Playground AI App Autoinstalled, Ignored Setting and Also Added to Home Screen

I’m so mad about this. It appeared on my daughter’s iPad. We are very careful what they have access to, and the reason I found out about it was that she sent me an ai generated photo of herself.

[Edited by Moderator]

It still doesn’t sit right with me and many others! My app had a photo of a kitty on it and they called it “Playground” for crying out loud! What was I supposed to think this was?? I immediately deleted it before my wife could see it as I thought it was some weird adult website trying to trick me into something. It could have started a huge argument. Not cool Apple!

Dru3 wrote:

I’ve just found the app installed too! I don’t want unnecessary apps especially not AI .. There was no warning whatsoever about adding anything. Apple should give people the option to add apps rather than forcing them onto iPhones.. bad show

Get rid of your Apple gear and use something else. Problem solved! Oh wait! Other platforms auto install all manner of bloat and unwanted apps, more than Apple. Whatever.

Are you overreacting? Yes. Absolutely. You are overreacting.

Remove it form the Home Screen if you don't want it there.

lobsterghost1 -- It's really not helpful to insult someone who does not understand tech and is almost 80 years old. It is hard for us. Please chill.

My issue is this - at least give forewarning & make a separate point that apps are being installed with update. That way users will not be blindsided & react like many already have been doing. I never saw anything about this before update. Not even the hype before release.

Jaimeleem wrote:

Yes it was a cartoon image, generated FROM a photo of her.

Image Playground is about as harmless as it could be. It has so many guardrails. And Apple is not collecting the image. The image is stored on her phone which Apple doesn't have access to. It may be stored in her encrypted iCloud account (if she uses that) which Apple also doesn't have access to. The same is true of any photo she has on her phone (as , presumably, the photo she used to generate the picture is). It's now also on your phone.

There are other options out there, many web-based, that have fewer protection. That's why I asked. If it were me, that's what I'd be concerned about.

Ok not what rock you have been living under the past 20 years or so… but having a photo of a bunny (as in Playboy bunny) and calling it playground is about as suggestive of an adult website as you can get.

SoMDRedinPA wrote:

Ok not what rock you have been living under the past 20 years or so… but having a photo of a bunny (as in Playboy bunny) and calling it playground is about as suggestive of an adult website as you can get.

Let's be realistic shall we? If you opened image playground and asked it to create an image of a Playboy Bunny, it would tell you it can't do so. So you're accusing a simple application, which is beyond harmless of something it wouldn't do in the first place. Would it make a cartoon image of a bunny? Sure. Bunny's are cute animals. But it would NOT be adult in nature, so your assertion this feature is suggestive of adult websites is about as far from reality as you could possibly get.

Again, you don't need to use Image Playground. On iPhone you can actually delete it. But please don't make it something it most definitely isn't. And by all means, share your thoughts with Apple using the link I provided if you want Apple to know what you think.

The Settings > Home Screen & App Library that directs new apps to the App Library only applies to apps you download from the App Store, not necessarily to system apps or features introduced by an iOS update.

RUdeliberatelyconfusingme wrote:

Yes, we can read what's coming with a new update. But most of it is couched in "isn't-this-great" language so you really have to pay attention.

We have to pay attention?!? How terrible of Apple to inflict that on us. I

And, still, you do NOT GET A CHOICE. I guess this is the age of autocracy, so anything goes.

Yes, you have a choice: don't upgrade. You can take the product Apple offers or not. It's entirely up to you. If I buy a car from Honda, I can't get one without cupholders in the back seat because I'll never use them. I have to take the car with the cupholders in the back or take no car at all.

RUdeliberatelyconfusingme wrote:

Yes, we can read what's coming with a new update. But most of it is couched in "isn't-this-great" language so you really have to pay attention. And, still, you do NOT GET A CHOICE. I guess this is the age of autocracy, so anything goes.

LOL. How sad you have to pay attention. If you don't want to pay attention, that's on you, NOT Apple.

And yes, when it comes to iOS, Apple owns it, not any of us. We merely have a license to use it and Apple has the right to make changes to iOS without consulting us. That's how operating systems work. Apple at least tells us what changes are included in an update, so no one should be surprised if something new is bundled in it.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

lobsterghost1 wrote:

Yep. In my 70s here and doing just fine with technology.

If I recall, there are a couple of here folks around ninety. Steve Jobs would be seventy this year. Had he lived, I imagine he would still be coming up with interesting ideas.

For some people, age is nothing more than a number. For some, age is an excuse. Most of us senior members of the forum, however, aren't techies at all. Just people who find technology interesting and enjoy helping those who don't necessarily find it so.

Just use this link, which WILL be read by Apple --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

SoMDRedinPA wrote:

It still doesn’t sit right with me and many others! My app had a photo of a kitty on it and they called it “Playground” for crying out loud! What was I supposed to think this was?? I immediately deleted it before my wife could see it as I thought it was some weird adult website trying to trick me into something. It could have started a huge argument. Not cool Apple!

Then complain to Apple. Complaining here is only complaining to other users, none of whom had anything to do with Apple adding Image Playground to your phone. Apple has every right to add new applications to the operating system and even automatically install them on your phone. As you've learned, if you don't want it, simply delete it and move on with your day.

And when you ask what you were supposed to think it was, demonstrates you didn't read the release notes, which were published on the update page, and you could have easily read what it was. That's something you should get in the habit of doing when you download an update. It's not Apple's fault you didn't read them.

Feedback to Apple goes here --> Product Feedback - Apple