Microsoft Designer brings AI image generation to iPhone before Apple Intelligence

Previously available in preview for close to a year, Microsoft Designer has finally become available to everyone. Trialled using Microsoft Edge and other browsers through a website, Designer is now open to use on more platforms, including apps for iOS, Android, and Windows.

The app itself is free, but requires a Microsoft account to sign in and use. Previously, elements have been available through Copilot in Microsoft's other apps, including Word.

Designer follows the typical usage patterns of generative AI systems that produce images. Users can make a text prompt, which is used to create the image, but there are also templates to make it easier to create social media images and greetings cards, for example.

Along with creating new images, the app also has an avatar creation feature, and options to edit existing pictures. The latter includes tools to remove or change backgrounds and objects within the scene, or to entirely restyle the picture.

Though free to download, users will be limited to 15 "boosts" each day, which are automatically consumed when AI-based changes are made to images. Users could upgrade to a $20 Copilot Pro subscription to get 100 boosts per day.

Microsoft's launch of Designer arrives as the world waits for Apple to introduce Apple Intelligence in its betas, ahead of the fall release. Apple's system includes a generative AI image tool titled Image Playground to create images based on prompts.

Like Microsoft's implementation, the Apple Intelligence version also has hooks into various Apple apps, so you can easily insert generated images. It can now be downloaded from Apple's App Store.