How to Use Apple’s Genmoji to Create New Types of Emojis


For decades, choosing an emoji has been limited to what’s available on your smartphone’s keyboard. Every year brings new emoji – I love the “face with bags under the eyes», although it is still being deployed. But sometimes the pre-installed options just aren’t specific enough. Fortunately, Apple has a solution: it’s called Genmoji.

With the help of Apple IntelligenceYou can generate custom emojis right from your keyboard using text prompts or even a person’s photo from your Photos library. Below I detail all the steps to create your own Genmoji.

Check out our Summary of iOS 18 for a complete list of all the main features of Apple’s latest operating system. Be sure to also check out our other Apple guides, including the Best iPhones, Best iPhone 16 accessoriesAnd Best iPads.

Enable Apple Intelligence

Before you begin, you’ll want to check if you have access to Apple Intelligence. It launched with iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, but Genmoji specifically launched in iOS 18.2. To check your software version, go to Settings > General > About. You’re good to go if it says iOS 18.2 or later. If you need to update, back up your device first.

If you still don’t have access to Genmoji, make sure Apple Intelligence is enabled (it should be by default). Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence and Siri and activate Apple Intelligence. It should be noted that Apple Intelligence is only available on some iPhones-THE iPhone 16 range, iPhone 15 ProAnd iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Screenshots of the Apple Genmoji feature showing how to enable Apple Intelligence and enter a description for the type...

Screenshots courtesy of Brenda Stolyar via Apple Intelligence

Enter your prompt

  1. When a message window is open, tap the emoji icon (the smiley face) or the keyboard icon (the globe) to access the emoji keyboard.
  2. In the upper right corner of the keyboard, tap the button Genmoji Icon (the pink and blue smiley with a plus sign).
  3. Type a few words or a phrase in the text box describing what you are looking for and tap Do.
  4. Browse the populated Genmojis and tap Add on the one you want to use. It will then appear in your emoji drawer and stickers.
  5. You can also create Genmojis based on images of people in your Photos app. Start by typing a prompt like “Julian is celebrating his birthday”, tap “Pick a person” from the list of contacts that appear and select the specific person. From there, you’ll see various Genmojis populate depending on the prompt. Faucet Add when you have found the one you want to use.

Refine your Genmoji

You can also edit your original prompt to create new versions of your original Genmoji.

  1. In the Genmoji window, tap the text box.
  2. Type a refined version of your prompt or an entirely new version. For example, instead of “dog with a birthday hat,” you could change it to “dog with a birthday cake.” It will then automatically repopulate the new versions.