iOS 18.1 now available with Apple Intelligence features, more

After three months of beta testing, iOS 18.1 with the first Apple Intelligence features is now available to everyone. This update includes features like Writing Tools, Clean Up in the Photos app, notification summaries, and much more.

iOS 18.1 compatibility and details

iOS 18.1 is available to all iPhone models that run iOS 18. Apple Intelligence features, however, are only available on a subset of those phones. Here’s the full list:

• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max

iOS 18.1 is rolling out now with the build number 22B83. You can update your iPhone by going to the Settings app, choosing General, then tapping on Software Update.

New features in iOS 18.1: Apple Intelligence

Writing Tools

With the new Writing Tools feature in iOS 18.1, you can effortlessly rewrite, proofread, and summarize text in just a few taps, anywhere you type. Here are the available options in iOS 18.1:

• Rewrite
• Proofread
• Make Friendly
• Make Professional
• Make Concise
• Summarize
• Create Key Points
• Make List
• Make Table

In general, you can access Writing Tools by highlighting your text and selecting “Writing Tools” from the popover menu. However, iOS 18.1 beta 5 also added a dedicated button for Writing Tools in the always-visible toolbar of the Notes app.

More on Writing Tools:

• iOS 18.1 beta 1 now available with first Apple Intelligence features
• iOS 18.1 coming this week: New features, release date, and more
• Hands on with Apple Intelligence writing tools in iOS 18.1
• Testing Apple Intelligence Writing Tools, and being impressed
• Here’s how Apple Intelligence will improve your writing in iOS 18
• Here’s everything iOS 18.1’s writing tools can do with Apple Intelligence

Reduce Interruptions

“Reduce Interruptions” is a new Focus mode iOS 18.1 powered by Apple Intelligence, using AI to prioritize notifications that require immediate attention. For instance, it will display a text message indicating an early pickup from daycare, while other notifications will be silenced.

Similar to other Focus modes in iOS, Reduce Interruptions enables you to customize which apps and contacts you always want to receive notifications from. This feature can be managed through the Settings app.

New Photos app features

iOS 18.1 brings multiple new Apple Intelligence features to the Photos app. One of the biggest changes is the addition of the Clean Up feature, which lets you remove distracting objects and people from your photos with a single tap. When editing a picture, look for the new Clean Up option and simply highlight what you want to remove. The feature will also automatically suggest people and objects it thinks you should remove.

Second, Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1 enables you to create personalized memories by simply typing a description. It uses language and image comprehension to select the most relevant photos and videos based on the provided description. Then, it constructs a storyline with chapters organized around themes extracted from the photos. Finally, these chapters are assembled into a movie with its own unique narrative arc.

Lastly, the Photos app now incorporates new natural language search capabilities, making it easier to find specific photos. Moreover, the ability to search in videos has been enhanced, allowing you to locate specific moments within clips and directly jump to the relevant segment.

More on Apple Intelligence features in the Photos app:

• This Apple Intelligence Photos feature is my surprise early favorite in iOS 18.1
• Photos search in iOS 18.1 actually works thanks to Apple Intelligence
• iOS 18.1 makes Apple Photos better in three key ways, here’s what’s coming
• iOS 18.1 labels images edited with Clean Up in the Photos app

Siri’s new design

While most of Siri’s major upgrades won’t be available until later this year or next year, iOS 18.1 introduces a few notable changes for Apple’s voice assistant. Notably, iOS 18.1 introduces a completely new design for Siri, featuring a glowing light that encircles the edge of the screen whenever Siri is active.

Additionally, iOS 18.1 introduces the ability to switch between text and voice input for Siri by simply double-tapping the home indicator at the bottom of your iPhone.

Thanks to extensive training based on Apple’s comprehensive support documentation, Siri can now provide detailed answers to questions about Apple products and software.

Furthermore, Apple claims that Siri in iOS 18.1 is better equipped to handle interruptions and maintain context when you stumble over words or change your request mid-sentence. Siri has also improved at keeping track of multiple requests.

Again, most of the more advanced Siri features won’t be available until future iOS updates. The forthcoming iOS 18.2 release, for example, adds ChatGPT integration to Siri. Features such as in-app actions and personal context for Siri aren’t excepted until 2025, though.

Full iOS 18.1 release notes

Here are the features in iOS 18.1 that are important enough, in Apple’s eyes, to earn a mention in the release notes:

Apple Intelligence (All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)

• Writing Tools
  • Writing Tools are available nearly everywhere you type, allowing you to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text right in the app you’re working in
  • Rewrite suggests different versions of your text so you can choose which combination of flow and wording you like best
  • Proofread lets you view suggested improvements to what you’re writing, like grammar fixes and language refinements
  • Summarize allows you to select text wherever you’re writing and generate a high-quality summary
• Siri
  • A new look and feel includes a glowing light that wraps around the edge of your screen, animates responsively to the sound of your voice, and lets you keep scrolling or typing while you talk to Siri
  • Type to Siri when you don’t want to speak a request out loud by double tapping at the bottom of the screen
  • Richer language understanding enables Siri to follow along if you stumble over your words or change your mind mid-sentence
  • Conversational context is maintained over the course of a session, so you can refer more naturally to something you said in a recent request or something Siri mentioned in a recent response
  • Product knowledge helps you get answers to thousands of questions about the features and settings on your Apple products
  • Voice enhancements make Siri sound more natural, expressive, and clear
• Photos
  • Photos search lets you find photos and videos simply by describing what you’re looking for
  • Clean Up removes distractions in your photos
  • Memory movies can be created by describing the story you want to see
• Notifications
  • Notification summaries make it easy to catch up on your notifications with a glanceable summary of the most important information
  • Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus that ensures the most urgent notifications get through to you while silencing potential distractions
• Smart Reply in Mail and Messages help you quickly respond to messages with suggested responses
• Priority messages in Mail understands the content of your messages and prioritizes those that require your attention, displaying them at the top of your inbox
• Transcription summaries in Notes give you an intelligently created summary of the transcript from your audio recording or call recording

Phone

• Call recordings and transcriptions let you record live calls and transcribe them in the Notes app, with an automatic announcement that the call is being recorded

Camera

• Camera Control can quickly switch to the front TrueDepth Camera (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
• Spatial photo capture, along with spatial video capture, is available in a new Spatial camera mode (iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)

AirPods

• Hearing Test feature provides scientifically-validated hearing test results from the comfort of home (intended for users 18 years or older)
• Hearing Aid feature provides personalized, clinical-grade assistance that is automatically applied to sounds in your environment as well as music, videos, and calls (intended for users 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss)
• Hearing Protection feature helps users minimize exposure to loud environmental noise across listening modes (available in the United States and Canada)
• Features require AirPods Pro 2 with firmware version 7B19 or later. All features may not be available for all countries or regions, for more information visit: https://apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/

This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

• Control Center has new options to add connectivity controls individually and reset your configuration
• RCS Business Messaging lets you connect with businesses over RCS (requires carrier support)
• App Store search lets you use natural language to find what you’re looking for more easily
• Game Center friend invites can be sent directly from the Contacts app and Friend Suggestions, and receivers can see the invites in the inbox in Settings
• Fixes an issue in Podcasts where unplayed episodes are marked as played
• Fixes an issue where videos recorded at 4K 60 while the device is warm could experience stutter while scrubbing the video playback in Photos
• Fixes an issue where digital car keys may not unlock or start a vehicle with passive entry after restoring from a backup or transferring directly from another iPhone
• Fixes an issue where iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro models may unexpectedly restart

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