iOS 18.1 will be released on compatible iPhone models later in October, bringing with it a number of powerful new AI features. Apple Intelligence is billed as “AI for the rest of us.” Here are some upcoming features that are great examples of this and could have the biggest impact on the most users.
Notification summaries
I've previously called notification summaries the “killer feature” of Apple Intelligence, and I stand by that.
Notification summaries can serve two main purposes:
- Summarize the contents of a long message or email, rather than displaying a small snippet of the message itself.
- Combine a stack of multiple notifications into one digestible summary.
This makes notifications more actionable and informative.
At a glance, you get a better idea of what a message thread or email is about. emails.
You can turn on summaries for all apps or just some. Personally, I find them most useful for anything messaging or email related.
Notifications are a huge part of the iPhone experience, and iOS 18.1 makes them better than ever.
Inbox Summaries and Priority Messages
Like Notification Summaries, iOS 18.1 uses summaries to make it easier to navigate your inbox.
When viewing your Apple Mail inbox, the short snippets that used to appear for each message are now summaries of the content.
With summaries, you can make more informed decisions about whether to read or ignore a given email — all at a glance.
And because Apple Intelligence understands the content of all your messages, the most important ones will now be placed right at the top.
Apple calls this “priority mail,” and it’s a great addition that ensures that critical messages get your attention.
A New Beginning for Siri
Siri gets better in iOS 18.1… but only kind of.
iPhone users will see a bright new design for Siri in iOS 18.1. You’ll be able to type Siri queries by double-tapping at the bottom of the screen. Siri can now also answer all sorts of questions about Apple products and software features.
But perhaps the two changes that will impact users the most are Siri’s conversational skills.
Siri in iOS 18.1 is much more forgiving when you stumble over your words. She can understand, in a more human way, when you change your mind about something in the middle of a sentence.
It can also carry over context between queries. So if you ask a question about a sports team, for example, and then ask “Who’s their quarterback?” Siri will understand who “they” refers to.
That’s all for iOS 18.1, but Apple has big plans for Siri in the coming year. By next spring, Assistant will be able to:
- connect to ChatGPT to answer more queries than ever before
- understand your personal context, considering the emails you've received, the people you've met, and more, and provide that information to you
- perform a ton of powerful new actions from within your favorite apps — without having to open those apps
- also perform cross-app actions, like sending photos from last night's party to your spouse — again, without even opening the app
- understand what's on your screen at any given time, easily performing actions on whatever you're looking at
This future version of Siri should be impressive. At this point, the new era of Siri is just beginning.
iOS 18.1 Features: A Wrap-Up
iOS 18.1 will bring many more features than I’ve outlined above, including new writing tools, powerful changes to the Photos app, and more. The end of the month can’t come soon enough.
Have you been using the iOS 18.1 beta? Which features have had the biggest impact on your iPhone experience? Let us know in the comments.
