iOS 18.1 developer beta introduces Apple Intelligence: Check new features

Apple has released iOS 18.1 developer beta, packed with an initial set of Apple Intelligence features. Introduced in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the full suite of Apple Intelligence will be available in beta later this year for iPhone, iPad, and Macs.

Ahead of the public release, the US-based technology giant has rolled out the beta for developers to test the upcoming features as it works on adding fineness to the platform. Though the iOS 18.1 developer beta is available for testing on all eligible iPhone models, the Apple Intelligence features are exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models.

iOS 18.1 developer beta: What is new

Messages

Messages now have the “Smart Reply” option, which analyses the content and context and offers suggestions. Moreover, eligible iPhones now show a summary of multiple message notifications on the lock screen.

Writing Tools

On iPhones running on iOS 18.1 developer beta, users can select text to access Writing Tools for summaries and other features such as proofreading text for spelling and grammar, word choice and sentence structure mistakes. Apple Intelligence can help users in rewriting the content and modifying the tone without impacting the content. Tones include Friendly, Professional and Concise. Users can also create paragraphs, pull out key points, make a list or create a table in addition to summarising text. Summaries are available in Mail, Messages and more.

Users can accept all suggestions by tapping or they can go through each one of them with explanations.

Siri

Siri now wakes up with a glow around the edges of the iPhone display when it is activated on iPhone, iPad, and CarPlay and it animates according to the sound of the voice of the user to indicate that it is listening.

After double tapping at the bottom of the display, the type-to-Siri interface appears to let users type requests. Siri’s understanding has become contextual and it can also answer questions regarding Apple products.

Mail

Mail now has a summarise button and you can also see a brief summary of the email rather than just a few initial sentences. Mail also has the capacity to show sensitive messages first in addition to a feature to smart reply. Moreover, multiple notifications will be summarised on the lock screen.

Photos

Users can create Memory Movie with a description and add specific images to the memory while creating the prompt. Photos now has natural language search and you can search specific moments in video clips. Search also offers smart complete suggestions.

Transcription

Users can record audio and get a transcript in addition to a summary of the transcript in Notes and other apps.

Focus Mode

A dedicated "Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode" will show only important notifications. Users can toggle to turn on Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing to let important notifications interrupt you while muting notifications that are not important. Users can override notification settings for specific people just like how it worked before iOS 18.1.

Phone

Phone app has been updated with an option to record calls. All participants are notified that the call is being recorded before the recording starts and then the recorded phone calls are saved in the notes app where users can view the transcript and generate a summary from the transcript.

Safari

Apple intelligence can summarise an article for users when reading an article in Reader Mode.

Apple Intelligence Report

Users can access an Apple Intelligence Report that will let them export the Apple Intelligence data in the Privacy and Security section of the Settings app. FaceID is required to export Apple Intelligence data.