iOS 18.3 arrives with Visual Intelligence update, notification summary changes

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Apple has released iOS 18.3, with the newest update few updates focusing on a few Apple Intelligence features, including how notification summaries are handled.

Hand holding a smartphone with a colorful screen displaying various app icons on a light background.
An iPhone running iOS 18



The beta testing cycle for iOS 18.3 has concluded with the formal release of the operating system update to iPhones around the world. The third major update for iOS 18, it helps push forward Apple Intelligence's features, but not to the same extent as previous releases.

The first Apple Intelligence wave concentrated on basic features, while iOS 18.2 brought with it more graphical changes. For iOS 18.3, things are somewhat muted.

Visual Intelligence upgrade



Visual Intelligence, the iPhone 16 feature that uses the Camera Control button, can be used to perform queries based on things in your local environment. By shooting an image, you can ask questions about what the iPhone 16 can see.

For iOS 18.3, the feature has been expanded to allow it to recognize more things. Specifically the real-time identification of plants and animals.

Smartphone screen shows a black Flat-Coated Retriever dog with alert ears and a curious expression indoors.
Animal identification in Visual Intelligence



When items are detected, a new button at the top of the screen will reveal more information about the currently viewed animal or plant.

It's also been updated with a feature for scanning posters and flyers. By tapping a date in the Visual Intelligence interface, users can add a Calendar event based on the scanned information, making it easier to set future reminders of events.

Notification summary changes



While notification summaries have been useful, Apple has caught some heat for inaccuracies. News outlets have publicly complained about it coming up with the wrong inference from collections of headlines, such as incorrectly declaring a famous tennis player as gay or saying a darts player was the champion before the final had taken place.

The complaints urged Apple to rethink notification summaries, at least when it comes to news apps and headlines. Apple eventually responded, temporarily disabling summaries for News & Entertainment applications.

When Apple eventually enables the summaries back up, users who opt-in will see them again.

As well as the headline blunder, iOS 18 also adds in new management settings for notification summaries, available from the Lock Screen. Apple is also updating the style of how summarized notifications appear, with the use of italicized text and a glyph.

Apple Intelligence on by default



One late change to iOS 18.3 will almost certainly increase the usage of Apple Intelligence. It will be enabled by default when a compatible device is updated to iOS 18.3.

As it's now an opt-out feature, users will have to disable it via the Settings app if they want it disabled. Previously, it was an opt-in feature.

Smaller changes



Not every change in iOS 18.3 relates to Apple Intelligence. However, there are relatively few that are noteworthy, aside from the usual performance improvements and bug fixes.

The short list includes an enhancement to Calculator, which now repeats the last mathematical operation if you tap the equals sign.

There's also a fix for occasions when the keyboard disappears when trying to initiate a typed Siri request.

The update also resolves an issue in Apple Music where audio playback continues until songs end, even if you close the app.

How to install iOS 18.3



To install iOS 18.3 on an iPhone manually, open the Settings app, select General, then Software Update. With beta updates turned off, the final release version will appear unless it has already been installed.

Not everyone needs to do this manually. It's only if a user has set their iPhone not to automatically update.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,314member
    I guess 18.4 will be the big one.
    williamlondon
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 15
    jas99jas99 Posts: 178member
    No issues with the upgrade.
    williamlondonfred1JanNLdewme
     2Likes 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 15
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    williamlondondewme
     0Likes 1Dislike 1Informative
  • Reply 4 of 15
    Pemapema Posts: 210member
    Once again the Chinese have upended the market. This time with AI. The whole Western model has been debunked.
    Kind of reminds me of the 1990s when Oracle and other big name tech titans committed to spend trillions to create the information superhighway with the mantra the first and best would control it. When a little canary in the coal mine tweeted 'hey we have just such a model an it costs nada' it is called the internet and it was invented in the 70s as ARPANET bringing the whole proposed model crashing down. And the rest is history as they say. 
    The reason that the Western model is unwieldily is the gargantuan amounts of data and the nuclear processing power required to deliver even a smidgen of info that it becomes like the Russian wristwatch: a clunky face with a car battery required to run it. Not to mention the fact that the smidgen of data is woefully inadequate and wrong most of time. 

    China is the future: manufacturing, EV and now AIs. 

    tyler82
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 15
    M68000m68000 Posts: 910member
    sunman42 said:
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    I think you need iPhone 15 pro or newer to run whatever this apple intelligence feature can do.   Your phone is not supported.
    ihatescreennames
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 15
    M68000 said:
    sunman42 said:
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    I think you need iPhone 15 pro or newer to run whatever this apple intelligence feature can do.   Your phone is not supported.
    I suspect you are right. I guess I have a very valuable iPhone now.
    williamlondondewme
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 15
    sunman42 said:
    M68000 said:
    sunman42 said:
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    I think you need iPhone 15 pro or newer to run whatever this apple intelligence feature can do.   Your phone is not supported.
    I suspect you are right. I guess I have a very valuable iPhone now.
    Or your posts are just BS since in the first one you said you had previously had Apple Intelligence turned off and mentioned where in Settings you had turned it off but now it turns out your phone never supported Apple Intelligence in the first place. Oops, your trolling efforts have fallen flat. 
    williamlondon
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 15
    Morkmork Posts: 27member
    Updated earlier and seems better.

    My iPhone, iPad and Apple TV stopped auto updating long ago, I have auto update turned on, have the hardware plugged in and on wifi but some time ago stopped auto update and now not even download. Not a big deal but must be another setting somewhere stops this.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 9 of 15
    If Apple adds features:

    ”We don’t need this! We need a Snow-Leopard update where they fix all the bugs!”

    If Apple focuses on bug fixes: 

    “They aren’t innovating! This is so boring!”
    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondondewme
     2Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 15
    M68000m68000 Posts: 910member
    sunman42 said:
    M68000 said:
    sunman42 said:
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    I think you need iPhone 15 pro or newer to run whatever this apple intelligence feature can do.   Your phone is not supported.
    I suspect you are right. I guess I have a very valuable iPhone now.
    Or your posts are just BS since in the first one you said you had previously had Apple Intelligence turned off and mentioned where in Settings you had turned it off but now it turns out your phone never supported Apple Intelligence in the first place. Oops, your trolling efforts have fallen flat. 
    I thought about that but did not say anything to be polite.
    williamlondon
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 11 of 15
    DAalsethdaalseth Posts: 3,141member
    Some bits of good news:
    If you disable Apple Intelligence it removes the cruft it put in there that’s now unneeded. I updated my iPad and Mac and had nearly no net loss of drive space by disabling it.
    https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/save-up-to-21gb-storage-disable-apple-intelligence/
    Secondly it can’t run if your system’s language and Siri’s language don’t match. My Mac, actually all of my devices, are set up for English (Canadian), but I run Siri on English (Irish). In every case it disabled Apple Intelligence and gave me a note that they had to match. 

    So when I updated each system yesterday I did the update, rebooted, switched Siri to English (Canadian), disabled Apple Intelligence, Switched Siri back to English (Irish). I had no noticeable loss in storage space, and Apple Intelligence cannot get enabled even accidentally. 
    williamlondondewme
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 12 of 15
    M68000 said:
    sunman42 said:
    M68000 said:
    sunman42 said:
    This is weird. I had Apple Intelligence turned off in Settings -> Apple Intelligence and Siri in iOS 18.2 on my iPhone 14 Pro. Installed the 18.3 update today, and I no longer have an "Apple Intelligence and Siri" in 18.3, only a "Siri" one. Looks like I can't even opt to turn Apple Intelligence on (not that I can imagine doing so).
    I think you need iPhone 15 pro or newer to run whatever this apple intelligence feature can do.   Your phone is not supported.
    I suspect you are right. I guess I have a very valuable iPhone now.
    Or your posts are just BS since in the first one you said you had previously had Apple Intelligence turned off and mentioned where in Settings you had turned it off but now it turns out your phone never supported Apple Intelligence in the first place. Oops, your trolling efforts have fallen flat. 
    I thought about that but did not say anything to be polite.
    I get that, and it was nice of you. I also think sometimes people need to be called out and to me this was one of those times. 
    DAalseth said:
    Some bits of good news:
    If you disable Apple Intelligence it removes the cruft it put in there that’s now unneeded. I updated my iPad and Mac and had nearly no net loss of drive space by disabling it.
    https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/save-up-to-21gb-storage-disable-apple-intelligence/
    Secondly it can’t run if your system’s language and Siri’s language don’t match. My Mac, actually all of my devices, are set up for English (Canadian), but I run Siri on English (Irish). In every case it disabled Apple Intelligence and gave me a note that they had to match. 

    So when I updated each system yesterday I did the update, rebooted, switched Siri to English (Canadian), disabled Apple Intelligence, Switched Siri back to English (Irish). I had no noticeable loss in storage space, and Apple Intelligence cannot get enabled even accidentally. 
    I know you dislike all this AI stuff (I’ve seen enough of your posts saying as much!) and you don’t want it enabled. I wasn’t sure if I would be using anything outside of the photo cleanup. However, I have found other uses that, for me, are handy. 

    Here’s an example, we’ve been dealing with a bunch of issues regarding my in-laws for a few months, to the point where it’s been consuming most of what used to be our free time. Here’s what has happened a few times. My wife will call me on her commute with a bunch of thoughts that need to be communicated to my in-laws (who are elderly). I record the call and let my wife do her stream of consciousness thing. The recording creates a transcript that I copy and drop into Notes. Then I have Writing Tools rewrite her stream into something more concise. At first I used Professional and that matched the way I would like it. My wife rejected that, thought it wasn’t soft enough, so I had WT redo but using Friendly. That was approved. 

    I’m not a writer, like I believe you are, so this saves me a lot of time and effort. From the time we finish the call to the time I have a nice, friendly message to send to them is just a minute or so. I’m really happy with the Apple Intelligence features so far. 
    muthuk_vanalingamforgot username
     1Like 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 13 of 15
    Does installing the iOS 18.3 update delete the TikTok app?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Have you discovered a way to record a call without the annoying “this call is being recorded” warning (assuming recording without the warning is permitted in your jurisdiction)?

    …. I record the call and let my wife do her stream of consciousness thing. The recording creates a transcript that I copy and drop into Notes.…
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 15
    Have you discovered a way to record a call without the annoying “this call is being recorded” warning (assuming recording without the warning is permitted in your jurisdiction)?

    …. I record the call and let my wife do her stream of consciousness thing. The recording creates a transcript that I copy and drop into Notes.…
    I haven’t tried. I live in a state that requires 2-party consent. I also live in a border town to another 2-party consent state and frequently talk with people from that state. So, for the most part, I have to have consent and looking for a way not to have that message play would be a wasted effort (for me). 
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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