Everyone knew it was coming, but now it's been confirmed that there will be not one, but two AI platforms in iOS 18 when it releases this fall.
Everyone is speculating that Apple is about to jump into artificial intelligence with both feet, and they're not wrong.
During today's WWDC 2024 keynote, the company announced the addition of so-called "Apple Intelligence" to all of its operating systems, but that's not all of the iOS 18 updates. There will also be new ChatGP features, improvements to the home screen, lock screen and control center, updates to the Photos app, more features in Messages (and more useful features), and updates to Mail and Safari. Even Siri has some new tricks up its sleeve.
Starting with Apple Intelligence, Apple's take on artificial intelligence, Apple promises it will be built with security in mind. According to the presentation, most of the AI processing in the app will be performed on the device, but it will include information from all aspects of the device, including emails, messages and even photos. In some cases, the on-device artificial intelligence is unable to complete an operation, and Apple says that in such cases, processing will be completed in iCloud on private servers and the data will never be stored there.
However, this isn't the only source of on-device AI. After the announcement of the partnership between OpenAI and Apple, no one was surprised that in addition to being powered by Apple Intelligence, Siri will also get access to ChatGPT. According to the demo provided at WWDC, you will be prompted to use ChatGPT before it launches, but the option is still there. If you choose to stick with Apple Intelligence, Siri will still be able to help in very customized ways through machine learning.
In addition to general artificial intelligence, you'll find that many apps and features have been updated in iOS 18. For example, new Home screen, Lock screen, and Control Center customizations let you give your iPhone an aesthetic that's just right for you. You'll be able to change the tint of the icons, arrange them around any photo you choose as your wallpaper, and even change the controls on the lock screen so you can access apps other than flashlight or camera without having to unlock them your cellphone.
Control centers are also evolving by leaps and bounds. You will now have categories of controls that can be easily accessed by swiping between pages or by sliding your finger up and down the screen to navigate the categories.
Photos is getting what Apple calls its "biggest redesign ever." This includes new displays and new ways to sort and find pictures. You can choose whether to pin the collection to your screen, you can automatically play collections and videos as needed, or you can use Apple Intelligence to help you find photos and create custom collections. Apple Photos is even getting some enhanced photo editing features, including the ability to remove unwanted clutter from an image so you can get the image you intended no matter who photobombed the background.
Messages finally supports RCS and is getting more support — you can now choose from any emoji, and with the addition of Apple Intelligence, you can even create your own, which Apple affectionately calls Genmoji based on the text description . If you choose to use this AI feature, it will extract context from messages in conversations to further enhance Genmoji's customization capabilities.
As an added bonus, you can also send and receive iMessages and text messages, text messages, and emojis via satellite, and your feed will notify you if you're connected to satellite. Of course, these messages will be end-to-end encrypted to ensure your privacy.
The Mail app also got a major redesign to look more like a Gmail box, including message categorization, a new summary view that collects related messages to give you a single view, and suggestions for creating supporting messages. Through artificial intelligence.
Finally, Safari has also received a pretty big update. Of course, machine learning (or artificial intelligence) is at the heart of this, including changes like a redesigned reader experience and features that pull relevant highlights from the site to help you find information faster.
Included are the ability to lock or hide apps so others can't access them, new password apps, and other controls, in addition to accessibility, notes apps, health apps, calendars, and many other app updates. applications, etc. And, of course, there are the accessibility features Apple launched in May.
While the developer version of iOS 18 is available starting today, if you're not a developer you'll have to wait until this fall to get the update. The app will be available on all supported iPhones, however, Apple Intelligence and the features it supports are only available in beta for iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max and above.
