Apple Intelligence arrives with iOS 18.1: here are 3 features you’ll use every day

Apple Intelligence arrives with iOS 18.1: here are 3 features you’ll use every day

The wait for Apple Intelligence is over. Apple has teased and promised many features since then the introduction of its AI technology earlier this year, and now in iOS 18.1 we get our first glimpse of Apple’s AI ambitions.

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And although the first set of functions is modest in sizeyou will definitely find some useful. After running the iOS betas with access to Apple Intelligence for several weeks, I think these are the three features you’ll use on a daily basis.

You need one iPhone 15Pro, iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro (or their Plus and Max variants) with iOS 18.1 and, crucially, it should request access to Apple Intelligence to take advantage of these new technologies.

Once you’re inside, here’s what you can realistically expect. More features will be added as time goes on – and keep in mind that Apple Intelligence is still officially beta software – but this is the point where Apple begins its AI era.

Summaries add TL;DR to your correspondence

In an age where so much of our attention is demanded and there is seemingly less time to delve into longer topics…Sorry, what did I actually say?

Oh yes: how many times have you wanted an “too long, didn’t read” version of not only long emails, but also the firehose of communication that shoots your way? The ability to summarize notifications, emails, and web pages is perhaps Apple Intelligence’s most pervasive and least intrusive feature yet.

When a notification arrives, such as a text from a friend or group in Messages, iPhone creates a quick one-sentence summary.

an iPhone screenshot shows an AI summary of text messages an iPhone screenshot shows an AI summary of text messages

Apple Intelligence summarized two text messages.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Sometimes summaries are vague, and sometimes they are unintentionally funnybut so far I’ve found them to be more useful than not. Summaries can also be generated from alerts by third party apps such as news or social media apps – although I suspect my outdoor security camera picks up several passersby over time and doesn’t tell me that there are ten people at the door to stand.

a screenshot of a smartphone notification for Wyze a screenshot of a smartphone notification for Wyze

No one told me there was a party at my house.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

That said, Apple Intelligence absolutely does not understand sarcasm or colloquialisms — you can disable summaries if you wish.

You can also generate a longer summary of emails in the Mail app: Tap the To summarize button at the top of a post to view an overview of the content in a few dozen words.

When you’re viewing a page in Safari where the Reader feature is available, tap the Page menu button in the address bar, tap Show reader and then tap the Summary button at the top of the page.

an iPhone screenshot showing an AI summary of a news article an iPhone screenshot showing an AI summary of a news article

Summarize long articles in Safari in the Reader interface.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

Siri gets a shine and better interaction

During the iOS 18 and iPhone 16 releases, I was amused that the main visual indicator of Apple Intelligence – the full-screen Siri animation with color on the edges – 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 of, 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 still have your fingers in the Apple Intelligence Waitlist queue, you will also see the Siri sphere for the time being.

Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max with Siri's halo glow Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max with Siri's halo glow

Siri under Apple Intelligence looks like a multicolored halo around the edges.

James Martin/CNET

The new look brings a number of Siri interaction improvements: it’s more forgiving if you stumble through a question, such as saying the wrong word or interrupting yourself mid-thought. It’s also better to listen after you get results so you can ask related follow-up questions.

However, the ability to personalize answers based on what Apple Intelligence knows about you is still not available. iOS 18.1 does not yet link ChatGPT as an alternative information source; that interaction has only just been rolled out in the iOS 18.2 developer beta.

Remove distractions from your photos with Cleanup in the Photos app

Until iOS 18.1, the Photos app on iPhone and iPad lacked a simple retouch feature. Dust on the camera lens? Litter on the ground? Sorry, you’ll have to deal with these and other distractions in the Photos app on MacOS or with a third-party app.

Now Apple includes Intelligence Clean Up, an AI-powered removal tool, in the Photos app. When you edit an image and tap Clean up button, the iPhone analyzes the photo and suggests possible items to delete by highlighting them. Tap it or draw a circle around an area. The app erases those areas and uses generative AI to fill in plausible pixels.

a screenshot from the iPhone image editor, showing the removal of two cars from a photo of a bridge a screenshot from the iPhone image editor, showing the removal of two cars from a photo of a bridge

Remove distractions in the Photos app with Cleanup.

Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

In this first incarnation, Clean Up isn’t perfect and you often get better results in other dedicated image editors. But it’s great for quickly removing annoyances from photos.

Check this out: Apple Intelligence Impressions: Don’t expect radical changes

09:05

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