Apple finally rolled out the first wave of its Apple Intelligence, also known as AI features, to iPhone, iPad and Mac users with the latest update on Monday. Notably, Apple Intelligence was first announced at WWDC 2024, although the new features weren't ready in time for the iPhone 16 launch in September.
While many Android smartphone makers, including Google and Samsung, have already introduced AI features to their devices, Apple's marketing campaign for Apple Intelligence focuses heavily on user privacy. At the WWDC event in June 2024, Apple stated that many of its new AI features would run entirely on the device, with more complex tasks managed via a Private Cloud Compute powered by Apple silicon. The Cupertino-based tech giant also claimed that user data would never be stored or disclosed and that independent experts could inspect the code running on Apple silicon to verify these privacy commitments.
iOS 18.1 supported devices:
Although the iOS 18.1 update is rolling out to a variety of devices starting from the iPhone SE (2nd generation), the Apple Intelligence features are only available on select devices. Here's the full list of all Apple devices that support the new AI features:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
What's new in iOS 18.1?
1) Writing tools and Mail app overhaul:
The new update introduces a range of system-wide writing tools that allow users to polish their text by rewriting, proofreading and summarizing it in a range of Apple apps including Mail, Messages, Pages and more.
The Mail app gets a much-needed overhaul with iOS 18.1, using Apple Intelligence to detect and prioritize time-sensitive emails at the top of the list. Meanwhile, users can also read email summaries without having to open each message. In addition, Apple is introducing the Smart Reply feature to the Mail and Messages apps, where it analyzes message context to generate quick, AI-powered responses.
2) Renewed Siri:
Apple's voice assistant Siri is finally getting an overhaul with the iOS 18.1 update, making it more natural, deeply integrated into the system and better able to understand complex commands. The first big change to Siri is the addition of glowing lights that wrap around the edge of the screen when the voice assistant is activated. Siri also now has better language understanding, allowing it to understand users even if they pause while speaking or change sentences mid-sentence.
Additionally, users can type commands by enabling the “Type to Siri” mode, which can be activated by double-tapping the bottom of the screen.
3) Overhaul of the Photos app:
The Photos app is also getting a major overhaul in iOS 18, making it easier for users to find their favorite memories in photos and videos. The app also gets a natural language search that allows users to find the moment they're looking for by simply describing the situation through prompts like “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt.”
iOS 18.1 also introduces a much-needed feature that Android users have enjoyed for years: Apple now allows users to remove unwanted objects from photos using the new Clean Up tool. The AI-powered tool can automatically detect unwanted objects or people in an image, while users also have the option to manually select the part of the image they want to clean up using circle or brush gestures.
4) AI-assisted focus modes:
iOS 18.1 introduces a new focus mode called 'Reduce Interruptions' that uses AI to analyze the content of notifications on iPhones, allowing only important updates to disrupt the user's focus.
Users can also override notification settings for specific apps and people, similar to how this worked before iOS 18.1. There's also a new toggle called 'Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing' that applies similar AI notification detection to existing focus modes.
5) Recording and transcription of conversations:
iPhone users had to wait a long time before Apple finally announced at WWDC 2024 that it would be bringing the call recording feature to iOS 18. iOS 18.1 not only adds the ability to record phone calls, but users can now access a transcription and summary of the recording in the Notes and Phone apps.
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Published: Oct 29, 2024 07:11 IST