When Apple unveiled Image Playground<\/a> last year, the company touted it as a quick and easy way to generate personalized, original images with the help of Apple Intelligence. Upon launch, the app was met with skepticism<\/a>, as some users were disappointed by its limitations<\/a> and low-quality results<\/a>.<\/p>\n For example, one Reddit user<\/a> was surprised to find that Image Playground kept generating an image of a hand with six fingers when prompted to create an \u201cup close image of a hand.\u201d In another instance<\/a>, a user was unable to receive images of simple descriptions, such as \u201cold man\u201d or \u201cflower.\u201d <\/p>\n Some people even questioned<\/a> what the point of the app<\/a> was, noting that it seemed juvenile when compared to popular AI image generators. (Of course, not everybody dislikes the app; some have<\/a> described it as being a fun experience<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Fast-forward to this year\u2019s WWDC<\/a>, where the tech giant announced that it\u2019s going to boost Image Playground with a ChatGPT integration, which should allow for a better, more advanced AI image generation service.<\/p>\n With the new ChatGPT integration, users will be able to access more styles that move beyond the emoji-like creations that Image Playground has become known for. <\/p>\n Images can be created in the following new styles: Oil Painting, Watercolor, Vector, Anime, and Print. In addition, people will be able to select a new \u201cAny Style\u201d option that allows them to describe exactly what they want. These new styles will be visible under a banner that reads \u201cChatGPT style.\u201d<\/p>\n In the past, users were limited to Animation, Illustration, Sketch, and Genmoji styles.<\/p>\n Apple says that Image Playground will send a user\u2019s description to ChatGPT to generate an image. The tech giant notes that it won\u2019t share anything with ChatGPT without users\u2019 permission.<\/p>\n By integrating ChatGPT into Image Playground, Apple is giving the app another shot at attracting users while positioning its AI image creation tool as a more well-rounded competitor to other similar free apps. <\/p>\n Plus, it makes sense for Apple to leverage ChatGPT to boost Image Playground, especially since the company has already tapped OpenAI\u2019s tools in other ways. <\/p>\n Last year, Apple announced<\/a> that it was bringing ChatGPT to Siri and other first-party apps and capabilities across its operating systems. With Siri, the assistant leverages ChatGPT when it\u2019s unable to answer a question on its own or when a user specifically asks Siri to send an inquiry to ChatGPT. Apple has also integrated ChatGPT into system-wide tools like Writing Tools, allowing users to generate, rewrite, and summarize text in apps like Notes and Mail.<\/p>\n The updated Image Playground app is expected to launch alongside the release of iOS 26<\/a> this fall. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/apple-image-playground.png?w=551\")