Apple makes own intelligent decisions at WWDC
Apple is trying to catch up with Google and Microsoft with dozens of AI features in its upcoming iOS, iPad OS, tvOS, watch OS and macOS refreshes unveiled at WWDC.
So much had already been leaked that there were hardly any big surprises. Actually, many of the familiar applications are getting AI capabilities. Apple calls the AI additions Apple Intelligence: it involves a combination of on-device and cloud server applications.
IMessage can use AI to automatically summariae messages. You can also use generative AI to create custom emoji.
The Photos app gets new AI editing features, similar to the Smart Eraser found in Google Pixel phones. Recordings taken with Voice Memos will be automatically transcribed.
The Mail app also gets a hefty dose of AI in iOS 18 and macOS 15. Writing emails should become easier thanks to smart replies and being able to customise text through voice commands.
The iPad is finally getting an Apple-developed calculator that also has some new features: you can compare units and do sums with written numbers. You can do the same in Notes, by the way.
The only new app is the Passwords app, which will compete with existing apps like 1Password and LastPass. There is already a built-in password feature in Apple’s operating systems, but it is hidden in the Settings app.
The home screen of iOS and iPadOS has received a makeover, allowing you to arrange apps in a much freer way, without being tied to a grid.
The Control Panel has also been addressed. By dragging and dropping items, you can rearrange the Control Panel. Currently, users can only arrange the bottom row of cubes themselves. New is a Music widget. This would allow you to switch between other devices to play music on, such as the Apple TV and HomePod.
Previously announced is that iOS 18 will have support for RCS, the successor to SMS. This will make it easy to communicate with Android users.
Many iPad apps will get revamped navigation. The sidebar will disappear to the top of the iPad screen, keeping it always in view. The Notes app can make handwritten notes more readable with Smart Script.
MacOS 15 is called Sequoia and comes with Math Notes and the ability to put the iPhone on the Mac screen. You can even open all the iPhone apps and just use them.
Remote messaging
Apple has announced plans to let iPhone owners send text messages using a satellite connection when in areas where there is no mobile phone signal.
Both text and emojis can be transmitted using the new satellite feature, which Apple says is end-to-end encrypted. Until now, Apple has only offered an emergency calls via satellite on recent iPhones.
The emergency satellite call feature, a first in mainstream smartphones, was designed to help whenever no other network is available, be it in a dead zone or in the wilderness.
Users of newer iPhones can also inform others of their location via satellite, regardless of an emergency situation, if they are travelling outside of other networks. This works via the map display in Apple’s Find My app.
Apple has increasingly leaned into safety offerings and marketed the potentially life-saving features of its devices, such as the claimed ability of the iPhone to detect a car accident or the Apple Watch to detect when the wearer falls.
Apple TV
The Apple TV app will be enhanced this year with InSight, a feature that allows information about actors, characters and music from movies and series to appear on screen in real time on Apple TV+. Select an actor to display a page of background information and other roles. Or quickly discover which song you hear in a particular scene and add it to a playlist in Apple Music. Do you use your iPhone as a remote control for Apple TV? Then you can view InSight information on that, too.
Thanks to the use of machine learning and computational audio, voices on Apple TV 4K are further enhanced above the music, action and background noise. Enhanced dialog is now available not only on HomePod speakers, but also when listening through built-in TV speakers, HDMI speakers, AirPods and other Bluetooth-enabled devices as well as when playing supported content on iPhone or iPad.
For even greater convenience, tvOS 18 now makes subtitles appear automatically at the right moment, even when the language in a movie or series does not match the language on your device, when you mute the audio or when you rewind the picture.
TvOS 18 now also supports a 21:9 aspect ratio for movies and series on projectors and includes beautiful new screensavers such as Portraits, TV and Movies and even Snoopy, who along with Woodstock takes over your screen in an adorable animation and then has to take a break in places like his doghouse.
ChatGPT inside
Lastly, Apple users will be getting ChatGPT-4o baked in. Given Apple’s cautious approach to AI integrations and its focus on productivity it remains to be seen if the content-led ChatGPT will add value or come with a health warning. In case of hallucination, double check.
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