New Apple Intelligence Features and Languages ⇥ apple.com

With the launch of iOS 18.4 today, Apple says Apple Intelligence features are now available in the E.U. and in several new languages. I remain skeptical that Apple Intelligence was ever “delayed” in the region. Until today, it was only available in variations of English. When Apple announced in November it would be bringing these features to the E.U., it sure seemed like it also needed the time to train its models on a range of new languages reflecting the regions where it would be used.

If Apple was so worried about the wrath of regulators, it could have made accessing Apple Intelligence in the E.U. as complicated as it does E.U.-specific features outside the region. But it did not.

There is also some new stuff in these updates:

This release also comes with additional Apple Intelligence features, including Priority Notifications to help users stay on top of time-sensitive communications, the ability to create a memory movie on Mac by simply typing a description, and an added Sketch style in Image Playground that creates academic and highly detailed sketches.

Cannot say I care at all about the latter two things, but Priority Notifications is at least an attempt to solve a problem I have long observed with the notifications system on iOS:

One of the reasons why using an iPhone has been so nice, for a decade now, is because of how little the user must manage it. The App Store gave even novice users the confidence to download new software, implicitly trusting that it would not cause problems on their phone or carry malware. You shouldn’t close open apps, either, and you don’t have to toggle Bluetooth or LTE to get great battery life. The system just sorts it out.

I want that same level of confidence with push notifications.

Since I wrote that in 2018, iOS notifications have improved dramatically. Notifications can now be grouped, for example, or batched into a group of morning and evening updates. Do Not Disturb has become more granular with the introduction of Focus Modes, too. I use those features extensively.

Priority Notifications is another way to balance the number and type of notifications you receive. Like many of the Apple Intelligence features — or, indeed, A.I. features as a whole — it is imperfect. But it is a truly welcome improvement for how I use notifications on my phone.