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Today the Apple Intelligence update was given to users of Apple products equipped with A17 Pro, A18, A18 Pro and Apple M chips. Apple Intelligence is Apple's intelligence feature that competes directly with Google Gemini and Galaxy AI. In this article I will try to explain what is interesting and what is not interesting about Apple Intelligence.
Writing Tools - Writing Help
Similar to Samsung Galaxy AI, Apple also wants to take advantage of generative AI features to help users write better. Writing Tools are writing aids that are integrated into the system as a whole. It supports not only Apple's own apps but also third-party apps.
Unlike the Galaxy AI which has clearly displayed buttons on the Samsung Keyboard, the Writing Tools feature is hidden. To use it, the typed text needs to be selected before the menu for Writing Tools will be listed along with the Cut, Copy and Paste menus.
Users are given the option to Proofread to find spelling mistakes, Rewrite to rework the writing and three options to change the tone of the original writing using Friendly, Professional, and Concise tones. This is smaller than the Professional, Casual, Social, Polite and Emojify options offered by Galaxy AI.
One similarity is that both will not process writing that contains profanity. Automatically Writing Tools will give a notification that it will not process. The filter system used for abusive words is very strict. The words stupid, idiot and retarded are enough to make Writing Tools blocked not to mention more insulting phrases.
There is also a choice of Summary, Key Points, List or Table. This is a useful feature when you only want to process part of a paragraph in an email, document or web page being read. Table and List will reprocess long text to be rearranged in table and list form. This feature is only supported in text fields that can paste table data such as Notes, Words, etc.
In my tests, the rewrite performed was very good and fast. It can change the writing tone to different tones and formats. How to use it is also easy to understand but why is it hidden from users. Is it because Apple doesn't want it to be used frequently by device owners?
What I can say is that the writing quality of Writing Tools is only average with the result of tone conversion for example not producing too bombastic work. This makes the rewrite more like it was written by a human. Professional Tone on Galaxy AI likes to use words taken from the thesaurus and produce long writers that when read is a bit sloppy.
Siri – Fast But Not Smart Enough
Siri is still not smart enough after the iOS 18.1 update because the ChatGPT integration is still in the testing and development stage. However, Siri is already getting faster at listening to commands. It now understands user context more deeply.
For example, users can give commands without having to call Siri many times, such as "Hey Siri, Play Butter by BTS on Spotify and volume at 100%". Siri will claim the given order in order. Opening apps, changing device settings and changing system settings are all possible too.
The first thing to notice is how quickly Siri performs tasks. No longer need to wait 2-3 seconds before the command is received and the task is completed. Siri's level of responsiveness is now the same as Google Assistant. The only thing I don't like is that if it can't do a given command, Siri continues to do a web search that usually isn't the desired answer.
Photos - More and more like Google Photos
After many years, the Photos album application has finally become smarter. The photos in Photos are now organized in a more organized manner such that all photos are included in certain categories such as festivals, birthdays and holidays.
Photos also now supports a search feature with more specific user context. Like Fahim eating, Cats sleeping or more in-depth with the context of people eating around Indonesia and others it will find the most suitable picture.
The Create Memories feature is my favorite because of the futuristic looking animations. Just enter a simple prom, Apple Intelligence will collect photos and videos from the phone and iCloud to be processed into memorable videos with music from Apple Music.
Apple also includes a photo editing feature called Clean up. It has interesting animations but its use is still limited and the way it processes is still not smart enough compared to Google Photos, AndesGPT and Galaxy AI.
Email – Making sure the Important Don't Miss Out
While waiting for the Priority Notification feature, you can get important emails and stay focused in the Mail application more easily. All emails are now automatically formatted, so before you open them you already know what the main content is.
Then important emails that need to be answered quickly such as invitations to device launch events are automatically pinned to the top. Finally in email, if the discussion or conversation has become long – the Summarize feature will summarize everything in a more concise text. Then replying can also now be assisted with AI because the Writing Tools feature that I mentioned above can be used in the email application.
If you receive a large number of emails, WhatsApp messages, Instagram and iMessag notifications, Apple Intelligence will summarize them all into one condensed notification.
Audio To Notes
Two applications in Apple devices namely Telephone and Voice Memos now support features that are summarized with the help of AI. Phone calls can now be recorded to be processed into a text transcript before being summarized by Apple Intelligence for future reference.
Likewise with the Voice Memos application that can generate text through recordings that have been made. Only, it is limited to English and I like that it gives a similar user experience on Samsung and Pixel devices. It's just that in my attempts, the phone call audio summarizing feature is still inconsistent.
A feature expected to arrive this December
There are still many more features of Apple Intelligence that have not yet been given to users. Among them is the integration of ChatGPT, Visual Intelligence as a competitor to Circle to Search, generating emoji with Genmoji and generating images with Image Playground/Image Wand. This feature has already been given to developers in iOS 18.2 first developer beta version. It is expected to arrive to users starting this December.
Coming next year is the support of more languages and will no longer be limited to English. This is probably Apple's most disappointing decision. A global company, English-only support is unforgivable. Galaxy AI supported 13 languages when it was launched last January with that increasing to 20 by the end of this year.
Then we also reported that Apple might consider a paid feature to use their AI technology. Just like Samsung, AI features that cost a lot to develop won't be free forever.
Conclusion
The Apple Intelligence features provided by iOS 18.1 are interesting and useful but still lag behind what their competitors such as Google and Samsung offer. If Apple Intelligence can change consumer perception of AI, more people will embrace the safe use of AI. For starters, what Apple Intelligence can do is below the capabilities of Google Gemini and Samsung Galaxy AI. Therefore I feel that buying an iPhone 15 Pro or the iPhone 16 series solely for AI is still not worth it at the moment.
A temporary alternative is to use an existing AI chatbot app that is supported on the iPhone. Google app to try Gemini, an app that can generate images and help write or formulate text. Copilot and ChatGPT support more immersive conversations. It's just that nothing offers built-in deployment methods directly at the system level like Apple Intelligence.
On the Android platform, manufacturers are now given the choice of using AI models Llama, Gemini, AndesGPT, Gauss, Mistral and more. The advantage is clear in the hands of Android because the choice of more diverse models with it can be run directly from the device.
Apple cannot continue to lag behind competitors. Their debut AI effort I can say does not have the "wow factor" that sets it apart from the competition. If Apple is serious about Apple Intelligence, features that are more powerful, useful and unique than competitors should be provided immediately.