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Apple Intelligence: Use these AI features on your iPhones right away

Apple's highly-awaited AI features are now available on select devices

Apple’s foray into artificial intelligence, branded as Apple Intelligence, has been highly anticipated since the initial announcement earlier this year. Now that iOS 18.1 has officially launched, iPhone users can finally experience Apple’s AI features firsthand, albeit with a modest suite of tools to start.

Available only for the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, and their Plus and Max variants, Apple Intelligence is still in its beta phase and currently requires users to opt-in for access. While the available features may be limited, they add helpful new functionality to the device, giving us a glimpse of how Apple plans to integrate AI into our daily lives. Here’s a look at the three most practical features you’ll want to use right away on your iPhones.

Summaries of Notifications, Emails, and Web Pages

For those inundated with digital communication, Apple Intelligence’s Summaries feature offers an enthusiastic relief. This tool provides a quick, concise rundown of the content in your Messages notifications, emails, and even Safari web pages.

Notifications: When a new message arrives in Messages or from a supported app, your iPhone will generate a single-sentence summary that offers the essence of the message. Although it sometimes misses nuance—like sarcasm or regional slang—the summaries generally give a helpful snapshot that’s easy to skim.

Emails: In the Mail app, the Summarise button at the top of an email provides a brief summary of its contents, allowing you to quickly determine the urgency or relevance of the message without diving into paragraphs.

Web Pages: If you’re browsing a page in Safari that supports the Reader feature, you can tap the Page Menu, then Show Reader, and select Summary. Apple Intelligence will produce a short summary of the article, so you can gauge if it’s worth your time without reading the entire piece.

Siri’s New Look and Enhanced Interaction

Siri looks better than ever. In iOS 18.1 for devices that support Apple Intelligence, it sports a new full-screen animation with colour at the edges. This aesthetic change gives Siri a modern, dynamic look and hints at the improved AI capabilities behind the scenes. Talk about a major glow up.

Siri’s interactions have also improved, with Apple Intelligence allowing for more natural conversation flow. Siri is now better at recognising commands even if you fumble with words, and it listens more attentively after delivering results, making it easier to ask follow-up questions. While Siri isn’t yet personalising responses based on user data, and ChatGPT integration is expected in an upcoming update (likely with iOS 18.2), this update signals promising advancements in Siri’s usability and responsiveness.

Clean Up: Remove Distractions from Your Photos

With Clean Up in the Photos app, Apple Intelligence makes it possible to remove unwanted objects from photos directly on your iPhone. Whether it’s a stray piece of litter or a smudge on the lens, Clean Up uses AI to identify and erase distractions, filling in the edited areas with plausible backgrounds using generative AI.

Simply open the Photos app, tap Edit on the image, and select Clean Up. The app will analyse the photo, suggest potential areas to remove, and highlight them for easy selection. Though it may not always deliver flawless results, Clean Up is perfect for quick, on-the-go edits and can handle minor adjustments without needing a third-party app.

Apple’s First Steps into AI on iOS: What’s Next?

While Apple Intelligence’s debut features are practical and accessible, they represent only a fraction of Apple’s AI potential. With further updates expected, including possible ChatGPT integration and enhanced personalisation, Apple is positioning itself as a serious player in the AI space. If these early tools are any indication, iOS users can expect Apple Intelligence to play a massive role in enhancing productivity, personalisation, and digital convenience in the future.

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