On iPhone 16 models, Visual Intelligence lets you use the camera to learn more about places and objects around you. It can also summarize text, read text out loud, translate text, search Google for items, ask ChatGPT, and more. And thanks to the latest iOS 18.4 update from Apple, iPhone 15 Pro models can now get in on the action, too.

Apple Visual Intelligence
Until recently, ‌Visual Intelligence‌ was a feature limited to iPhone 16 models with a Camera Control button, which was necessary to activate the feature. However, Apple in February debuted the iPhone 16e, which lacks Camera Control and yet supports Visual Intelligence. This is because the device ships with a version of iOS that includes Visual Intelligence as an assignable option to the device's Action button.

Apple later confirmed that the same Visual Intelligence customization setting would be coming to iPhone 15 Pro models via a software update. That update is iOS 18.4, and it's available now. If you haven't updated yet, you can do so by opening Settings ➝ General ➝ Software Update.

After your device is up-to-date, you can assign Visual Intelligence to the device's Action button in the following way.

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone 15 Pro.
  2. Tap Action Button.
  3. Swipe to Visual Intelligence.

settings

Pressing and holding the Action button will now activate Visual Intelligence. Note that you can also activate Visual Intelligence using the new button option in Control Center. Here's how.

  1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone's display, then long press on the Control Center.
  2. Tap Add a Control at the bottom.
  3. Use the search bar at the top to search for Visual Intelligence, or swipe up to the "Apple Intelligence" section and choose the button.
  4. Tap the screen to exit the Control Center's edit mode.

control center

Using Visual Intelligence

The Visual Intelligence interface features a view from the camera, a button to capture a photo, and dedicated "Ask" and "Search" buttons. Ask queries ChatGPT, and Search sends an image to Google Search.

visual intelligence buttons
When using Visual Intelligence you can either snap a photo using the shutter button and then select an option, or you can select an option in live camera view. You cannot use photos that you took previously.

To learn about everything that you can do with Visual Intelligence, be sure to check out our dedicated guide.

Top Rated Comments

cicalinarrot Avatar
12 weeks ago
I'd title this "$1000 phones from a year ago still not outdated, bad luck for $900 phones buyers"
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bhirt37 Avatar
12 weeks ago
Visual intelligence, what a joke. Unless I am missing something, all this feature does is upload an image to either ChatGPT or Google image search, depending on the button. What amazing things you are doing apple. These billions invested in ai are paying off!!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
youteonduty Avatar
12 weeks ago
technically you can get all these features on all the phones running upto date ios but apple decided not too as idea is to sell new hardware
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
almostinsane Avatar
12 weeks ago

You’re missing something. It’s in-device processing.
How is it on device if it sends the image to google and the query to Chatgpt?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lelisa13p Avatar
12 weeks ago

The beta period for Apple I will be longer than expected
I'm patient. I can wait. These days the thrill of a Beta for me isn't what it once was.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
12 weeks ago
Apple Intelligence gets some stick (largely for a set of useful or quaint OS features) but Visual Intelligence is brilliant.

Yes it relies on ChatGPT to do much of the heavy lifting but this doesn’t require an account and is no different to using Google as the search engine in Safari.

I’ve used it for all sorts of things from asking what an unknown food in the market might taste like to how to calculate Young’s Modulus of some tensile testing samples at work. On a recent trip to Spain I used it to visually translate nearly everything I came across.

Yes it’s Google Lens for the iPhone. But it’s only a purposeful button hold away at all times and the swishy gradient animations are look slick.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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