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Comparison

Onhand vs Apple Image Playground

Looking for an Image Playground alternative that edits your own photos offline? Image Playground is included with Apple Intelligence on supported iPhones and costs nothing, which makes it the first thing to try. Onhand is for the jobs it was not built for: photorealistic or painterly results, editing your own photos with a diffusion model, and working with no network at all.

By Onhand · Updated September 28, 2026

A compact private art studio beside a bright cloud-assisted creative space

The short answer

Pick Image Playground when you want a quick stylised image of someone you know, without downloading a separate model pack or paying for another app. Pick Onhand when you want photorealistic or painterly output, when you want to restyle and repair a photo you already took, or when the work has to happen on the device with no network. Most people will end up using both, because they are good at different jobs.

Side by side

What to checkOnhandApple Image Playground
What it isThird-party image generation and editing appApple's built-in image generator
PriceFree download, one-time Pro unlock, no subscriptionFree with Apple Intelligence
Where generation runsOn the device GPU, every timeiOS 27 rebuilt app runs on Private Cloud Compute
Works in airplane modeYes, once a model pack is downloadediOS 27 rebuilt app needs a network connection
Photorealistic outputYes, that is the main useiOS 27 model supports photorealistic output; it is not a named preset
Edit a photo you already haveYes, image-to-image on every modelSource-photo transforms and touch edits ship with iOS 27
Masked inpaintingYes, with the free fast modelNot offered as a paint-a-mask tool
Generate people you knowNo people pickerYes, people from your Photos library
SetupDownload a model pack, roughly 1 to 4.5 GBApple Intelligence, about 7 GB of storage
PlatformsiPhone and iPad, iOS 26 or laterSupported iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac
AvailabilityPre-launch, coming soon (waitlist)Shipping since December 2024; rebuilt for iOS 27

What is each app?

Apple Image Playground is Apple's own image generator, included free with Apple Intelligence. It arrived as a standalone app in December 2024 with iOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2. You give it a description or choose concepts, and it returns a stylised image. It can also build an image around a person from your Photos library, the feature many people remember it for.

Onhand is a third-party app that runs diffusion models directly on an iPhone or iPad. It generates images from text, restyles photos you already took, and repaints a region you paint over. It is pre-launch and coming soon, so it is not on the App Store yet. The download is free, one fast model is free to use, and a one-time Pro purchase unlocks the larger packs. There is no subscription, no credits and no cap on how many images you make.

Where does the generation actually happen?

In Onhand it happens on the device GPU, every time. Your prompt, your source photo and the finished image are never sent to a generation server. Once a model pack has downloaded, the app generates and edits in airplane mode. Onhand does use limited anonymous analytics and Apple and RevenueCat purchase services, which the privacy page covers.

For Image Playground the answer depends on the version. Apple said in its WWDC 2026 developer session that the rebuilt version shipping with iOS 27 runs on Private Cloud Compute rather than on the device, and therefore requires a network connection. Private Cloud Compute is Apple's own server hardware with published privacy guarantees, which is not the same as an ordinary web service. It is still not local.

For the version that shipped from December 2024 through iOS 26, Apple describes an Apple Intelligence experience with optional ChatGPT integration, but does not publish a simple routing statement that covers every style. This page therefore makes no blanket offline claim for that version.

What kind of images does each one make?

Image Playground launched with Animation and Illustration, with Sketch added later. Those named presets were designed for stylised output rather than general photorealism. ChatGPT can also appear as an optional external provider, which is separate from Apple's first-party presets.

That changes on iOS 27. Apple says the new model can create images in virtually any style, including photorealistic output. The named first-party presets shown in its WWDC session are Illustration, Sketch, Animation and Genmoji; “Realistic” is not listed as a preset.

Onhand starts from a different place. It runs general diffusion models: a fast Stable Diffusion-class model of about 2 GB that is free to use, an XL-class model, and FLUX.2 Klein 4B for stronger prompt following. Photorealistic and painterly results are the normal case rather than a style toggle. Style presets cover a look you do not want to describe, and a Refine loop keeps iterating while saving every version.

Two honest limits on the Onhand side. Lettering inside an image is unreliable and depends heavily on the model, so nothing here promises readable text. The Turbo models run at a guidance scale of zero, so negative prompts do nothing on them; style has to go in the positive prompt.

Can either one edit a photo you already took?

Onhand was built for this. Image-to-image works on every model with a strength control, so you can nudge a photo slightly or rework it completely. Masked inpainting lets you paint over a region and regenerate only that area, with the free fast model. There is also resizing, on-device background removal, and a gallery that keeps your history on the device.

Before iOS 27, Image Playground did not edit an arbitrary photo from your library. It composed a new image from concepts, a description and a person. On iOS 27 the rebuilt app can start from a source photo, transform or modify it with natural-language descriptions, and select an area by tapping, circling or brushing. Apple describes the source photo as visual inspiration and a starting point rather than a strict constraint, so this is not the same as masked inpainting.

What Onhand does not do is worth stating plainly, because some of it is standard in a desktop workflow. There is no outpainting, no LoRA, no ControlNet, no importing your own model files, no video and no AI upscaling. Resizing is resizing. There is no cloud fallback.

What does each one cost, and what will run it?

Image Playground costs nothing. The real cost is hardware and setup. Apple lists Apple Intelligence as requiring an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, an iPhone 16 or later, an iPad mini with A17 Pro, an iPad with M1 or later, or an Apple silicon Mac. It also needs about 7 GB of free storage, a supported region, and your device language and Siri language to match. Apple notes in the iOS 27 developer session that usage limits are increased with iCloud+, so heavy use has a ceiling.

Onhand is a free download with a one-time Pro purchase that unlocks more model packs. The price is not listed here because it varies by storefront and is still being tested. What matters more is memory. Packs run from roughly 1 GB to 4.5 GB, and whether a device can run one depends on how much memory it can get, not on chip speed. The test device and floor is an iPhone 14 Pro with 6 GB: the free fast pack runs there, and larger packs want more room.

On speed, the developer measured about 7 seconds for a 512 pixel image with the free fast model and about 12 seconds with the XL pack on that iPhone 14 Pro, by the method described on the about page. No Image Playground timing is quoted, because that needs the same test on the same hardware. Onhand runs on iPhone and iPad only; Image Playground covers the Mac too.

Is there a reason to use both?

Yes, and it is the honest recommendation for most people with a supported Apple Intelligence device. Image Playground is included with the system, has a person picker nothing else matches, and takes seconds to try. Start there. If what comes back is right, you have spent nothing.

Reach for Onhand at one of three walls. Realism and control: you want a specific photographic or painted look, steered with a longer prompt. Your own photos: you want to restyle a shot you took, or repaint part of it, and keep iterating. The network: you are on a plane, on a bad connection, or you do not want the photo leaving the device.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Onhand if

  • You want photorealistic or painterly images and long, specific prompts.
  • You want to restyle a photo you already took, or repaint one region of it.
  • You need generation to work with no network connection at all.
  • You want a one-time purchase with no subscription, credits or image limits.
  • You want prompts, source photos and results to stay on the device.

Pick Apple Image Playground if

  • It is free on supported Apple Intelligence hardware and needs no separate model-pack download.
  • It can build images around people from your Photos library, which Onhand cannot do.
  • It is the fastest path from idea to a shareable stylised image.
  • It runs on the Mac as well as iPhone and iPad.
  • It is shipping today, while Onhand is still pre-launch.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a good Image Playground alternative that makes realistic images?

Onhand is built around exactly that: it runs general diffusion models on the device, so photorealistic and painterly output is the normal case rather than a style option. Apple says the rebuilt Image Playground in iOS 27 can also create photorealistic output, although “Realistic” is not listed as a named preset. Try the included Apple app first, since it costs nothing. Onhand is coming soon; join the launch list if you want that alternative when it ships.

Does Apple Image Playground work offline?

No for the rebuilt iOS 27 app: Apple has said it runs on Private Cloud Compute and requires a network connection. For the version that shipped from December 2024 through iOS 26, Apple has not published how Image Playground routes its work, so no offline claim is made here either. Onhand generates on the device GPU and works in airplane mode once a model pack has downloaded.

Can Image Playground edit a photo I already have?

Not before iOS 27. The earlier version composed a new image from concepts, a description and optionally a person from your Photos library. On iOS 27 the rebuilt app accepts a source photo, understands natural-language edit instructions, and lets you select part of an image by tapping, circling or brushing. Onhand does image-to-image on every model, plus masked inpainting, and that work stays on the device.

Does Image Playground cost anything?

No. It is included free with Apple Intelligence on supported hardware. The requirements are the real cost: an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 or later, an iPad mini with A17 Pro, an iPad with M1 or later, or an Apple silicon Mac, plus about 7 GB of storage, a supported region, and matching device and Siri languages. Apple notes that iOS 27 usage limits are increased with iCloud+.

Will Onhand run on my iPhone?

It needs iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later on an iPhone or iPad. What decides which model packs you can use is available memory rather than chip speed. The test device is an iPhone 14 Pro with 6 GB, and the free fast pack runs there; larger packs need more room. There is no Mac, Android or web version.

What is the difference between Image Playground, Genmoji, Image Wand and Clean Up?

They are four separate Apple features people often merge into one. Image Playground is the standalone image generator, and the only general-purpose one of the four. Genmoji makes emoji-scale images, and Image Wand turns a rough sketch in Notes or Freeform into a picture. Clean Up removes an object from a photo inside Photos.

Is Onhand on the App Store today?

Not yet. Onhand is coming soon to iPhone and iPad. Join the launch list on this site to hear first. Image Playground remains free with Apple Intelligence on supported devices.

Sources

Facts about other products come from their own listings and documentation, last checked on the date shown. Corrections are welcome at the address on the About page.