Hands-On Apple 203: Creating Genmoji on Mac

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Hands-On Apple 203 – Creating Genmoji on Mac

Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Host: Micah Sargent
Episode: Hands-On Apple 203: Creating Genmoji on Mac
Date: October 9, 2025
Duration: ~13 minutes

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Hands-On Apple, host Micah Sargent explores the updated Genmoji feature in macOS 26, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18. The episode focuses on how Apple’s new AI-powered "Genmoji" function enables users to creatively generate custom emoji using combinations of existing emoji and text prompts, all processed locally on device. Micah covers the major new features, provides live demonstrations, and offers practical tips and observations about Genmoji’s quirks and possibilities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Genmoji and Apple Intelligence

[02:00]

• Micah introduces Genmoji, part of Apple’s AI suite, highlighting it as a feature “some of you will love, some of you will hate, and the others of you will secretly love but not talk about.”
• Genmoji leverages on-device AI, specifically trained on Apple’s emoji style, for privacy and responsiveness.

2. Accessing Genmoji in Messages

[03:10]

• To create a Genmoji: In Messages, tap the "+" icon and select “Genmoji” to access the creation interface.
• Clarifies that Genmoji generation is local to the device (“not sent off to the cloud”) for privacy.

3. The New Combination Feature

[03:41]

• Users can now combine multiple emoji or merge emoji with text prompts to generate unique Genmoji.

• Example: Trying to blend the “lightning bolt” and “see-no-evil monkey” emoji to express fear during a storm.

  “Now, the first option, not what I was looking for and in fact shows the lightning bolt over the top of the monkey. The second one is a little freaky.”
  — Micah Sargent [05:00]

• Micah notes the generative AI occasionally produces unexpected (and sometimes odd) results, such as an “Ouroboros monkey.”

4. Combining Emoji and Descriptive Text

[06:10]

• You can enhance generated emoji by typing in descriptive text alongside emoji selection.

• Example: Combining a "woman" emoji, a "microphone" emoji, and the text “sequined jacket” to invite friends to karaoke.

  “So what we’ve done here is we have taken the combination of two emoji plus a text phrase... And that’s much better. So now we can add this emoji and use that in our messages.”
  — Micah Sargent [07:09]

• Acknowledges some beta quirks (“for some reason... is not showing up”) but eventually demos the output.

5. Using People from Your Photos Library

[08:08]

• Genmoji can now customize generated emoji with hairstyles and facial hair, drawing inspiration from people identified in your Photos library.

• The system can recognize faces in Photos and let you “map out a profile,” adding personal touches to Genmoji.

  “You would go down and click on the little icon that shows a person next to the describe a genmoji area... and that will add it to the mix.”
  — Micah Sargent [08:54]

• Note: Micah’s demo account didn’t have people available, but he explains the process clearly.

6. Expressions: New Customization Option

[09:18]

• Users can now specify emotional expressions (e.g., “happy,” “shocked,” “angry”) for Genmoji.

• Example: Trying to make an “angry tractor” Genmoji.

  “We’ve got a red tractor...and the hubcap...is an angry emoji. The second one is silly... but I do like the first one, so I think it’s a win with that first one where the hubcap is replaced with an angry image.”
  — Micah Sargent [10:51]

7. Quirks, Surprises, and Closing Thoughts

[11:15]

• Micah points out the fun unpredictability of Genmoji’s AI, sometimes producing “odd results,” but encourages experimentation.
• Wraps up with a tease for more Mac updates next week (“We will return to our series covering updates to Spotlight”).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI-Generated Creativity:

  “Sometimes this stuff is going to give you odd results. Sometimes it will not give you a result that you want at all. That’s kind of part of the experience of using this generative AI system.”
  — Micah Sargent [11:54]

• On Real-World Usefulness:

  “Making little emoji, that can be fun...”
  — Micah Sargent [02:48]

• On Beta Software Bugs:

  “And we love when the betas or the new software is giving us issues. There we go. So now you can see, here’s our little emoji…”
  — Micah Sargent [07:45]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:00] – Introduction to Genmoji and Apple Intelligence update
• [03:10] – Accessing and launching Genmoji in Messages
• [03:41] – Demonstrating the new emoji combination feature
• [06:10] – Adding descriptive text to Genmoji creations
• [08:08] – Customizing Genmoji using people from Photos library
• [09:18] – Setting expressions and moods for Genmoji
• [11:15] – Reflections on Genmoji’s quirks and the fun of experimentation

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Summary Flow & Tone

Micah maintains a light, friendly, and informal tone throughout, peppering the episode with humor and real-time reactions to Genmoji’s unpredictability. The episode is hands-on, focused on practical usage, and empathetic to users navigating new tech (“I don’t know about you, but for me…”). It’s both informative and entertaining, making even the quirks of AI not just tolerable, but enjoyable.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Genmoji on Mac and Apple devices now allows users to combine emojis and descriptions for more expressive, personalized messaging.
• The feature remains local and privacy-focused, harnessing on-device intelligence.
• Results can be unpredictable but are often amusing—experimenting is encouraged!
• Integration with personal photos and new expressions adds depth and flexibility.
• Micah will continue the series with more coverage on other macOS features in upcoming episodes.

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This summary captures the key content and energy of the episode while skipping over ads and non-substantive segments. Perfect for those seeking a thorough, lively understanding of the latest Apple Genmoji features on Mac.

Transcript

[A]

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[E]

Coming up on Hands on Apple. Let's take a look at a feature that I know many of you will love. Some of you will hate, and the others of you will actually secretly love but not talk about. Stay tuned for this episode of Hands on Apple podcasts you love from people you trust. This is Twit. Welcome back to Hands on Apple. I am Micah Sargent and today I want to talk about some new features that have made their way to iOS, iPadOS and Mac OS 26. And it has to do with a little bit of Apple intelligence specific to Emoji, and that is Genmoji. Yes, Genmoji have received an update in the latest versions of Apple's software that give you a few more features when it comes to creating your own emoji. Now let's head over to macOS so we can talk about this. Here we are on macOS and I am in a message in the Messages app because that is where you will interact with Genmoji. And you know, I don't know about you, but for me, Genmoji tend To be the 1 Apple Intelligence feature that I do sometimes find myself using. When it comes to other Apple intelligence features, I don't play around with them all that much. Image Playground, for example, not a lot there that works for me in terms of something that I would want to use and share with other people. But making little emoji, that can be fun. And so I want to talk about those latest features first and foremost. Let's figure out how we get to Genmoji. Well, in your Messages app and of course this works on iOS and iPadOS as well, you click the little plus icon or tap the little plus icon next to your messages area and you choose Genmoji. From here you will see the little Genmoji tab pop up. And I remind you that Genmoji are generated locally on device. So this isn't something that's being sent off to the cloud to be created and then returned to you. This will be created with the chip in your device for it. So the first new feature that is part of Genmoji is a combination feature. So in the past when you wanted to create a Genmoji, you could, you know, give a description and say, I want a carrot wearing a top hat. And it would use the training that's. It's a specific training model that has been trained on the look of emoji, Apple's emoji specifically. And then we'll make something that is what you've described while still matching or attempting to match the overall look and feel of emoji. In this case, we're going to hit the plus icon in the right, in the bottom right hand corner that is a, it shows an emoji smiling and then a plus in kind of at the edge of the face. This lets you choose emoji so let's say I was having a conversation and it I was talking about being afraid of a storm. So the first thing I'm going to do is look up the lightning bolt icon and we'll choose that. And then we're going to hit plus one more time and we're going to choose that little monkey with its eyes covered. This, of course, is the See no Evil monkey. But in this case, it's often used to kind of hide your face in shame or hide your face in fear or overall just not want to look at something that you don't want to see. So it is a little bit See no Evil. So I'll click on that. Now, Genmoji, this specific mode of Genmoji knows that what you're asking for is the combination of these two emoji that you want. The See no Evil monkey combined with the lightning bolts. Now, the first option, not what I was looking for and in fact shows the lightning bolt over the top of the monkey. The second one is a little freaky. It shows the monkey itself and but replaced with a smiley. The third one also not giving us what we want. The fourth one also not giving us what we want. We can keep hitting next to try to choose other options. None of them are quite right. So instead I'm going to remove the lightning bolt and I am going to add the plus icon and choose Whoops and type in storm. And now I can see the lightning bolt cloud and we'll see what happens here. Perhaps the model can kind of recognize that we have a cloud and a storm. It's still not. Wow, not quite what I want. But we did get a really interesting image of a monkey that somehow its body has wrapped around in a circle. And it's like an Ouroboros monkey with a. It's it. You know what? It's magnificent. It's not what I was looking for. And this is the good thing too, is that you can take some emoji and then also add a description to it. So in this case, I might try to. Let's see. I'm just gonna use the word fearful and hit Enter and see what happens. We'll see what happens whenever it comes to this. So that's a little bit more what I was looking for. Now at least the monkey looks fearful. There are clouds above it. There's a lightning bolt below it. And you know what? It's not what I was looking for at all. But that's what you get whenever you are using Genmoji to try to create something Instead, what I'm going to do is I'm going to use the option that Apple provides in its own. Its own sort of rundown of the new features. So it says you can even combine emoji and genmoji with text descriptions. So if you're inviting your friends over to karaoke night, you can mix a woman emoji. So look that up. Whoops. I want to not do that. I want to choose the plus icon to select a woman. And so we will select. I just want sort of the standard gal, so there's a woman. And then I want just that on its own. Then I want it says you can select a woman emoji with a microphone emoji. So then we'll select microphone, and then it says, and this is the important part, because this is where you can add text with a microphone emoji and add a sequined jacket. So what we've done here is we have taken the combination of two emoji plus a text phrase, which in this case is sequined jacket. And that's much better. So now we can add this emoji and use that in our messages. If we go back to that main screen there, we've got our new woman with a sequined jacket that for some reason, of course, is not showing up. And we love when the betas or the new software is giving us issues. There we go. So now you can see, here's our little emoji with the woman showing up. All right, if you're looking for more Apple coverage, can I invite you to check out MacBreak Weekly? Every Tuesday, they dig into everything happening with the iPhone, with iPad, with Mac, and so much more. Another thing that you're able to do now with Genmoji is you can change things like hairstyle and facial hair for the Genmoji inspired by people from your Photos library. So what you will do in this case is we'll hit the plus icon, we'll choose Genmoji, and we will select a Genmoji. So I'll hit the little plus icon to select the very smiling smiley face, and then select a person. And if you have your Photos library with people included in it, in this section, you will see people here that you have told the system about. So, for example, as the Photos app starts to recognize faces in your library, it can start to kind of map out a profile of that person and then use that information to adjust the Genmoji. So because this is the test account that I have, there aren't people in my Photos library that I'm able to select from. But in yours you would go down and you would click on the little icon that shows a person next to the describe a genmoji area. And then from there you can select a person and that will add it to the mix and let you create a new smiling genmoji. The last thing I'll mention is that there are now options for expressions. So you can make your genmoji of people. You can make characters that look happy look shocked. Other kind of methods and modes. So we've got themes, but now we've got expressions. So why don't we take an emoji, which, remember, we'll need to go back to that main screen. We'll hit plus and let's do I wanna do something weird. As if some of the stuff we've seen already isn't weird. Let's take this. I think this is like the radioactive sign. And we're going to make the radioactive sign seem angry. An angry radioactive sign. And. Well, there's no radioactivity to that, but perhaps. Nope, not really interested in. Okay, I've got an idea. Instead of the radioactive sign, let's do an object. We will do a tractor and we'll see if we can't make an angry tractor. Wait. Yay. There we go. We've got a red tractor with the wheel and the hubcap. On the wheel is an angry emoji. The second one is silly, given that it has just taken a giant red angry face and put it behind the tractor. But I do like the first one, so I think it's a win with that first one where the hubcap is replaced with an angry image. And that's what we're going to do for our angry tractor. Look, sometimes this stuff is going to give you odd results. Sometimes it will not give you a result that you want at all. That's kind of part of the experience of using this generative AI system. In any case, genmoji one of the many, many options that and features that have been updated in this latest version of Mac OS again in iOS as well. IPados as well. So be sure to stick around for more there. But next week we will return to our series covering the updates to Spotlight in macOS. Stay tuned.

[A]

Bye bye.

[B]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

[C]

Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

[B]

Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T Mobile commercial like you. Teach me, Saldana.

[C]

Oh, no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly AT T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.

[B]

Wow, impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[D]

Nice.

[C]

Jeffrey, you heard them.

[B]

T Mobile is the best place to.

[E]

Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on.

[B]

Us with eligible traded in any condition. So what are we having for launch?

[C]

Dude, my work here is done with.

[F]

24 month credit is on experience beyond for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 device connection charge credit send and balance due if you pay off earlier. Cancel Finance agreement. IPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs $1,099.99 and new line minimum 100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oaklove Speed Test Intelligence data 1H2025 visit t mobile.com.