Apple’s new Image Playground feature has fallen short of its initial promise, as the company has seemingly removed the much-touted “sketch” option from the image generation software.
Back in June, during the WWDC 2024 event, Apple had claimed that Image Playground would offer three distinct styles: animation, illustration, and sketch. However, as reported by MacRumors and confirmed by Tom’s Guide AI Editor Ryan Morrison, the current beta versions of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 only include the animation and illustration options, with no sign of the promised sketch feature.
This could just be a quirk of the beta software, and Apple could introduce the sketch option at some point in the future. Either close to, or during the public rollout of iOS 18.2,” the article notes. However as MacRumors notes, all mention of the sketch option have been removed from the Image Playground app description, suggesting it won’t be appearing anytime soon.
The article points out that the previous app description had touted the “highly detailed and academic Sketch style” that would produce “gorgeous drawings on stark backgrounds.” Unfortunately, this feature no longer appears to be part of the Image Playground experience in the current iOS 18.2 beta.
This development is likely to disappoint many users who were eagerly anticipating the full suite of image generation styles promised by Apple. The removal of the sketch option from the final release could significantly impact the creative potential and versatility of the Image Playground tool, as users may have been counting on the sketch capabilities to expand their artistic horizons.
The article also notes that this restriction on image generation tools currently applies to other features as well, including Genmoji and Image wand, suggesting a broader limitation or delay in the rollout of certain AI-powered functionalities.
“This restriction currently applies to all image generation tools, including Genmoji and Image wand,” the article states.
Despite this setback, the article highlights that iOS 18.2 is still set to introduce a host of other notable features, including the Visual Intelligence AI Vision for the iPhone 16, ChatGPT support for Siri, improvements to writing tools, and various other non-AI-related enhancements.
As the beta testing phase continues and the public release of iOS 18.2 approaches in December, Apple users will be closely watching to see if the company addresses this missing sketch feature or provides any additional clarity on its future plans for the Image Playground tool.
The absence of a promised functionality in a highly anticipated software update is sure to create disappointment and frustration among Apple’s loyal customer base, who have come to expect the company to deliver on its promises. However, the tech giant still has time to address this issue and potentially reinstate the sketch option before the final release, potentially regaining the confidence of users who were looking forward to the full creative capabilities of Image Playground.
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