There’s a new app on your iPhone: How to use Image Playground to generate AI images for free

Apple has begun rolling out Image Playground, a new app that lets you generate images with artificial intelligence directly from your iPhone or Mac. The tool arrives automatically with the latest updates tied to Apple Intelligence and offers a creative experience that’s very different from what you’d find in tools like ChatGPT or Copilot.

What is Image Playground and how it works

Image Playground allows users to build images by combining multiple elements or concepts, rather than writing full prompts. You can use personal photos, backgrounds, environments, accessories, and small bits of text. Everything you add becomes part of a compositional puzzle that the AI turns into a visual creation.

Unlike cloud-based tools, Image Playground works entirely on-device, which improves privacy and responsiveness. The results are not as refined as other platforms, but the tradeoff is full local generation and faster iteration. You can remove or add elements on the fly, making image editing intuitive and fluid.

How to create an image

When you open the app, you’ll find a central bubble and several options underneath. You can add suggested elements, select people from your Photos library, or write simple prompts to enrich your scene. Once you’ve gathered everything you want, tap the bubble to start generating.

Playground then offers a scrollable slideshow of previews, letting you explore as many variations as you like. You can pick between three visual styles, including a 3D animation mode and two drawing styles. When satisfied, press OK to view your image in full, and choose whether to save, share or delete it.