Apple has unleashed iOS 18.2, a substantial upgrade building on the foundation laid by iOS 18.1’s initial foray into Apple Intelligence. Remember, Apple’s rollout of Apple Intelligence is a phased approach, gradually introducing users to its powerful AI capabilities. iOS 18.1 offered a taste with features like enhanced Siri, intelligent photo organization, the Clean Up tool, and Writing Tools. Now, iOS 18.2 takes things to the next level.
This update significantly enhances existing features and introduces exciting new ones. The Photos app gains even more intelligence, allowing natural language searches – simply type “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt” and watch it pull up the relevant images and video segments. Memory creation is revolutionized; users can now describe their desired movie, and Apple Intelligence will curate the perfect film using relevant photos and videos, complete with a narrative arc.
Writing Tools now boasts Proofread, Rewrite, and Summarize Text functionalities. Proofread analyzes grammar, word choice, and sentence structure, suggesting improvements. Rewrite allows you to adjust tone and style for different audiences. Summarize condenses large blocks of text into easily digestible formats such as paragraphs, bullet points, tables, or lists. This suite alone makes iOS 18.2 a compelling upgrade for writers and students.
iOS 18.2 introduces several innovative AI tools. Genmoji lets you create custom emojis using natural language prompts (imagine “a giraffe driving a blue bus”). Image Wand transforms rough sketches into polished images, directly integrating with the Notes app to visually enhance your notes. Simply circle a note or empty space, and Image Wand will generate an image reflecting the surrounding context. Image Playground takes creative control further by allowing you to generate images in various styles – animation, 3D animation, illustration, and more – even using photos of loved ones from your library. This feature is available as a standalone app and within Messages.
Email management is also enhanced with Priority Messages, which surfaces urgent emails like event invitations or boarding passes. Smart Reply offers context-aware suggestions for quick responses. Apple Intelligence also generates notification summaries, saving you time by condensing long notification stacks directly on the lock screen, even for group chats. This extends to the Notes and Phone apps, which now record, transcribe, and summarize audio calls, notifying participants and providing a written summary after the call ends.
Siri has received a significant overhaul. Its enhanced language understanding allows for more natural conversations, even accommodating stumbles and maintaining context across multiple requests. It’s also brimming with Apple product knowledge. Visual Intelligence, Apple’s take on Google Lens, takes object recognition to new heights. It not only identifies objects but also extracts and translates text, detects contact information (phone numbers and emails), and even integrates with ChatGPT to solve complex problems like math equations simply by scanning them with your camera.
ChatGPT’s integration is a game-changer, accessible through Siri and Writing Tools. If Siri can’t answer a query, it will offer to use ChatGPT. Apple clarifies that users can choose to enable ChatGPT, and when used without an account, OpenAI doesn’t store user data for training purposes.
Apple promises further Apple Intelligence developments in the coming months. Siri will gain access to personal context for personalized intelligence and “onscreen awareness” to unlock hundreds of actions across Apple and third-party apps. These latest features are available on iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia, with Apple Intelligence supported when the device and Siri language are set to localized English for select countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, and US).
