The wait for Apple Intelligence is over. Apple has teased and promised many features since introducing its AI technology earlier this year, and now we get our first taste of Apple’s AI ambitions in iOS 18.1.
Apple Intelligence summarized two text messages.
Sometimes summaries are vague, and sometimes they’re unintentionally funny, but so far I’ve found them to be more helpful than not. Summaries can also be generated from alerts by third-party apps like news or social media apps — although I suspect that my outdoor security camera is picking up multiple passersby over time and not telling me that 10 people are stacked by the door.
Summarize long articles in Safari in the Reader interface.
Siri gets a glow-up and better interaction
I was amused during the iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 releases that the main visual indicator of Apple Intelligence — the full-screen, color-at-the-edges Siri animation — was noticeably missing. Apple even lit up the edges of the massive glass cube of its Apple Fifth Avenue Store in New York City like a Siri search.
Instead, iOS 18 used the same-old Siri sphere.
Now, the modern Siri look has arrived in iOS 18.1, but only on devices that support Apple Intelligence. If you’re still tapping your fingers in the Apple Intelligence waitlist queue, you’ll also see the Siri sphere for now.
Remove distractions in the Photos app using Clean Up.
In this first incarnation, Clean Up isn’t perfect, and you’ll often get better results in other dedicated image editors. But for quickly removing annoyances from photos, it’s fine.
Watch this: Apple Intelligence Impressions: Don’t Expect Radical Change
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