Latest news with #WritingTools
Tom's Guide
21-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Apple Intelligence could get a shot in the arm from app developers with iOS 19 — here's how
iOS developers could soon start building AI features directly into their apps using Apple's own AI models. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple plans to introduce a new software development kit (SDK) in iOS 19 that will make it easier for app developers to add AI features, and potentially create their own. This SDK will feature the same large language models that Apple is currently using for Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools, Genmoji, and Image Playground. However, the SDK will initially be focused on smaller models that run on-device, meaning developers likely won't be able to delegate tasks to external servers. This release is likely due to many of Apple's features not yet seeing widespread adoption compared to the likes of Google Gemini. Currently, developers can add certain Apple Intelligence features to apps but they can't create new ones without the help of third-party models. Apple's new SDK could mitigate this, giving users more opportunities to get on the Apple Intelligence bandwagon. There's little doubt that Apple's AI rollout has had a lot of issues, especially when it comes to getting features to users. The first hurdle was that any user with a phone older than the iPhone 15 Pro and onwards wasn't able to make use of Apple Intelligence in the first place. If that wasn't bad enough, many of the improved Siri features revealed for iOS 18 during WWDC 2024 were delayed until iOS 19 because they didn't work as intended. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Apple has also been asked to comply with an EU ruling that will allow European users to select a different default AI on their devices in the EU countries. The release of this SDK seems like a decent initial solution from Apple when it comes to getting its AI features in front of customers. We expect to hear more on this (as well as the future of Apple Intelligence in general) at WWDC 2025, which kicks off next month on Monday, June 9.
Miami Herald
19-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook, Instagram block new Apple product
A difficult month for Apple (AAPL) stock, marked by high volatility and market conditions, may be about to get even worse. Many high-growth tech companies are struggling right now, as the recent White House tariffs threaten to complicate their operations. However, Apple has managed to avoid being impacted by these policies, due in part to CEO Tim Cook's discussion with President Donald Trump. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter This development sparked some momentum for Apple stock, prompting speculation that the company could survive the trade war with minimal impact. However, Meta Platforms (META) has taken a direct shot at Apple, which stands to complicate matters even further and slow the adoption of something the company has a lot riding on. At a pivotal time for Apple and for the entire tech sector, the company may be facing an uphill battle as it tries to conquer a booming new market. While Apple and Meta Platforms both operate in the tech sector and are members of the Magnificent 7, a group of prominent tech stocks responsible for most of the market's growth, they are not typically seen as direct competitors. After all, one produces consumer electronics and the other operates social media platforms. That said, Meta seems intent on stifling Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) enhancement as best it can. The company has ensured that features of Apple Intelligence, a suite of features included in its recent operating system, are not available for use on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Threads. Related: Meta Platforms fights for its life in historical antitrust battle While many leading tech companies opted to increase their AI spending in 2025, Apple has opted for a more measured approach. Even as the AI market has boomed, the company has maintained its strategy, which Barron's describes as focusing "on how powerful a model it can get to work directly on its devices." Now Meta appears to be blocking certain Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools and custom emoji creator Genmoji, from all its social media apps, though according to AppleInsider, the former can be accessed when using a web browser. This raises some questions regarding why Meta would do this, as it seemingly compromises the experience of using many of its apps. "The most obvious point to consider is that Meta is also heavily investing in AI, and can be considered a rival to Apple in that sector," Tom's Guide notes. "A conspiratorially-minded person might assume that Meta is simply trying to push people towards using its own Meta AI, and not rely on a rival system." The outlet also highlights the possibility that Apple may want to ensure that other tech companies don't gain access to its users' accounts, even if they made the conscious decision to begin accessing Apple Intelligence's features. These features would likely be popular, as they stand to enhance the experience of users across Meta's platforms. More Tech News: Apple makes unexpected move to dodge high tariff costsTech group leader sends startling eight-word message about tariffsHedge fund short positions point to the end of Magnificent 7 era At the time of writing, Meta has issued no statement on the decision to not allow access to these Apple Intelligence features, nor has CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But given his history with Apple, it's easy to see how this could seem like an attempt from Meta to take a direct shot at the tech leader. For years, Zuckerberg has levied criticisms at Apple, sometimes making harsh accusations. In 2020, he alleged that the company held a stronghold over apps that users could download, allowing it to charge "monopoly rents." In January 2025, Zuckerberg appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and told the host that Apple hadn't invented anything meaningful since the iPhone, citing what he saw as a lack of innovation on the company's part. Related: No, Apple iPhones won't be made in America anytime soon Now Meta will likely have to answer some pressing questions regarding its Apple Intelligence decision, though it probably will reveal as little information as it can get away with. "It's unlikely that Meta will ever reveal the reasons behind its decision - even if it's happy to spill other firms' confidential details," speculates AppleInsider. While it remains unclear if Meta will ultimately make any changes or allow users to access Apple Intelligence, it seems likely the company will face pressure to do so in the near future. As Cook helped convince Trump to spare Apple from the tariffs, he shouldn't have much trouble convincing Zuckerberg to make a decision that could benefit both their companies. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta Blocks Apple Intelligence Features on Facebook, Instagram, Threads
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. If you've been waiting to use Apple's Writing Tools to spruce up your Instagram captions and Threads posts, you're out of luck. As spotted by Sorcererhat Tech, Meta has blocked Apple Intelligence features on its iOS apps. Typically, on compatible iPhones and iPads, long-pressing items in a text field should bring up Writing Tools, an Apple Intelligence feature that helps proofread, rewrite, or summarize text. However, screenshots shared by Sorcererhat Tech indicate that Meta isn't currently supporting it. As 9to5Mac points out, developers can opt out of having Apple Intelligence features appear in their apps. According to a post on Apple's forum, Writing Tools were available on Meta's apps when Apple Intelligence first rolled out, but seem to have disappeared with a December update. In addition to Writing Tools, Meta has also disabled Genmoji and Memoji, Sorcererhat Tech reports. Gemoji allows users to generate a custom emoji using Apple Intelligence. Memoji, on the other hand, is a slightly older feature that allows users to create avatars that look like them. Meta may have ditched Apple Intelligence to block a competitor's access to its own chatbot. Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp already feature the Meta AI chatbot, which can refine text and generate images. Meta and Apple discussed pairing Meta's Llama with Apple Intelligence for iPhones, but the deal was reportedly called off last year because Apple believed Meta's privacy practices were not "stringent enough." The two companies have tangled in the past; in 2020, Facebook claimed that iOS 14's app-privacy settings would "cripple" its ability to serve ads. Apple already has an AI partner in OpenAI. If users aren't satisfied with Siri's response, they can ask ChatGPT to come up with something better. Google's Gemini may be up next.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Forbes
iOS 18.5—Apple Reveals New Plans To Boost iPhone AI And User Privacy
As Apple prepares to issue iOS 18.4.1, the iPhone maker has confirmed it will launch a new ... More privacy-focused AI training system in iOS 18.5. As Apple prepares to issue iOS 18.4.1, the iPhone maker has confirmed it will launch a new privacy-focused AI training system in iOS 18.5. In a blog post first reported by Bloomberg, Apple detailed plans to boost the capabilities of its iPhone AI Apple Intelligence while prioritising user privacy. The new Apple AI approach could debut in iOS 18.5, which should be out in May, Bloomberg reports. The move comes as Apple delayed rolling out many of its powerful new Siri capabilities amid criticism of its AI features such as notification summaries. Part of the reason for this could be Apple's approach to AI privacy, which means it uses synthetic data rather than actual user information to train its models on emails and summarisation capabilities. This privacy-focused approach to iPhone AI means Apple doesn't always get the best data to train its models, which will of course impact its AI kudos overall. Taking this into account, the post explains how the iPhone maker is developing new techniques that enable it to 'discover usage trends and aggregated insights to improve features powered by Apple Intelligence,' without revealing individual behavior or unique content to Apple. To do so, Apple said it will use an approach dubbed differential privacy, which it already uses as part of its opt-in device analytics program for tools such as Genmoji. To boost AI features such as Writing Tools, Apple will use the same approach, which will first generate synthetic data and then poll opted-in devices with snippets. As part of this, it will ask people to confirm how accurate the snippets are and compare them to its models so it can improve them. 'This synthetic data can then be used to test the quality of our models on more representative data and identify areas of improvement for features like summarisation,' Apple said. With its new approach, the contents of the sampled emails never leave the device and are never shared with Apple, the iPhone maker added. 'A participating device will send only a signal indicating which of the variants is closest to the sampled data on the device, and Apple learns which selected synthetic emails are most often selected across all devices, not which embedding was selected by any individual device.' Apple said it will use its differential privacy approach for Image Playground, Image Wand, Memories Creation and Writing Tools in Apple Intelligence, as well as in Visual Intelligence. With Apple's AI training push coming in iOS 18.5, exciting times are coming — at least for training its AI models to be better while protecting your privacy. This will make its AI better in the future. For the iPhone maker, it needed to happen. 'Apple are possibly interested in why their AI hasn't taken off like other features have in the past on new models,' says Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET. So should you opt in to sending this data to Apple in iOS 18.5? It is up to you. The iPhone maker's approach does sound privacy-conscious and it seems those who do opt in don't have any of their individual data collected. However, I always opt out of device analytics features and those who care about their privacy might want to opt out of this one too, just in case.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Yahoo
How to Turn Off the Worst Apple Intelligence Features (and Keep the Best Ones)
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Apple Intelligence hasn't quite lived up to the hype. Writing Tools, ChatGPT integration, Genmoji, and Image Playground have added supplementary improvements to iOS, but notification summaries for news were paused for hallucinations, and Siri's promised AI revamp has been significantly delayed. And yet, Apple Intelligence was turned on by default in iOS 18.3. Annoying, but Apple does let you turn it off pretty easily in Settings. But what if you want to keep some Apple Intelligence features but not others? Your options are limited, but here's what you can do. The simplest approach to dealing with Apple Intelligence features is to disable them. Open Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn the toggle next to Apple Intelligence to off. This turns off all AI capabilities throughout the operating system, but some features will still be visible. For instance, the Image Playground app for image generation stays on the phone but won't work. Previously created images will remain, but a message will tell you that future creation is disabled until Apple Intelligence is turned back on. Similarly, Genmoji creation will disappear but previously created emoji will still be available to send. Notification summaries are intended to help people quickly catch up on lengthy chat threads, putting only the most important information on the screen (date and time for a meet-up, for example). That can be useful—unless it incorrectly summarizes a news alert. If you'd rather parse the group chat yourself, Apple offers a way to turn off these summaries without disabling other Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Genmoji. Go to Settings > Notifications > Summarize Notifications. When you first turn this on, Apple will let you pick which notifications to summarize—News & Entertainment (currently paused), Communication & Social, and All Other Apps. So, in this setting, you can choose to turn off summaries completely or pick and choose based on an app. When iOS 18.4 rolls out next month, you'll also get a Priority Notifications option, which will show you the notifications that Apple Intelligence deems most important on a separate part of the Lock Screen. When it arrives, you can enable or disable it via Settings > Notifications. To block elements of Apple Intelligence on your device, or any that you manage, turn to Screen Time. Apple recommends that image creation tools be used by kids 12 and older, while the ChatGPT extension be used by kids 13 and older. To manage these features, open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, and tap Intelligence & Siri. Here, you can allow or block Image Creation, Writing Tools, and ChatGPT Extension. (You can also axe Math Notes if you don't want Apple doing your kids' homework.)
