Genmoji on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo: How It Works in iOS 27, and What a Sticker Maker Still Adds
Every new iPhone this autumn ships with iOS 27 and the A20 Pro chip, which means every one of them, the 18 Pro, the 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Duo in October, has Apple Intelligence and the rebuilt Genmoji. For a lot of people it will be the first time the option appears in their keyboard. This guide walks through how Genmoji works in iOS 27 on the new phones, step by step, what the Duo's big screen adds, and where a sticker maker like Pixmoji still picks up: the pack for WhatsApp, a look described in your own words, and the friends in the group chat who did not buy a new phone.
The short version
- Genmoji is on every new iPhone this year: 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and the Duo, with Apple Intelligence turned on in Settings.
- iOS 27 made it better: start from a description, an existing emoji, an image from Photos, or a person; refine with Describe a change; ask for a drawing or sketch look.
- It still makes one emoji at a time, in Messages, and sends to WhatsApp as an image, not a sticker.
- Pixmoji adds the pack: a matching set installed in WhatsApp and iMessage, a style in your words, and it runs on the iPhone your friends still have.
Turning it on
On a new phone Apple Intelligence is offered during setup. If you skipped it: Settings, Apple Intelligence and Siri, turn it on, and wait for the on-device models to download over Wi-Fi. That download is a few gigabytes and it is permanent; it is part of why a new Pro shows more system storage than the old phone did. Once it finishes, the emoji keyboard gains the option to create a new emoji.
Making a Genmoji in iOS 27
- Open the emoji keyboard in any text field, Messages included, and tap the search field at the top.
- Describe it. "Corgi in a raincoat", "a cactus drinking coffee". When the description matches nothing in the standard set, the option to create it appears. Tap it and Apple Intelligence draws a few candidates in Apple's 3D emoji look.
- Or start from something. New in iOS 27: begin from an existing emoji and change it, pick an image from Photos, or choose a person tagged in your library. The result keeps the Apple look but is built on what you gave it.
- Describe a change. Also new: instead of starting over, tell it what to alter. "Make the coat yellow", "add sunglasses", "make the cat calico". Each change builds on the previous result rather than regenerating from scratch, which is what made the old version frustrating.
- Pick a look. The default is the 3D emoji style. iOS 27 lets you ask for something that looks like a drawing or a sketch instead.
- Send it. In Messages it sits inline at emoji size, works as a Tapback, and lands in the sticker drawer for reuse.
It is fast, it is free, and on a supported phone it is the right tool for a one-off emoji inside an iMessage thread. The full comparison of what it can and cannot do, updated for iOS 27, is in Genmoji vs custom emoji apps.
What the iPhone Duo adds
The Duo's 7.6-inch inner display and Split View change the feel of this more than any other new phone. Two apps side by side means the conversation on one half and the thing you are making on the other: Messages next to Photos while you pick the image a Genmoji should start from, or WhatsApp next to Pixmoji while you build a pack and send the first sticker into the group without leaving either. Apple says every app takes part in multitasking on the Duo. The keyboard sits on the lower half of the open display, so describing a change is typing on something the size of a small tablet. We will add specifics after the Duo ships on October 23.
Where Genmoji stops, on any of the new phones
- One at a time. Describe a change refines a single result. There is no way to make a matching set of eight reactions and keep them together.
- Messages first. Outside Apple's apps a Genmoji is sent as an image. In WhatsApp it arrives as a picture, not as a sticker in the sticker keyboard.
- Apple's look, with a few options. 3D emoji, drawing, sketch. Not "anime portrait of my dog", not "cute chibi", not "watercolor".
- The phone in your hand. Genmoji needs Apple Intelligence, so it is on the 15 Pro, the 16 line, the 17 line, and everything announced this year. It is not on the iPhone 15, 14, 13, or SE, and that describes most of the people in most group chats.
Where Pixmoji picks up
Pixmoji runs on any iPhone or iPad with iOS 15 or later, so it does not care which phone you bought. Two modes cover what Genmoji leaves:
- Text to Emoji takes a sentence with the style in it, "sleepy panda checking a watch, cute chibi sticker", and the same style words across a set make the set match. See which style words to use.
- Image to Emoji redraws any photo, a pet, a coffee, a friend's selfie, as an illustrated sticker with the background removed, in the look you named.
Every result has Add to Pack. The pack is the point: tap Install Pack and it appears in WhatsApp's sticker keyboard in every chat, and the stickers sit in the iMessage drawer too. Send one into the group and the friends on older phones can add the whole pack, which a Genmoji cannot do for them. The workflow for a group is in making a sticker pack for your group chat.
Using both on a new iPhone
The sensible setup on an 18 Pro or a Duo is not one or the other. Genmoji for the quick inline one-off in an iMessage thread, where it is unbeatable. Pixmoji for the pack: the group's reactions in one look, the WhatsApp install, the sticker made from a photo in a style you chose, and the friends whose phones do not have the button. They live in different places and do not compete for the same tap.
Quick answers
Does the iPhone 18 Pro have Genmoji?
Yes. The 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Duo all run iOS 27 with Apple Intelligence on the A20 Pro chip. Turn on Apple Intelligence in Settings and the create option appears in the emoji keyboard.
How do I make a Genmoji in iOS 27?
Open the emoji keyboard, type a description in the search field, and tap the option to create it. You can also start from an existing emoji, an image from Photos, or a person, then refine the result with Describe a change.
Can Genmoji make a sticker pack for WhatsApp?
No. It makes one emoji at a time and sends to WhatsApp as an image. Pixmoji groups stickers into a pack and installs it into WhatsApp's sticker keyboard with Install Pack.
Can my friends without a new iPhone use Genmoji?
They can receive one as a sticker or image, but they cannot make one without Apple Intelligence. Pixmoji runs on any iPhone with iOS 15 or later, and an installed WhatsApp pack works on every phone in the chat.
Does Genmoji work on the iPhone Duo?
Yes, with the added benefit of Split View: Messages or WhatsApp on one half of the 7.6-inch display, Photos or Pixmoji on the other.
New phone, whole group
Use Genmoji for the one-off, and make the pack the whole chat can install. Download Pixmoji, free to download, on the new phone or the old one.