iOS 18.1 beta 3 offers AI notification summaries for all iPhone apps

With the iOS and iPadOS 18.1 betas, the iPhone maker started testing Apple Intelligence features with enrolled developers. One of the included perks is support for AI-powered notification summaries. While this handy tool was exclusive to alerts sent by Apple’s Mail and Messages apps in previous builds, the latest iPadOS and iOS 18 betas expand these notification summaries to all applications.

When you first update to iOS or iPadOS 18.1 beta 3, the system will prompt you to opt into AI notification summaries. If you grant permission, Apple Intelligence will summarize the notifications from allow-listed apps.

The screenshots above show how a random stranger’s endless iPhone woes were shrunk to a single sentence — despite being sent through WhatsApp. This makes it easier for users to decide whether the nonstop alerts they receive are worth their precious time, no matter which app sends them.

Notably, macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer beta 3 continues to limit AI notification summaries to the built-in Mail and Messages apps. Whether Apple will add support for other apps before the public release is yet to be seen.

Speaking of Apple Intelligence, as of beta 3, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS users outside the United States no longer need to change their device region to the US. 9to5Mac notes that as long as the language options for Siri and the device are set to US English, users will be able to activate and use Apple Intelligence.

The general public can expect the stable X.1 OS updates to debut sometime in October — after Apple releases the initial versions in a couple of weeks or so.