Generative AI is making its way into the iPhone operating system, with the integration of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.4.
After long months of waiting, Apple Intelligence is finally here. Launching in October 2024 in several regions of the world with iOS 18.1, Apple’s “personal intelligence system”, tinged with generative AI, is integrated into iOS 18.4 for EU residents. Deployed this Monday, March 31, 2025, after several beta phases, the traditional spring update of the iPhone is therefore particularly dense for French users, with the addition of Genmoji, the Image Playground application or the Writing Tools functionality.
The main new features of iOS 18.4
Ahead of the launch, Apple has extensively showcased the features introduced in the iOS 18.4 release notes. Here’s everything you can try right now on the iPhone.
Apple Intelligence: image generation, editorial assistant, ChatGPT integration…
- Writing Tools: Available in Mail, Safari, or Messages, this feature lets you reword, edit, or summarize text. It can provide suggestions, such as pacing or wording, or respond to a user-supplied text query.
- An application for generating images: Pre-installed on the iPhone, Image Playground offers the possibility of creating an image in several styles ( Animation, Illustration and Drawing ). To do this, it is based on the user’s request, and possibly a reference visual. An image generation feature is also integrated into Messages and Freeform, according to Apple.
- An emoji creation tool: Genmoji lets you create an emote from scratch, using your keyboard. These can then be synced across all your devices via iCloud. The tutorial for creating a Genmoji is available here.
- New options for the Photos app: A series of tools have been integrated into Apple’s photo library, such as a smart search feature, the ability to create “memory movies” or a Fix option, allowing you to remove unwanted elements from a photo.
- Siri upgrades: While part of its redesign, heavily teased at WWDC 2024, has been delayed to 2026, the voice assistant is getting a new design with “an animation that runs along the edge of the screen,” as well as enhanced capabilities. For example, it’s now able to handle written queries, better grasp the subtleties of language, especially if you stumble over a word, and retain conversation history.
- ChatGPT integrates into the ecosystem: thanks to the partnership signed in 2024, OpenAI’s conversational agent can be invoked via Siri or writing tools. It is not necessary to have an account, and therefore to be logged in, to use it on the iPhone.
- Notification Summaries: The feature summarizes alerts “that require your immediate attention” into a summary, which appears “at the top of your notifications list,” Apple says. This is the only Apple Intelligence feature that hasn’t yet been enabled outside of Europe. A similar system is also being implemented in Mail.
- New in Notes: Apple’s note-taking app is getting AI-powered options like call and recording transcript summaries, as well as a Graphics Wand feature, “which turns your sketches and handwritten notes into images.”
As a reminder, Apple Intelligence features aren’t available on all iPhones. They’re reserved for the most recent models in the lineup, from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The iPhone 16e, the successor to the SE 3 model and released last February, is also compatible with Apple Intelligence.
Improvements for Safari, the App Store, or Photos
According to the release notes provided by Apple, iOS 18.4 brings a few additional improvements to the iPhone. The most notable ones include: Safari now displays suggestions from your previous searches, the App Store lets you pause an app download or update without losing progress, and the Podcasts app has new widgets.
Finally, some options have been implemented in the Photos app, such as the ability to disable Recently Viewed and Recently Shared collections as well as new filters to categorize or hide items.
How to download iOS 18.4 update
To take advantage of the features included in this software update, here are the steps to follow:
- Open the Settings app,
- Click on Software Update,
- iOS 18.4 should appear on the screen. Tap Update, Install, or Install Tonight.
Since this update is particularly large (7.06 GB), make sure you have enough storage space on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage . The manufacturer also recommends connecting to a Wi-Fi network and plugging your iPhone into a power source before installing.
