5 Apple Intelligence Features You Should Try on Your iPhone

Apple Intelligence is set to reimagine the way people use and interact with iPhones when iOS 18 officially launches later this year. Although there have been a few reports suggesting Apple Intelligence will release a bit later in an update. However, if you’re running the iOS 18.1 developer beta on your iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max right now, you can unlock new AI experiences.

I’ve been testing them on my iPhone 15 Pro for a few days now, so I have a better idea of how they work. While a few Apple Intelligence features didn’t work initially, many of them have been made available over the following days — but not all of the features Apple showed off at WWDC 2024 are yet available in this developer beta.

These AI-powered features do a variety of things, like streamlining my workflow and letting me use the new Siri to get things done better. Here are all the Apple Intelligence features you need to try on your iPhone first.

Smarter Siri actions

Siri animation in iOS 18.1 developer beta.

(Photo source: Future)

Siri is getting a major makeover thanks to Apple Intelligence. Not only is there a new animation when the AI assistant is greeted on a compatible iPhone, but she responds with a more natural, less robotic tone.

Even more impressively, Apple Intelligence gives Siri better listening skills, since you can correct yourself in the middle of a sentence and she’ll know what you’re saying. Instead of initiating another voice command, Siri is smart enough to recognize the mistake and understand your suggestion.

What’s more, you can access the new Siri keyboard at any time by double-tapping the bar at the bottom of the screen to type your questions and commands for Siri. This works best in situations where you want to discreetly access Siri instead of relying on voice commands and conversations.

Here’s how to access Siri’s new features:

To access Siri keyboardJust double click on the bar on the bottom of the screen.
Siri can be accessed in the same way as before, via voice message using the command “Hey Siri” or “Siri”, as well as long press the power button.

Apple Intelligence Writing Tools Summary.

(Photo source: Future)

Similar to Chat Assist with Galaxy AI, you can use Apple Intelligence to change the writing style of what you write—making it sound more formal or concise. These writing tools are available in any app by selecting text and then tapping the Writing Tools option that appears.

In addition to changing the style of your writing, Apple Intelligence can also turn it into a summary, key points, list, or table. This actually works well for long webpage articles and notes you may have written down before, as Apple Intelligence does a great job of catching all the most important elements of your text.

Here’s how to access writing tools with Apple Intelligence:

Highlight text you want to convert, click on Writing tools to enable this feature.
Choose different writing styles Friendly, professional or concise.
At the bottom of the Writing Tools menu are the options: Summary, Key Points, List and Table to summarize.

Priority and Summary features in Mail

Apple Intelligence Mail Summary screenshots.

(Photo source: Future)

While the Gmail app was my go-to for emails, Apple Intelligence is adding a few notable features that might convince you to go back to the Mail app on your iPhone. That’s because you can try out the app’s new Summarize feature, which takes those long emails and condenses them into an easy-to-read, quick summary that highlights the most important things.

If you’re constantly flooded with emails and rarely have time to look through them all, Apple Intelligence will show you the most important email at the top of your priority inbox. That way, you can better respond to those emails before they get buried under everything else.

You don’t really have to do much to use these new Mail features. That’s because they automatically appear in the Mail app, but here’s what to look for:

When you open the Mail app and select your inbox, Apple Intelligence displays Priority message at the top of the list.
Once you select an email, a menu button will appear the upper right corner, which when tapped will launch the Summary function. A new drop-down menu will appear with a summary,

Summary of voice recordings in Notes

Screenshot of Apple Intelligence notes summary.

(Photo source: Future)

There are a lot of useful things you can do with the Notes app for iOS 18, like transcribing a voice recording, but Apple Intelligence takes it a step further with its summary feature. Instead of typing out your presentation notes, you can record them in the Notes app on your iPhone — and then summarize the whole thing. This works well for longer recordings, so you don’t waste time sifting through the transcript to pull out the most important details.

Here’s how to access this new feature:

Once you have attached a voice recording in the Notes app, you can click on the recording where it is located the button at the top allows you to summarize it.
Is chat box icon near the bottom left corner, which allows switch to transcription.

Create memories with the Photos app

GIF animation of Apple Intelligence app creating memories using photos.

(Photo source: Future)

While it didn’t work the first day, likely because of the amount of photos it had to process, I was eventually able to create new Memories using the Photos app. After giving Apple Intelligence a description of what I wanted it to create—like all the photos I’d taken of cars—it generated a stunning clip for me.

I know firsthand how long it could take to do it manually, but Apple Intelligence analyzes every photo and video I take and then does all the editing for me, including music and transition effects.

It’s one of the coolest features of Apple Intelligence, and also one of the most intuitive. Here’s how:

Open the Photos app, then scroll down until you see the section Memories. Click on Create button close to this.
AND a message box appears we ask you to describe the memory, so just write down what you want to say and press enter.
You will see an animation, which after a few seconds should have a memory that you can watch.

Recording phone calls and saving them in Notes

GIF animation showing Apple Intelligence recording phone calls.

(Photo source: Future)

Sometimes calls take way too long, which is where Apple Intelligence comes in. This is because you’ll be able to record phone calls and Apple Intelligence will transcribe and summarize them in the Notes app. Your callers will hear a message when you activate the feature, letting them know the call is being recorded.

While the recording feature has worked for me so far, there’s apparently a bug that prevents Apple Intelligence from consistently saving and summarizing them.

During an active telephone conversation, click on the call recording icon in the upper left corner.
A prompt will appear informing you that the telephone conversation will be recorded and the other party will also be informed of this.
After the phone call ends automatically save phone recording to the Notes application.