If Apple Intelligence were personified, it would be a royal attendant feeding me grapes and fanning me with palm leaves. I have never felt so loved. Is this what it feels like to be catered to? Is this what it feels like to be spoiled?
If you’re unaware, Apple Intelligence is a new suite of AI capabilities announced by the Cupertino-based tech giant at WWDC 2024 in June.
Siri now has a charming glow around her display.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
Some of the most anticipated Apple Intelligence features, such as Genmoji (AI-generated emojis) and Image Playground (AI-generated images), are not yet available. However, you can still test out some Apple Intelligence utilities now, especially since the debut of the iOS 18.1 developer beta released by Apple on Monday.
I tested some of the Apple Intelligence features with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and in short, I appreciate how much it indulges my laziness. Of course, it’s not perfect – at least not yet. After all, the iOS 18.1 developer beta is expected to be a little rough as Apple gathers feedback from testers. (This is why you should back up your iPhone before installing any iOS beta, as it can be risky.)
But overall, there are a few things Apple has going on that will make its “Pro” and “Pro Max” iPhone models more attractive than ever. (Apple Intelligence is only available on current-generation “Pro” models: iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.)
6 Apple Intelligence features you can try now – and how to turn them on
New Snippet Tool Makes Safari More Engaging
Apple basically put a TLDR (too long to read) button in Safari that allows me to skip overly long articles and get to the point. With Safari open, I can hold down the icon to the left of the URL bar, click Summary, then tap,
If you will, Apple Intelligence provides me with “CliffsNotes” for any article I don’t have time to read. It’s great for when you want to get the gist of a story as quickly as possible.
My article on Apple Intelligence is summarized by uh Apple Intelligence.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
As someone with a short attention span, I can’t help but feel a little antsy after stumbling upon a wall of text or a lengthy story. Usually, I’ll read a few sentences and then give up. However, using the Summary tool, I received short and sweet summaries of articles that were disjointed, meandering, and seemed to go nowhere. In fact, sometimes I find myself wanting to read a long article Completely After an AI-powered summary revealed the story was more interesting than expected.
Look at the Summary button in the upper left corner.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
That being said, when it comes to diving into research-intensive articles, why should I use Google Chrome? I jumped over to Safari to take advantage of the new Apple Intelligence-powered Summarize tool.
The only downside, however, is that the summary tool sometimes tested my patience. It’s probably a few seconds slower for my taste, but that’s not unique to Apple Intelligence (ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini can also be slow).
Mix and match speed of light
The “Writing Tools” function is very useful
Whether it’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Copilot, one of the most popular use cases of artificial intelligence is “tone adjustment” of text. For example, you can put in a draft email and ask these AI tools to help adjust your tone.
I wrote a text message to Mashable’s video guy Alex Humphries, and Apple Intelligence helped me tone it down.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
However, I admit I’m one of those people who thinks “Pfft, I don’t need an AI chatbot to tell me how to make something sound more professional!” It turns out that the Apple Intelligence-based pitch adjustment tool (accessible through the new writing tool feature) is more useful than I imagined.
You’d be surprised to find how often you might think You feel friendly and high-spirited in emails and text messages, but conversely, your messages are interpreted as difficult.
To reduce this risk, I find myself using “friendly” pitch-adjustment tools to smooth out unexpected outbursts. The best part is that I can almost use writing tools any Text fields in iOS 18.1 developer beta. I just highlight the word, hit “Writing Tools,” and choose the tone I want.
As a result, I did see a more positive response from colleagues, friends, and other loved ones.
Photos app no longer scrolls endlessly
I’ll take one a lot of Pictures and selfies, but no, I’m not going to categorize them or put them into photo albums (because, spoiler alert, I’m lazy).
I just let them pile up into a haphazard collection of random snapshots. However, every now and then, I need to discover one Picture, which required me to scroll endlessly to find it.
I need help with my photo app library.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
Fortunately, with the iOS 18.1 developer beta, I can use natural language to search for specific images in the Photos app. For example, I typed the word “pancakes” to find saved screenshots of my favorite IHOP orders.
I could even type in the words “woman in red top” and surprisingly, all my selfies wearing red (my favorite color) showed up. Very cool feature!
Siri is more helpful than ever
Siri gets an AI-driven boost with Apple Intelligence, but my favorite benefit is its contextual awareness. For example, if I’m browsing the web on Safari, I can say “Hey Siri, send this Article for Jason.
Siri makes it easy for me to send a link to the article I’m currently reading.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
Siri knows which article I’m looking at, so it can grab the URL and send it to my fiancé without having to move a finger. (I’m telling you – I’m spoiled.)
Is Apple Smart Worth It?
As hinted at the beginning, Apple Intelligence feeds into my laziness—and I love that. I don’t always want to wade through several paragraphs to understand the author’s point. I don’t want to spend too much time hemming and hawing about how to respond to someone. Finally, I don’t want to endlessly scroll through my cluttered gallery to find a specific photo – it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.
Apple Intelligence solves all of these problems. I was initially skeptical about Apple’s new suite of AI features, but it turns out Apple Intelligence is useful and, yes, totally worth it.
Apple Intelligence is expected to officially launch with iOS 18 later this year (but keep in mind there are reports that some features may be delayed).
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