Apple Watch to Receive Key AI Feature with iOS 18.1 Update

iOS 18.1 will bring this handy Apple Intelligence feature to your Apple Watch -- and you can try it right now

This AI-backed feature is set to debut with the roll-out of iOS 18.1, which could come as early as next week. However, if you're eager to try it now, the iOS 18.1 public beta came out in September and includes the notification summary feature. The catch is that even though this feature will appear on Apple Watches, you're still going to need to have an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence to use it. Supported models include all the latest iPhone 16 models, the iPhone 15 Pro and the 15 Pro Max. The idea is that when you receive a notification on your Apple device, rather than only seeing the first few lines of the text or email, you'll instead get a summary of the message's contents, making it easier to parse important information with just a glance. Apple is using its AI-backed language tool for text analysis here -- other features like suggested replies use it, too -- with all the processing happening on your smartphone. However, a paired Apple Watch would benefits from these Notification Summaries. And in a lot of ways, these short, sweet summaries are particularly well-suited for the Apple Watch's comparably smaller display. Notification Summaries can also tackle the dreaded meandering text message thread, summing up the key points and saving you the hassle of scrolling through the weeds. It's not just emails and messages that get the summarizing treatment, you can set up Apple Intelligence to analyze and condense notifications from all of your apps. This is, of course, just one of several new Apple Intelligence features coming to your iPhone via iOS 18.1. Others include AI writing tools, phone call recordings that can be transcribed and summarized and a new Clean Up tool for removing unwanted objects/subjects from images. However, those features won't be available on the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch will get a key Apple Intelligence feature in iOS 18.1 - 9to5Mac

Apple Intelligence isn't officially supported on the Apple Watch. But one of the key AI features in iOS 18.1 is available -- and at its best -- when used on the Watch. Here's how notification summaries bring Apple Intelligence to your wrist. One tentpole of Apple Intelligence is its language tools. This umbrella covers features like AI writing aids for proofreading and rewriting, priority messages in Mail, Smart Reply suggestions, and more. Notification summaries are another feature powered by AI language tools. Where appropriate, Apple Intelligence uses notifications to provide brief summaries of a message's contents. Notifications aren't the only place summaries live. Here's an example of summarized emails inside the Mail app. If a message is already short, you'll still see its actual text included in your notification. But with longer messages, notifications no longer show just the first part of a message. Brief excerpts like that rarely offer helpful information. Instead, thanks to Apple Intelligence, notifications in iOS 18.1 now feature a summary of the message's full contents. And this works for summarizing a whole conversation too: if you have a stack of unread Messages notifications on your Watch, the summary will dynamically update to encompass everything you've missed. Basically, notification summaries help you understand a message or thread's key contents with just a quick glance. Which is why this feature is a perfect fit for the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch isn't technically a supported Apple Intelligence device. However, because the iPhone feeds notifications to its paired Watch, it benefits from these iOS 18.1 AI notifications. And as nice as these 'intelligent' notifications are on the iPhone, I've found they're an even stronger asset on the Watch. Screen real estate is at such a premium on the Apple Watch that this feature feels custom-built for watchOS. The best part? You don't need new Watch hardware to get this feature. As long as you're running an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, your Watch will score these new, upgraded notifications. Many of the features coming with Apple Intelligence don't make much sense on the Watch. I don't need my Watch to rewrite messages for me, create AI-generated images, or remove unwanted objects from my photos. But notification summaries demonstrate how AI can be a boon to the wrist. Some other Apple Intelligence features that would be great in watchOS include: And this is just the start. Apple will undoubtedly add new Apple Intelligence features in the years ahead. Some of those will be great for the Watch. There are processor limitations that make native Watch-based AI a challenge. But notification summaries show how the Apple Watch stands to benefit from Apple's investment in this realm. Have you used AI notification summaries on your Watch? Let us know what you think in the comments.