iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update for eligible iPhone models was rolled out to Apple on Monday and the latest update adds several highly anticipated features for testers. The most notable addition is Apple Intelligence – its suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features for Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac that it unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 on June 10. The update also adds features to Siri, brings new tools and support for Apple's new AI tools, in addition to system-wide improvements and bug fixes.
iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 Features
According to Apple's release notes, the iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update adds new features related to Apple Intelligence. A new AI-powered writing feature is available to testers, with options for proofreading documents with spelling and grammar checks and rewriting text for different tones: Concise, Friendly or Professional.
It can also summarise the text, highlighting all the key points for easier understanding. This feature was shown off during a demo at WWDC 2024, the company annual developer conference.
Siri, Apple's in-built voice assistant, has also been upgraded with the iOS 18.1 beta. It gets contextual awareness, meaning users can ask it queries without knowing the exact jargon. Siri can follow the conversations along even if users stumble in between voice queries.
Following the update, the new Siri UI that glows around the edges has also been introduced, when the voice assistant is enabled. In Messages, smart reply options are now present which analyse the text of the message to provide relevant quick responses.
The Photos app has also been updated with Apple Intelligence features related to automatic movie creation. Users can now leverage the Memory Movie option to create movies related to their prompts automatically.
Although the feature picks the media on its own, users can manually tweak it to add or remove specific content or change the audio. Furthermore, the app also gets natural language search which allows the user to search for media in simple language.
In Safari, Apple Intelligence can now summarise web pages when Reader Mode is enabled. With the latest iOS 18 Developer Beta update, Apple also brings a call recording feature to the Phone app. The recorded calls can be found in the Notes app, along with an option to get its transcription.
Maintaining its promise of transparency, Apple has also brought the Apple Intelligence Report feature in Settings. Through this feature, users can access their activity and export it following Face ID authentication. The Cupertino-based technology giant says its AI features use on-device processing combined with Private Cloud Compute.
iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 Availability
The iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 1 update is only introduced for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – both models supporting Apple Intelligence courtesy of their A17 Pro chipset.
In addition to iOS 18.1, the iPhone maker has also introduced Developer Beta updates with Apple Intelligence features for iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Apple says iPad and Mac models with Apple Silicon chipsets can leverage the new AI features.
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