Apple iOS 18.3 is here. What to know about top features.
The latest operating system update is available now for Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. The iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 rollout brings a few small improvements, one big change to Apple Intelligence and security updates for iPhone.
The first batch of Apple Intelligence features, introducing Apple-built generative models and other enhancements to existing Apple software, launched in October, with more features rolling out in December for devices.
Here's what to know about some of the top features in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3:
Notification summaries
In iOS and iPadOS 18.3, AI-generated notification summaries are getting a style change on iPhone 15 and 16 models and iPad models with M1 or later.
The summaries will now have italicized text to make them more easily distinguishable from other notifications. Users can now manage setting for notification summaries from the Lock Screen of their device.
Apple also is temporarily disabling notification summaries for news and entertainment apps. For users who opt-in to the feature, Apple will notify when it becomes available.
Apple Intelligence on by default
In the previous two OS updates, users had to opt-in to use Apple Intelligence features. In 18.3, Apple Intelligence will now be enabled automatically for new users and those upgrading who may not have opted in previously.
Visual Intelligence upgrades
For those with iPhone 16 devices, a couple of new options were added to Visual Intelligence, using the camera control button. Users can now add an event to their calendar from a poster, and Visual Intelligence can identify plants and animals.