How is Emojify different from Genmoji?

Emojify generates in the cloud, so it needs only iOS 17 — no special chip. Results are images you fully control: share them, copy them, save PNGs to Photos, use them in Slack or Discord, and send them as iMessage stickers. Genmoji lives primarily inside Apple's ecosystem surfaces.

No — they coexist fine. If you have Apple Intelligence hardware, Genmoji is great inside Messages; Emojify still earns its place for exportable PNGs, workspace emojis, and generating from a dedicated library you can search and curate.

AI Emojis Without the New iPhone

Q: Why can't my iPhone make Genmoji?

Genmoji is part of Apple Intelligence, which runs its models on-device and therefore requires recent hardware — iPhone 15 Pro or newer generations. Older iPhones don't get the feature regardless of iOS version.

Apple's Genmoji made “type an emoji into existence” a headline feature — and then reserved it for the newest hardware. If your iPhone predates Apple Intelligence, the capability didn't skip you; it just lives in a different app.

The hardware line

Genmoji runs on Apple Intelligence, which executes its models on the device. That design choice has a cost: it requires recent chips — iPhone 15 Pro and newer generations. A perfectly healthy iPhone 13 or 14 will never make a Genmoji, regardless of how current its iOS is.

Emojify takes the other route: generation happens in the cloud, and the app itself needs only iOS 17. The oldest phone that runs the OS generates the same emojis, at the same speed, as this year's Pro.

Where the two differ (beyond hardware)

Output you own: Emojify results are images with full export — Share, Copy as PNG, Save to Photos — so they work as Slack and Discord custom emojis, in documents, anywhere. Genmoji is designed around Apple's own surfaces (Messages, emoji keyboard on supported devices).
A standalone library: every generation is kept with its prompt — searchable, favoritable, curatable — rather than scattered through conversations.
Stickers with a generator inside: the iMessage extension both serves your library and generates new stickers mid-chat, and recipients see them as ordinary images on any platform.
Style: Emojify renders detailed, illustration-grade stickers (the matcha latte looks like a matcha latte) rather than emoji-keyboard glyphs — better for stickers and reactions, different from a system emoji.

Honest column: what this doesn't do

Emojify doesn't inject characters into the system emoji keyboard — custom images become stickers and PNGs, not Unicode. Generation needs an internet connection, since the AI runs server-side. And if you own Apple Intelligence hardware, the two coexist happily: Genmoji for quick keyboard moments, Emojify for exportable, curated, workspace-ready images.

The practical takeaway: “can my phone do AI emojis?” is the wrong question — any iPhone on iOS 17 can. The real question is where you want them to work afterward, and PNGs-in-your-Photos is the most portable answer there is.

No chip requirement, no waiting

Cloud-generated emojis on any iOS 17+ iPhone. Free to try.

Download on the App Store

FAQ

Why can't my iPhone make Genmoji?

Genmoji requires Apple Intelligence hardware (iPhone 15 Pro and newer) because it runs on-device.

How is Emojify different?

Cloud generation on iOS 17+, with exportable PNGs, a searchable library, and an iMessage sticker extension.

Do the two conflict?

No — on new hardware they complement each other; on older hardware Emojify is the one that works.