How to use iPhone 16’s Visual Intelligence feature

With the iPhone 16, Apple introduced the new Camera Control feature. The cutout below the side button is the perfect tool for quickly opening the camera (or other third-party camera app). However, with iOS 18.2, Apple upgraded it with Visual Intelligence, a feature powered by Apple Intelligence.

In this article, you'll learn what Visual Intelligence is and how to take full advantage of this exclusive iPhone 16 feature.

What's Visual Intelligence?

According to Apple, Visual Intelligence with Camera Control lets you quickly learn "more about the places and objects around you. " You can look up details about a restaurant or business, have text translated, summarized, or read aloud.

This technology is powered by iPhone 16 devices running iOS 18.2 as long as they meet the Apple Intelligence requirements (like using the supported English regions).

How to use Visual Intelligence

To start using iPhone 16's Visual Intelligence feature, long-press the Camera Control until a new camera animation appears on your display. These are some of the benefits of using this technology:

Get information about a place: You can use visual intelligence with Camera Control to get details about a business in front of you, such as hours of operation, available services, and contact information. Depending on the business, you can also view reviews and ratings, make a reservation, or place an order for delivery. (Available in the US only). Here's how to do that:

1. Direct your iPhone camera at the business in front of you, then click and hold the Camera Control.
2. Click the Camera Control again or tap the name of the business at the top of the screen, then depending on the business, do any of the following:
   • View the hours of operation: Tap Schedule.
   • Place an order for delivery: Tap Order.
   • View the menu or services offered: Tap Menu.
   • Make a reservation: Tap Reserve.
   • Call the business, view its website, and more

Interact with text: You can use visual intelligence with Camera Control to interact with text around you in various ways. For example, you can have visual intelligence to summarize and translate text or read it aloud. Visual intelligence can also identify contact information in text, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and websites, and take action depending on the type of text. Here's how to use it:

1. Direct your iPhone camera at the text in front of you, then click and hold the Camera Control.
2. Click the Camera Control again or tap the circle at the bottom of the screen to analyze the text.
3. Depending on the text, do any of the following:
   • Read a short summary of the text: Tap Summarize at the bottom of the screen.
   • Translate text: Tap Translate at the bottom of the screen.
   • Hear the text read aloud: Tap Read Aloud at the bottom of the screen.
   • Call a phone number, start an email, create a calendar event, or go to a website: Tap the phone number, email address, date, or website at the bottom of the screen. Tap the three dots to see all of the available options.

Ask ChatGPT for information: ChatGPT can expand the knowledge available with Apple Intelligence as long as you opt to use this AI tool. Here's how to use it:

1. Direct your iPhone camera at an object in front of you, then click and hold the Camera Control.
2. Tap the text bubble icon to ask ChatGPT about the object. After you tap, you can type or dictate a follow-up question in the text field at the bottom of the screen.

Search Google for images: You can use visual intelligence with Camera Control to identify objects around you and then search Google for similar items.

1. Direct your iPhone camera at an object in front of you, then click and hold the Camera Control.
2. Tap the image icon to search Google for similar images.
3. Tap the "X" icon to close Google results, then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to close visual intelligence with Camera Control.

Wrap up

BGR will update this article if Apple adds more features to Visual Intelligence.

The post How to use iPhone 16’s Visual Intelligence feature appeared first on BGR.

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How to use iPhone 16’s Visual Intelligence feature originally appeared on BGR.com on Sun, 19 Jan 2025 at 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.