Apple is planning to make Genmoji more proactive in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, automatically suggesting AI-generated emoji based on personal context pulled from users' devices, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter as reported by AppleInsider and 9to5Mac.
The current Genmoji experience requires users to deliberately choose to create a custom emoji, which may explain why the feature hasn't exactly swept the nation since its 2024 launch. AppleInsider noted that adoption has been limited among everyday consumers, though Apple executives have publicly claimed otherwise. A system that surfaces Genmoji suggestions on its own, similar to how Messages already nudges users toward conventional emoji as they type, could lower the activation energy enough to actually get people using it.
The personal context angle is the interesting part. According to AppleInsider, iOS 27 may draw on what users are typing and what's in their Photos library to generate relevant suggestions. That's a more intimate integration than simply offering a palette of pre-generated options, and it leans into the on-device intelligence Apple has been building toward.
Mac users may not be left out entirely. German outlet ifun.de reported that similar automatic suggestions are planned for macOS 27 as well, noting that emoji keyboard support on the Mac has historically been more limited than on iPhone and iPad.
Whether proactive suggestions will actually turn Genmoji into a feature people reach for remains to be seen. But nudging it into the flow of ordinary typing, rather than keeping it tucked behind a deliberate action, is a reasonable approach to getting a stalled feature off the ground.
Original source: https://kite.kagi.com/5b73205d-fb42-4ee3-87ba-854f2545e029/tech/8