportedly planning some major new introductions for the iPhone with the iOS 18 update. The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to unveil the new operating system at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 event, scheduled for June 10. A new report now claims the company might introduce artificial intelligence (AI)-powered custom emojis that will show up depending on what the user is texting. Users may also get an app icon customisation feature that will allow them to recolour app icons as they want.

According to the Power On newsletter by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is going to introduce multiple new iPhone features with the iOS 18. While many of these features could leverage AI, some of them would also add more customisation to the existing interface. Coming to the AI feature first, Gurman claims that custom emojis could be unveiled at WWDC 24.

iOS 18 to reportedly get AI-powered custom emojis

AI features have become a big talking point for Apple. The company was previously reported to add AI-powered conversational skills to Siri. Now, Gurman claims iPhone users will also see AI features when they type a text in a messaging app. iOS 18 could introduce AI-powered custom emojis, which would be outside of the existing emoji library users get.

Explaining how the feature might work, the report claims custom emojis can be created automatically based on what the user is typing. For example, if a user types “Happy Diwali”, the AI might be able to understand the text and suggest a unique emoji relating to the Indian festival. The report did not mention whether there will be any guidelines to stop people from abusing the feature and generating obscene emojis.

iOS 18 said to introduce app icon customisation

Reportedly, the iPhone Home Screen will also get a big upgrade. Apple could ditch the standard grid for apps that has existed since the first iPhone and allow users to place app icons wherever they want. Further, users might also be able to recolour app icons.

The latter could help group similar apps. For example, all social media apps can be changed to the same colour for ease of identification. The ability to place icons anywhere will also let users bring out their creativity and set icons as per their preferences. These and more could be in store for the iPhone on June 10 when Apple officially unveils iOS 18.