Apple Intelligence rolls out to testers with latest iOS 18 beta update
The iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update for eligible iPhone models started rolling out to Apple on Monday, and the latest update adds several long-awaited features for testers. The most notable addition is Apple Intelligence – the suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features coming to Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad and Mac that Apple unveiled on June 10 at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024. The update also adds features to Siri, brings new tools and support for Apple’s new AI tools, in addition to system-wide improvements and bug fixes.
iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 Features
According to Apple’s release notesThe iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update adds new features related to Apple Intelligence. A new AI-powered writing feature is available to testers, with options to proofread documents with spelling and grammar checks, and rewrite text for different tones: Concise, Friendly, or Professional.
It can also summarize the text, highlighting all the important points for better understanding. This feature was shown during a demo at WWDC 2024, the company’s annual developer conference.
Siri, Apple’s built-in voice assistant, also gets an upgrade with the iOS 18.1 beta. It gains contextual awareness, meaning users can ask questions without knowing the exact jargon. Siri can follow conversations even if users stumble between voice queries.
The update also sees the introduction of a new Siri UI that lights up at the edges when the voice assistant is enabled. Messages now feature smart reply options that analyze the text of the message to provide relevant quick replies.
The Photos app has also been updated with Apple Intelligence features related to automatic movie creation. Users can now use the Memory Movie option to automatically create movies related to their prompts.
While the feature itself chooses the media, users can manually customize it to add or remove specific content or change the audio. Moreover, the app also gets a natural language search feature that allows the user to search for media in simple language.
In Safari, Apple Intelligence can now summarize web pages when Reader Mode is enabled. With the latest iOS 18 Developer Beta update, Apple is also bringing a call recording feature to the Phone app. Recorded conversations can be found in the Notes app, along with an option to get a transcript.
To make good on its promise of transparency, Apple also introduced the Apple Intelligence Report feature in Settings, which allows users to view and export their activity after Face ID authentication. The Cupertino-based tech giant says its AI features use on-device processing in conjunction with Private Cloud Compute.
iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 Availability
The iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update has only been rolled out for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both models support Apple Intelligence thanks to their A17 Pro chipset.
In addition to iOS 18.1, the iPhone maker also introduced Developer Beta updates with Apple Intelligence features for iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Apple says that iPad and Mac models with Apple Silicon chipsets will be able to take advantage of the new AI features.
