iOS 18.2 Beta rolling out as iOS 18.1 prepares for next week’s rollout

Apple is now rolling out iOS 18.2 Beta 1 for developers as it prepares to debut Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 somewhere next week.

The company has rolled out iOS 18.1 Release Candidate software for public beta and developers. This build will be available for eligible iPhone users by next week.

At WWDC24, Apple introduced iOS 18 with new graphics and features. Some notable changes include a redesigned control center, better home screen personalization, lock screen customizations, and more.

However, the spotlight goes to Apple Intelligence, a suite of generative AI features. It runs only on recent Apple Silicon devices, specifically, the iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, and iPhone 16 series are eligible for this capability.

On October 9, Apple introduced the iPhone 16 but without Apple Intelligence. Yet, it announced these new features in phase with future iOS versions. iOS 18.1 is set to rollout soon and will bring some basic generative AI features for these eligible devices.

iOS 18.2

The changelog for iOS 18.2 beta shows language support for local English support in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

These are just a few things mentioned in the changelog. In reality, the beta package includes Genmoji and Image Playground. These two enable users to generate animated images and emojis to share with friends and family.

The build also includes ChatGPT support for Siri voice assistant. The Cupertino-based tech company made this partnership official at the developer conference and it’s now in effect with the new developer software.

With this capability, users can forward their queries to ChatGPT’s latest model to get a broad explanation of any prompt.

Furthermore, Visual Intelligence is also part of this beta software for the iPhone 16 lineup. It will enable iPhone owners to search visually by pointing the camera towards an item or a text written on a sign board.