This iOS 18.1 Feature Keeps Me Sane When My Group Text Messages Get Chaotic

Apple Intelligence launched in its first part with the arrival of iOS 18.1, bringing with it a wave of recent options, corresponding to the flexibility to rewrite textual content, create picture montages based mostly on a immediate, take away objects from photographs and kind to Siri. 

However there’s one addition specifically that is caught with me: Message summaries. 

iPhones able to working Apple Intelligence can present summaries of incoming texts, with the purpose being that can assist you atone for messages at a look. The expertise is much from excellent; it will probably’t course of sarcasm in a method that is smart, nor can it perceive context in most conditions. 

However it’s an ideal instance of the kind of passive synthetic intelligence I hope to see extra of on phones in 2025 and beyond. And extra importantly, it helps preserve me sane once I’m bombarded with messages from all sources all through the day, whether or not they be iMessages from relations or Slack updates from teammates. 

As I’ve written in the past, most new AI options from Apple and different cellphone makers really feel like an answer to area of interest issues that will not want fixing (how a lot time do you actually spend desirous about learn how to phrase a textual content message?) More often than not, I am going about my day forgetting these instruments exist. However message summaries, even of their present kind, add an additional layer of comfort to my cellphone with out requiring any effort on my half, which is precisely the place the promise in AI lies for telephones.

Learn extra: I Tried the iPhone 16’s New Visual Intelligence and It Feels Like the Future

The way to use message summaries in Apple Intelligence

To get message summaries, that you must have a appropriate iPhone working iOS 18.1. Apple Intelligence is accessible solely on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and the iPhone 16 lineup, so you probably have an older mannequin you are out of luck. The excellent news is that you probably have any of these units and are working Apple’s newest software program, message summaries needs to be on by default.

However in the event you’re not seeing them, or would favor to show them off, you are able to do so simply in your iPhone’s settings menu. Simply open the Settings app, scroll right down to the Apps possibility after which choose Messages out of your checklist of apps. Press the Summarize Messages toggle to show this characteristic on or off. 

Apple Intelligence summarizes notifications from third-party apps like Slack or WhatsApp too. If you wish to flip these summaries on or off, go to Settings, faucet Notifications and choose Summarize Previews. From right here, you may hand-pick which apps you’d prefer to obtain notification summaries for by toggling the change subsequent to every app. 

You may also flip off Apple Intelligence totally by selecting Apple Intelligence & Siri from the Settings menu and tapping the change.

Why message summaries are so helpful

Message summaries elevate the iPhone’s software program in a method that makes it really feel smarter. Relatively than having to exit of your solution to discover a particular characteristic, such because the Clear Up software for eliminating undesirable background objects in photos, it simply works and not using a second thought. 

It additionally addresses a necessity that impacts a basic use case for our telephones: communication. I’ve witnessed this firsthand on many events over the previous couple of months whereas utilizing the developer beta of iOS 18.1 forward of its official launch. 

Of all of the varieties of notifications I get every day, messages are probably the most frequent, which may vary from work-related updates in Slack, to crazy every day banter with associates in WhatsApp or session planning with my Dungeons & Dragons celebration members in Discord. Issues can get chaotic once I’m unable to examine my cellphone for lengthy stretches of the workday, usually leading to a slew of alerts and messages to atone for. 

Fortunately, the iPhone’s message summaries have helped with this — kind of. At a look, I can not less than see what my messages are about earlier than I dive in. I can inform whether or not my work colleagues are asking for my assist with one thing or simply chatting a few new story thought. Or whether or not the dozen textual content messages that simply got here in from my associates are as a result of an emergency or simply pleasant chatter. 

Apple Intelligence has a protracted solution to go when it comes to accuracy, so I would not advocate counting on these summaries instead of checking your messages. There are many occasions during which it misinterprets the which means behind a message as a result of it lacks the extent of understanding that solely people — particularly individuals who know one another properly and talk incessantly — can have. 

More often than not, these mishaps end in nothing greater than an excellent snort. However my colleague Nelson Aguilar acquired misinterpretations that are far more concerning. When a pal texted him a few troublesome hike, noting that they had been “lifeless” drained, the Apple Intelligence abstract mentioned the hike was deadly. 

It is one more reminder that AI, whether or not it’s Apple’s textual content recaps, solutions from ChatGPT or search summaries from Google, are not any substitute for the actual factor. However for now, I am grateful to not less than have the ability to inform whether or not associates or household are texting me as a result of an emergency or simply for laughs by glancing at my lock display.