Apple Watch Will Get Key Function of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1
Officially, Apple Intelligence is not supported on Apple Watch. But one of the key AI features in iOS 18.1 is available—and at its best—when used on the Watch. This is how the notification summary brings Apple Intelligence to your wrist.
Notification Summaries Created by Apple Intelligence
One of the pillars of Apple Intelligence is language tools. This umbrella covers functions such as AI proofreading and rewriting assistants, priority mail messages, smart reply offers, and more. Notification Summary is another feature supported by AI language tools.
When necessary, Apple Intelligence uses notifications to provide brief information about the content of a message. Notifications are not the only place where you can see reports. Here is an example of a short email in the Mail application. If the message is already short, you will still see its text included in the notification. But with longer messages, notifications no longer show only the first part of the message. Short extracts rarely offer useful information. Instead, thanks to Apple Intelligence, notifications in iOS 18.1 now contain a summary of all message content. This is also good for summarizing the whole conversation: if you have a bunch of unread messages on the Watch, the summary will be dynamically updated to cover everything you missed. Essentially, notification summaries help to understand the message or stream key content just for a moment. That’s why this feature is perfect for the Apple Watch.
AI Notifications on Apple Watch
Technically, Apple Watch does not support the Apple Intelligence device. However, since the iPhone is sending notifications to its paired Watch, it receives these iOS 18.1 AI notifications. Despite the fact that these ‘smart’ notifications on the iPhone are very good, I have found that they are an even more valuable asset for the Watch. The screen real estate on the Apple Watch is so limited that this feature seems specially designed for watchOS. The best part? You don’t need new Watch equipment to get this feature. While you are working on an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, your Watch will receive these new updated notifications.
Notification Summaries Show What is Possible with AI in watchOS
Many of the features that come with Apple Intelligence don’t make much sense on the Watch. I don’t need my Watch to rewrite messages for me, create images generated by AIs, or remove unwanted objects from my photos. But the summary notifications show how AI can be beneficial for the wrist.
Some other Apple Intelligence features that would be great in watchOS include:
- AI-powered smart reply offers
- New Siri with ChatGPT integration
- Web page summaries for links sent to you
And this is just the beginning. Apple will no doubt add new Apple Intelligence features in the coming years. Some of them will be great for the Watch. There are processor limitations that make native Watch-based AI a challenge. But the notification summaries show how the Apple Watch can benefit from Apple’s investment in this area.
