Weekly Prompt: Apple Intelligence debuts and more

Apple Intelligence debuts with iOS 18.1 Beta

In an unprecedented move, Apple has released the iOS 18.1 beta to developers ahead of the official iOS 18 launch. This early release introduces the new Apple Intelligence features and is designed to gather feedback to refine them before they become available to the public

The iOS 18.1 beta introduces several notable features focused on enhancing user experience through artificial intelligence. These features include advancements in writing tools, Siri enhancements, and improvements in Mail, Messages, and more.

Writing Tools: The writing tools menu offers features for proofreading text, correcting grammar and punctuation, and rephrasing content. It also supports text summarisation, bullet point creation, and table generation.

Siri Enhancements:  Siri has received a visual update with a colourful glow when activated and supports typing commands via a double-tap at the bottom of the screen. Additionally, Siri’s ability to understand speech with pauses and maintain context for follow-up commands has been improved.

Mail and Messages:  The Mail app introduces a "Summarise" button for quick email insights and highlights priority messages, with summaries appearing in the inbox and notifications. Messages are also enhanced with summaries for new texts and notifications.

Call Recording: The Phone app includes a built-in call recording feature, with recordings saved in Notes alongside AI-generated transcripts.

Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode:  This new focus mode uses on-device intelligence to filter notifications, allowing only important ones through while silencing the rest.

Photos and Safari: Photos supports natural language search, enhanced video moment search, and Memory creation with natural language prompts. Safari’s Reader view features a new summarisation option.

Currently, Apple Intelligence features are limited to iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, M-series iPads, and Macs. Additional features, such as image generation and ChatGPT integration, are anticipated in future updates like iOS 18.2 or 18.3.

Sources: Macworld, The Verge, Toms Guide

Additional prompts

Google is introducing new Gemini-powered features for Chrome’s desktop version, including Lens for desktop, tab compare for shopping assistance, and natural language integration for search history. Rolling out to users across the world in the coming days, Lens will live in the address bar, as well as the three-dot menu. After clicking, you can select a part of a page and ask more questions to get search results. Read more

Instagram is testing out another way to lean into the popularity of Notes. Some users are now seeing a new feed filter in the Reels tab that is labelled “Notes” which then shows only Reels that have Notes included. Read more

Meta is rolling out its AI studio to all creators in the U.S. to let them make personalized AI-powered chatbots. The company first announced the AI Studio last year and started testing it with select creators in June this year. Meta is making the tool available to all creators, who can use their own prompts or suggested templates to build a chatbot. Read more

Reddit has acquired Memorable AI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence models to predict which images and videos are most likely to catch a person's attention, stick in their memory, and encourage them to click on an ad. Reddit said the acquisition would help improve the performance of advertising on the platform. Read more

Threads has announced a new topic discovery feature aimed at enhancing user experience. A new blue label will highlight posts that are related to a recent trending topic. Users can tap on that label to see more posts related to that topic, and the new window will have “Top” and “Recent” tabs to filter posts. This update is currently rolling out to users in the United States. Read more