Apple to give Genmoji a bigger purpose in iOS 27

iOS 27 could introduce a new way to use Genmoji by automatically suggesting custom emojis based on a user’s photos and typing habits.

According to Mark Gurman in the latest Power On newsletter, Apple is working on a “Suggested Genmoji” feature for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 as part of its broader Apple Intelligence push.

Genmoji debuted in iOS 18.2, where users could generate custom emoji-style images simply by describing what they wanted. With iOS 26, Apple added more ways to customize Genmoji, along with support for blending two different emojis into one.

Apple wants Genmoji to feel more proactive

The next step appears to involve proactive suggestions instead of requiring users to generate each Genmoji manually.

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The report says a new toggle inside keyboard settings mentions that “Suggested Genmoji are created from your photos and your commonly typed phrases.”

That means Apple Intelligence could potentially analyze images in a user’s library alongside frequently used phrases to generate more relevant emoji suggestions automatically.

The feature is expected to remain optional, allowing users to disable it if they don’t want Genmoji suggestions tied to their photos or keyboard activity.

Privacy concerns could become part of the conversation

The feature could make Genmoji far more useful if the suggestions understand context properly instead of generating random combinations.

At the same time, automatically generating emojis using personal photos and typing history may raise privacy concerns for some users, even if the processing stays on-device.

At the moment, there is no sign that Apple is changing the technology behind Genmoji in iOS 27. Based on what has been reported so far, the feature still appears to rely mainly on on-device processing instead of cloud-based image generation.

Apple will officially unveil iOS 27 at WWDC 2026 next month.

Would you use AI-generated Genmoji suggestions based on your photos and frequently used phrases? Share your thoughts in the comments below.