iOS 27 to generate Genmoji from user photos and typing habits

A new leak from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests that Apple is preparing another upgrade for Genmoji in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. According to the report, the company is developing an “intelligent recommendation” system that can automatically generate custom emoji suggestions based on photos in the user’s gallery and their typing habits.

Genmoji debuted in iOS 18.2 as part of Apple Intelligence, allowing users to create custom emoji using text prompts. Apple later updated the feature in iOS 26 by adding more customization options, including the ability to mix two emoji styles into a single Genmoji.

iOS 27 could make Genmoji more proactive instead of relying entirely on manual prompts. Apple is reportedly testing a keyboard option that automatically suggests custom emoji based on photos in the user’s library and phrases they commonly type.

If the system works reliably, it could make Genmoji feel less like a novelty feature and more like something people actually use in everyday chats, especially if the suggestions match the context of conversations instead of being inconsistent or random. At the same time, the idea of analyzing personal photos and typing history to generate emojis may raise privacy concerns for some users.

The leak does not clarify whether the new recommendation system will continue to run entirely on-device, which has been one of Apple’s main selling points for Apple Intelligence features so far.