Are you looking for the best plant identification app for your iPhone? With iOS 18.3, you don't need one! You can use Apple's new Visual Intelligence feature to identify plants and animals, instead.
Why You’ll Love This Tip:
- Your search for the best free plant identification app is over! Apple has Visual Intelligence on your iPhone; no purchase needed!
- Identify plants and animals out in the garden, on hikes, at the arboretum, and more!
How to Use Visual Intelligence on iPhone for Plant Identification
System Requirements
This tip was performed on an iPhone 16 running iOS 18.3.1. You need an iPhone 16 model or later updated to iOS 18.3 or later to use this tip. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.
You must also have Apple Intelligence turned on. This feature is on automatically, but if you've turned it off, open the Settings app, tap Apple Intelligence & Siri, then toggle on Apple Intelligence.
If you're looking for the best free plant identification app, Apple has you covered! iOS 18.3 offers visual intelligence, so you can use your iPhone to identify plants and animals. The feature isn't perfected yet, but it's still a lot of fun to play with!
- Click and hold the Camera Control button (on the right-hand side of your phone, under the Side button), and point your iPhone camera at an animal or plant.
- Tap the Visual Intelligence lookup results at the top of the screen.
![tap visual intelligence results]( "tap visual intelligence results")
- You'll see your iPhone's best guess as to what animal or plant you're looking at.
![visual intelligence results iphone]( "visual intelligence results iphone")
- Tap the X to close results, then close visual intelligence by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
![tap the x to close visual intelligence results]( "tap the x to close visual intelligence results")
This is a great example of how Apple's visual intelligence feature isn't perfected yet. Our dog Snoopy is part Australian Cattle Dog, but also has Border Collie, Spitz, German Shepherd, and a few more. I'll be seriously impressed when my iPhone can identify all the ingredients of my mutts!
Now you know how to use the visual intelligence feature of Apple Intelligence to look up plants and animals on your iPhone! Be sure to check out our free Tip of the Day for more great Apple Intelligence features.
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Top image credit: W. Phokin / Shutterstock.com
