Last year, Apple made headlines for its significant advancements in AI at the WWDC keynote. This year, the focus shifted slightly as the company highlighted updates to its operating systems, services, and software, introducing a new aesthetic known as “Liquid Glass” and a new naming convention.
Despite toning down the emphasis on Apple Intelligence, the company still made some AI-related announcements, showcasing new features such as Visual Intelligence, ChatGPT integration, a Workout Buddy, Live Translation, and more.
Visual Intelligence, Apple’s image analysis technology powered by AI, allows users to gather information about their surroundings by identifying objects, plants, or even providing details about restaurants. The feature now has the ability to interact with the information on the user’s iPhone screen, conducting image searches related to what is being viewed. Visual Intelligence will be accessible through the Control Center or the Action button with the launch of iOS 26.
Image Playground, Apple’s AI-powered image generation tool, now incorporates ChatGPT for creating images in various styles such as anime, oil painting, and watercolor. Users can also send prompts to ChatGPT to generate additional images.
The new Workout Buddy is an AI-driven workout coach that delivers motivational talks during exercise routines, resembling a personal trainer’s voice. The AI within the Workout app provides encouragement, highlights achievements, and summarizes workout statistics upon completion.
Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, offers real-time translation of text or spoken words during Messages, FaceTime, and phone calls. Users will see live captions during FaceTime calls and hear translated conversations aloud during phone calls.
Apple has introduced AI-powered features for phone calls, including call screening to identify unknown callers and hold assist to detect hold music when waiting for a call center agent. Users can stay connected while on hold and receive notifications when a live agent becomes available.
The Messages app now allows users to create polls using Apple Intelligence, which suggests polls based on the conversation context. The Shortcuts app is enhanced with AI models for features like AI summarization, and Spotlight on Mac incorporates Apple Intelligence for improved contextual awareness.
Developers can now access Apple’s AI models offline through the Foundation Models framework, enabling them to build AI capabilities into their third-party apps. However, the much-anticipated AI-powered features for Siri have been delayed until next year, raising questions about Apple’s strategy for the voice assistant in a competitive market.
