This is Visual Intelligence on your iPhone (and here’s how it works)

Your iPhone got some cool features with the latest update and one of them is Visual Intelligence. We show you how to use this function.

This is Visual Intelligence on your iPhone (and here’s how it works)

Thanks to Visual Intelligence, your iPhone knows where you have pointed the camera. Whether it is a plant, a poster or a photo on your screen. Your iPhone can then tell you, for example, what type of plant it is that you have pointed the camera at.

We explain how this function works and how to enable the option. We also tell you which iPhones can use this function.

Visual Intelligence: this is what you need…

To use the Visual Intelligence function you need a few things. For example, your iPhone must support Apple Intelligence. You can read which iPhones have this support in the article below. But to put it bluntly: you need an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

In addition, you must have at least iOS 26.1 on your iPhone. Previous versions also had Apple Intelligence, but the function is not available on Dutch iPhones.

Then you also have to turn on Apple Intelligence. You do this by going to ‘Settings’. Then choose ‘Apple Intelligence and Siri’. Then turn on the slider next to ‘Apple Intelligence’.

…and this is how you use it

Once you’ve set up ChatGPT, you can also tap ‘Question’ during step 3. You can then ask, for example, what you are looking at.

If your iPhone doesn’t have a Camera Control (including the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16e), you can assign the Action button to use Visual Intelligence. You do this via ‘Settings > Action button’. Then choose Visual Intelligence.

The function also works if you have just taken a screenshot. If you are on the screen before you save the image, you can circle with your finger what you want to know more about. Then indicate at the bottom of the screen where you want to search.

iPhone with Apple Intelligence

Do you still have an old iPhone without Apple’s AI? And do you still want an iPhone that does have the function? Then the iPhone 17 is a great choice. You can often save even more on the price of the device with a subscription.

Do you want something cheaper? Then the iPhone 16e is also an option. It is already for sale for €549.