Apple has finally completed its AI starter kit with the public release of iOS 18.2, bringing a range of new features to its "built for Apple Intelligence" iPhones. The update includes the Image Playground app for AI image generation, Genmoji, and a ChatGPT extension for Siri, among other tools. While these features may be novel and occasionally helpful, they still fall short of delivering the truly useful AI smartphones that consumers have been promised.

The AI features in iOS 18.2 are an improvement over the initial set released with iOS 18.1, which felt like a minimum viable product. However, they still have a long way to go to catch up with the likes of Samsung and Google. The ChatGPT extension for Siri, for example, can send complex queries to the AI model, but it's still prone to making things up and lacks the ability to take action on the user's behalf.

Image Playground, a standalone app with a waitlist, unlocks image creation tools throughout the OS. While it's a fun feature, it's not immune to the pitfalls of AI image tools, often producing weird or unrealistic results. The app's strict guardrails are a good thing, but the results can be hit-or-miss. Genmoji, another feature, gets things right a lot, but its tiny size and limitations make it hard to use in practice.

One of the more interesting features in iOS 18.2 is the ability to direct AI to make a piece of writing sound a certain way. Users can choose from a range of styles, from "professional" to "friendly" to even making it sound like Mr. T wrote the email. While this feature is amusing, it's unclear how useful it will be in real-world scenarios.

The bigger issue with AI on phones right now is that it rarely feels helpful or solves real problems. While Apple, Google, and Samsung are all working towards delivering more useful AI features, they're still struggling to move beyond novelty and into true utility. The pressure is on to deliver something more substantial in 2025, as the novelty of AI tricks is wearing off fast.

In the meantime, users will have to make do with the occasional helpful suggestion or amusing image generation. While iOS 18.2 is a step in the right direction, it's clear that the industry still has a long way to go to deliver the AI smartphones that consumers have been promised.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Apple and its competitors respond to the challenge of delivering truly useful AI features. For now, iOS 18.2 is a solid step forward, but it's still just a starting point.