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These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4
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So when they announce iOS 19 is it going to be fully ready when they announce iOS 20? Maybe they need to slow down and fix iOS 18 first…
Yeah some of these lightweight features that they are excluding from all the other phones is kinda weaksauce. They've been bragging about the neural engine, machine learning for how many years? Didn't all the Bionic chips have that stuff?
Apple Intelligence has definitely been a disaster in delivering what they showed off at WWDC, and hyped the iPhone 16 hardware for, with drip drip drip releases of underwhelming features.
Apple, stop with Siri. Please. Just sit down. You need to get rid of it and start over. No more rims on the Ford Taurus. Let’s just forget it and move on and up.
“I found this on the web for [insert basic/reasonable request here].”"Siri, how do I disable Messages “Smart” Replies without having to disable Apple Intelligence in its entirety?"
"I don't know what you mean by disable Messages “Smart” Replies without having to disable Apple Intelligence in its entirety... here's what I found on the web..."
...but soon(er or later... or much later)...
"A.I. Siri, how do I disable Messages “Smart” Replies without having to disable Apple Intelligence in its entirety?"
"I don't have information on that <your name here>, but I could help you place an order for the magical, new, incredible iPhone <next> in one of 6 beautiful colors. Would you like my help ordering today? And can I tell you how an iCloud subscription upgrade can enhance your life too? You have enough in your Apple Pay credit line to do both with $3 to spare... so… would you like to know 3 popular songs available for 99¢ each that seem to match your musical tastes, based upon your library?"
At some point your credibility starts to erode and the great and powerful Apple Intelligence in the ‘just down the road and around the corner’ land of Cupertino turns out to be only Tim behind the curtain bellowing buzzwords and hollow fairy tales in feigned hubristic confidence to Wall Street.
The good news is we don't need Apple intelligence. If we did, it would be unfortunate.
I'd switch to a Google phone, but you don't need to presently.
I'd switch to a Google phone, but you don't need to presently.
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Forget the new features, how about making iOS 18 run right
What's most ridiculous is that most of these features could likely be brought to older iPhone models but with more cloud-based use of queries done off-device, rather than on-device.
I say it's ridiculous because even if Apple offered all of these features on older devices, it wouldn't be all that compelling anyway. I think few people actually care all that much about these features at the end of the day.
I say it's ridiculous because even if Apple offered all of these features on older devices, it wouldn't be all that compelling anyway. I think few people actually care all that much about these features at the end of the day.
Nothing worthwhile in 18.4 other than Priority notifications which have to be used and checked to see if it is good. Was waiting to see the improved Siri.
One of my clients sent me an email a few weeks ago and Apple Mail's AI feature suggested I reply "I suggest you get professional help"
With this pace, they’ll cover the entire world languages by 2050?
I can see the logic behind this. FaceID process is the same for everyone, just project a matrix of dots, calculate the distance between and on every unlock just compare the users face with the version in the Secure Enclave. You jusr need algorithms and functions to make it work.
Notifications are quite different, it’s not the same for everyone. People can make typos, use euphemisms, use words that could be used in an emergency for a casual thing, text about an action movie or about an accident that happened years ago... Here you can’t make a list of words to make Siri know it should prioritise that message, you need an AI model to understand what the notification is saying and prioritise it or not.
Well, notifications go through apple servers AFAIK, maybe they could add “priority metadata” there so iOS would know to prioritise a notification or not. But I would expect content of notifications to be encrypted end to end anyways for this to work.
I wouldn’t think that Siri Engineers are that much better. That haven’t done anything for the last 10 years before the Apple Intelligence hype started. Why should the do a better job on the playgrounds app? Because they can’t break anything because it’s not actually that useful?
You're an optimist! iOS19 is certain to be a step back. Apple only keep "updating" iOS to ensure that your phone is unusable after 5 years or so.
I am getting very concerned about Apple's speed of innovation. Compared to how fast other companies are moving, Apple is getting behind. Seems like their only focus is to sell iPhones and optimize revenue on iphones and storage prices, instead of breaking some barriers with new techonology. It does not feel so fresh any more. When they try new things, they fail, ie. Apple Car, Vision Pro, etc. I think it is time for a new CEO with fresh energy and ideas.
In this public beta when you turn your phone in youtube the image does not flip. I also notice sometimes you talk to siri and it gets writen but she never responds. 🙉
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April.
Priority Notifications
Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at the June 2024 WWDC, and it's another Apple Intelligence feature that we've been waiting on since the September iOS 18 release.
With Priority Notifications, Apple analyzes your incoming notifications and highlights the ones that are important, based on context and time. If you've ordered food and your order is approaching, Apple will highlight that notification as a priority, placing it above other notifications. The same goes for anything that has a time-based component, or something else that needs immediate attention.
Priority Notifications is opt-in in the iOS 18.4 beta, so it needs to be turned on by going to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications.
When turned on, Priority Notifications show up first in your list of notifications on the Lock Screen, in a separate box with an icon that stands out. You can still see all of your other notifications by swiping.
Image Playground
When the Image Playground app launched, it only had Animation and Illustration styles to choose from for the images you make, but there were always meant to be three options.
With the iOS 18.4 beta, the third "Sketch" option is available as well. Sketch is a style that looks more like a hand drawn image, and it is distinct from Animation, which is a 3D style, and Illustration, a simpler 3D image.
Apple describes Sketch as a "highly detailed and academic" style that "produces gorgeous drawings on stark backgrounds," while the illustration style features strong outlines, bold colors, and simple shapes. Apple says the animation style has a "whimsical, 3D cartoon look."
New Languages
iOS 18.4 adds Apple Intelligence support for new languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified), plus localized English for Singapore and India.
iOS 18.4 Release Date
Apple has seeded one beta of iOS 18.4 to developers and public beta testers so far. A second beta will come next week, and it will be beta tested through the month of March.
Apple plans to release iOS 18.4 in early April.
Apple Intelligence Siri Features
There's a chance that we could still see the Apple Intelligence Siri features implemented in a later beta of iOS 18.4, but that's looking unlikely given that there's just a month until the update is set to come out.
Instead, Apple will likely add the Siri capabilities in an iOS 18.5 update. It is unusual for major new features to come in a .5 update as those updates often come out around the time when Apple transitions focus to a new version of iOS, but it's not unheard of. Apple has been releasing iOS 18 features gradually, and we'll probably see a similar tactic with iOS 19. Rumors already suggest iOS 19 development is being pushed back so that Apple can continue to work on iOS 18.
Article Link: These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4
