The iPhone 16 launch was a little more complicated than usual for Apple. Despite framing the entire marketing campaign around the launch of Apple Intelligence, the AI-powered features were nowhere to be found when consumers finally got their hands on the latest iPhones.
However, that’s all changing with today’s release of iOS 18.1, which will finally allow consumers to access the first handful of Apple Intelligence features.
I would say it’s available worldwide, but that would be stretching the truth; the Apple Intelligence features are available in the US and other regions, albeit only if you change your iPhone’s region and language to US English. UK English support is coming, but that won’t be available until iOS 18.2.
Oh, and as most of us are already aware, it’s only available on the iPhone 16 range, along with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, along with recent Macs and iPads.
That all said, the first iteration of Apple Intelligence features does bring something new and exciting to the iPhone experience, though some are more impressive than others. Here are the first six features you should test once you’ve installed the iOS 18.1 update, based on my time beta testing the update over the past few weeks.
Notification Summaries
Notification Summaries have made headlines in the past few weeks, and not always for the best of reasons, with some citing that the summaries can be too clinical (especially with break-up messages, it seems) and sometimes misunderstand the context of the notifications.
However, despite the fact that summaries can sometimes be misinterpreted by the AI – one of the issues with GenAI in general – there is a lot of use to be had from the feature, especially when it comes to long lists of emails and busy group chats.
The idea is that Apple Intelligence will read through all your incoming notifications and summarise them into a couple of sentences, hopefully distilling the essence of the notification without you having to read each individual message.
The catch is that it’s not enabled by default in iOS 18.1. Instead, you need to go to Settings > Notifications > Summarise Previews to activate the feature. It’s either on or off right now, but Apple is introducing the (much-needed) ability to decide which type of notifications should be summarised in the iOS 18.2 update, coming a little later down the line.
One of the more popular uses of GenAI is photo editing. It’s something we’ve seen from countless other companies, with everyone from Adobe Photoshop to Google’s Pixel range adopting some kind of GenAI-powered editing tool, with most focused on removing distracting features from photos you’ve taken.
Well, that’s finally also available on iPhone with the initial release of Apple Intelligence in the form of the Clean Up tool, nestled within the redesigned Photos app.
The idea is pretty simple, as with other variants of the tool; simply tap, scribble or circle whatever you want to remove from a photo you’ve taken and Apple Intelligence will try and fill the gap in the photo based on what’s around it.
It works best with simpler backgrounds – intricate details like brickwork can sometimes look a little odd – but it can help remove people in the background of your shots for an overall cleaner look.
To try the Clean Up tool, go to the Photos app, tap the Edit button on the photo you want to edit and tap the new Clean Up icon.
If you’ve ever written an email or text message that just didn’t sound quite right, you’ll appreciate Apple’s new suite of Writing Tools available in iOS 18.1.
It can not only proofread your chunks of text and suggest edits to improve the flow and clarity, but it can rewrite it altogether with either a friendly or professional tone.
You can also make things shorter and simpler to digest with the Concise rewrite, and if you use the feature in the Notes app, you can also generate a short summary, or key points or reformat it in the form of a bulletpointed list or even a table, depending on the content.
It’s not available throughout the OS, most prevalent in first-party apps like Messages and Notes, but it’s a handy addition nonetheless.
Record and transcribe phone calls
This has been a feature on Android smartphones – particularly Pixels – for a couple of years, and it was something I wish the iPhone would adopt.
Well, it looks like my wish has finally come true, as Apple has introduced the ability to not only record phone calls in iOS 18.1, but also the option of transcribing the entire call and saving both audio and text in a Note on your iPhone for later use.
This can then be used with the aforementioned writing tools to generate summaries, bullet point lists and more depending on what you were discussing in the call.
To record a call, simply tap the new icon in the top-left corner when on a phone call. Be warned though: the recipient will be aware that you’re recording, so be clear and communicate whenever you want to begin recording.
Create movies from a short description
The Clean Up tool isn’t the only new GenAI-powered addition to the Photos app; Apple’s video creation feature has also had a much-needed upgrade.
Now, in addition to Apple suggesting video compilations, you can tell your iPhone what you want your video to look like in great detail, and with natural language too.
For example, I told my iPhone I wanted a short compilation of videos from my recent trip to Hawaii with an energetic feel, and within seconds, I had exactly that – complete with an upbeat soundtrack – ready for sharing online.
It’s not going to replace dedicated video editing apps like CapCut for sharing social videos, but it makes it way easier to share small movies with friends and family without much effort.
To create your own, open the Photos app, scroll down to the Memories section and tap Create a Memory Movie.
Reduce your interruptions
iPhones have had Focus modes since the introduction of iOS 16, allowing you to essentially set different profiles for your iPhone with different rules around notifications, layouts and more. It’s a very handy feature that reduces distractions when working, exercising and pretty much anything else you set one up for, but it’s a very manual process.
iOS 18.1 makes it way easier to quieten your phone without going full nuclear with a full Do Not Disturb, instead using AI to analyse your incoming notifications and only notify you of things that it deems important or timely. This should reduce annoying notifications from apps and games when you’re trying to concentrate without missing out on more important alerts like calls from loved ones or the smart doorbell ringing.
It’s pretty easy to enable too; simply access the notification centre, tap Focus and tap the new Reduce Interruptions mode.
Better things to come
Now, this is only the first batch of Apple Intelligence features to be released, with arguably the best and most powerful features – like ChatGPT integration, a smarter Siri, Genmoji and Image Playgrounds – yet to make an appearance.
With that said, I only expect the Apple Intelligence experience to get better from here, with this initial set of features more like a starter before the juicy main course arrives in a few months.
