So what can you do? right now? Let’s start with Writing Tools, which help you rewrite, correct, or summarize text wherever you are in the operating system. Rewrite changes the tone of the sentence from informal to professional, for example, while Proofread corrects typos and improves grammar. Too bad it’s almost impossible to remember that this feature exists, because it only appears when you highlight words. Perhaps Writing Tools would be better as a small button built into the virtual keyboard.
You can now write to Siri, although technically this is not new. Previously, this was an accessibility setting, which Apple has now built into the experience, finally catching up to Alexa and Google Assistant, which have had this capability by default for years. Siri also has a new design, with a glowing effect around the screen and the ability to understand queries a little more easily, even if you make a mistake while asking the question. Still, it feels largely the same in daily use, despite its new coat of paint, and that may seem a little disappointing.
Elsewhere you’ll see the option to send Smart Replies (quick AI-generated messages based on the context of the conversation, like “Thank you” or “Sounds good”) to people in Messages and Mail. While this can be helpful, it’s hard to get excited about a feature built into Gmail since 2017.
Summaries are another great part of Apple Intelligence. You can use it to get an overview of web pages and even their notifications. If you have multiple messages from a group chat, the summary will highlight the important things that were said and you can click to see the full details. I have yet to get much use out of this, as my summaries are often a jumbled mess of words.
I once summarized my work emails and said “medical emergency” as part of it. I checked my inbox to see what was going on. Turns out someone said they were responding a day late due to a medical emergency, but they were fine. It wasn’t an important work email (I’m glad to hear they were okay), but the summary had me checking my inbox when I didn’t have to. Most of the time I found myself clicking on my notifications because Apple Intelligence highlighted something. that it seemed crucial but it wasn’t.