While Google provides advanced AI tools through Gmail, Apple launched the first Apple Intelligence features for users of iPhones and related devices with Apple Silicon chips at the end of October with the new iOS version 18.1.

Apple: New productivity tools, enhanced Siri and other smart features

At Apple’s recent iPhone 16 event, generative artificial intelligence was in the spotlight. Because of EU data protection restrictions, many of these features will not yet be available in Europe, leaving users to wait until they can access them.

Writing and editing tools

Apple is introducing several writing-focused tools. The Text Rewrite feature transforms basic email drafts into professionally crafted messages. Users can choose a tone – such as friendly or formal – enabling the AI to adjust the text for natural flow. On the other hand, Proofread checks grammar and sentence structure, suggesting more suitable words and syntax—a useful tool for quick refinement.

Summarize Text condenses longer content into key points or a table format, making it easier to read and understand. There is also Smart Reply, which provides contextually tailored replies within apps like Mail, giving users a jump-start for their replies.

Upgraded Siri

Siri now has a refreshed appearance: on iPhone and iPad, it appears as a rainbow-colored border along the screen, and on Mac, users can position Siri anywhere on the desktop. Alongside its new look, Siri now uses an improved language model (based on ChatGPT) to interpret more natural language. For complex queries, it leverages Apple’s Private Cloud Compute for further processing, without retaining user data. Also, users can now type queries, making Siri more convenient in quiet or public spaces.

Other news in iOS 18.1

• Clean Up: Removes unwanted objects from images and fills in the background (similar to Google’s ‘Magic Eraser’).
• Search: We will be able to search for images using a text query (e.g. “Find me images containing a dog”).
• Memories: Using a prompt, users can generate movies from trip photos or create a compilation of images capturing children growing up. This feature should allow Memories to become more than just the automatically generated content that is already offered in the iPhone gallery.

Apart from these, Apple has also announced other features that will come in later versions of their operating system.

Google: AI writing comes to Gmail

Google’s “Help me write” function is now also available on the web version of Gmail. With integrated Gemini AI, Workspace and Google One Premium users can easily create or enhance emails. The new polish shortcut enables faster finishing of messages that have more than 12 words, which further optimizes writing with AI.

These updates from Apple and Google aim to enhance productivity and usability, giving users more freedom to create and manage content while ensuring data privacy and security.