Additions to Apple Intelligence include English (India), English (Singapore), German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and “others” yet to be announced.
The feature will launch in American English, when it arrives as part of the iOS 18.1 update. The company previously announced that localized English support for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. will arrive later in 2024, with support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming in 2025.
For anyone counting, that’s 16 other countries besides the default U.S. English version.
On the iOS 18 page on their website, Apple has linked to a document titled “New features available in iOS 18.” This document provides an in-depth look at all the categories of new features in iOS 18, grouped by “Apple Intelligence,” “Key Features,” and “Even More.”
When I come across detailed guides like this, I like to import all of the information into Craft, then use its grouping and backlinking features to create a more-digestible version with a complete table of contents – something I’ve done for the Shortcuts developer sessions and the latest WWDC keynote, for example.
With this iOS 18 guide, I’ve imported and grouped all the new features into a single doc in Craft for my own personal use, which I’ve also made available for members of my website to browse and peruse.
However, I wanted to share the full outline of iOS 18 features here as a public reference – plus you can still find all the details for each feature in Apple’s PDF.
Here’s that full list:
What’s new in iOS 18
Apple Intelligence
Writing Tools
Rewrite
Style
Proofread
Summarize
Describe
Compose
Image Playground
Image Playground app
Create Images with Concepts
Create Images with People You Know
Create Images with Characters
Create Images with Photos
Create Images with Text
Suggested Concepts
Quick Previews
Preview history
Image Playground library
Animation style
Illustration style
Sketch style
Messages experience
Deep integrations
Siri
Personal context understanding
In-app actions
Onscreen awareness
More resilient request handling
Maintains conversational context
Product knowledge
Glowing edge light
Type to Siri
Predictive text in Siri keyboard
Suggestions in Siri keyboard
More natural voice
More visually rich responses
ChatGPT integration
Focus
Reduce interruptions
Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing
Genmoji
Genmoji
Mail
Mail Priority messages
Preview summaries
Thread summaries
Smart Reply
Messages
Smart Reply
Summaries
Notes
Transcription summaries
Image Wand
Notifications
Priority notifications
Notification summaries
Announce Notifications support
Phone
Call summaries
Photos
Natural language photo and video search
Create your own Memories
Clean Up tool
Key Features
Customization
More flexible placement
Unique page layouts
Dark icons
Tinted icons
Larger icons
Control Center
Redesigned Control Center
Groups of controls
Controls gallery
Controls on your Lock Screen
Controls with the Action button
Photos
Biggest-ever design update
Collections
Recent Days
Groups in People & Pets
Trips
Wallpaper suggestions
Collection view options
Pinned Collections
Hide screenshots from your library
Months and Years highlights
Expanded content types in Utilities
Customize the Photos app
Clean Up tool*
Edit albums in folders
Album attribution
Edit in light or dark mode
Smart copy and paste edits
Video speed control
Creative stories
Smart suggestions
Messages
Text effects
Text formatting
Messages via satellite
iMessage over satellite
SMS over satellite
Satellite connection in Dynamic Island
Emoji and sticker Tapbacks
Send Later
RCS (Rich Communication Services)
Low Quality Image Mode improvements
High-quality Images
Mail
Transactions category
Updates category
Promotions category
Time sensitive
Grouped by sender
Quick action
Recategorization
Safari
Highlights
Location highlights
Summary highlights
Music highlights
Movie and TV show highlights
Person highlights
Redesigned Reader
Distraction Control
Passwords
Passwords app
Passwords and passkeys
Sign in with Apple
Wi-Fi passwords
Verifications codes
Sorting
Syncing
End-to-end encryption
Windows support
Maps
Hiking and walking
Hikes
Turn-by-turn navigation
Create and save walking and hiking routes
Topographic maps
Discover and save places
Gaming
Game Mode
Wallet
Event tickets
Pay with installments
Pay with Rewards
Apple Pay on Chrome and Windows PC
Tap to Cash
Tap to provision
AirPods
Siri Interactions
Voice Isolation
Personalized Spatial Audio for gaming
Reduced gaming audio latency
In-game voice quality
Notes
Audio recording
Live transcription
Phone call transcription
Math in Notes
Access Math Notes from Calculator
Collapsible sections
Highlighting
PDF inline search
Journal
State of Mind integration
Log mindful minutes
Insights view
Streaks
Calendar
Stats
Search and sort
Export and print
Widgets
Quick Actions
Audio transcription
More formatting options
Shortcuts
Apple TV
InSight
Enhance dialogue
More dynamic subtitles
Home
Hands-free unlock with home keys
Guest access
Pair Matter accessories without a hub
Control robot vacuum cleaners in the Home app
Electricity usage and rates
Privacy & Security
Improved Contacts preferences
Redesigned Privacy & Security settings
Accessory Setup Kit
Blocking sensitive content for children
Even More
Accessibility
Eye Tracking
Music Haptics
Vocal Shortcuts
Vehicle motion cues
AirPlay
Spatial Audio
Apple Account
Share Sign in with Apple credentials
Calculator
Math Notes
Typed math
Variables
Graphing
Adjust numbers
Works with Notes
Math Results
History
Editable expressions
Portrait scientific calculator
Unit conversions
Calendar
View reminders in Calendar
Edit reminders in Calendar
Create reminders in Calendar
Updated Month view
Refreshed look
Camera
5-second timer
Continue playing music when taking a photo
Adjust flash settings via touch and hold
Next-gen Portraits enhancements
CarPlay
Spatial Audio
Accessibility
Continuity
Continuity Camera with Apple TV 4K
Family Sharing
Family Sharing invitations
Recommended for your family
Files
Desktop and documents in the Cloud setup
Keep downloaded
Expanded external drive file formats
Erasing an external drive
Fitness+
For You in Summary
For You
Explore
Library
Search
Awards
Freeform
Scenes
Send a copy
Snap to Grid
Handwriting recognition
Improved diagramming
Math Results
iCloud
Settings redesign
iCloud Mail
iCloud Mail cleanup
Manage old email
Unsubscribe and delete
Keyboard
Keyboard Unified picker
Inline stickers and Memoji
Searchable stickers
Multilingual keyboard
Language detection
Locked and Hidden Apps
Locked apps
Hidden apps
Hidden apps folder
Seamless authentication
Move to iOS
Faster migration
Cabled migration
Improved Wi-Fi migration
Tips during migration
Dual SIM labels
Voice memo migration
Music
SharePlay on more devices
Phone
Call recordings
Call transcripts
Call history search
Keypad search
Live caller ID lookup
Live Voicemail
Dual SIM in Control Center
Automatic Mic Mode
Podcasts
Chapter scrubbing
Better playback control
Share from transcripts
Search suggestions as you type
Reminders
Calendar integration
Recently deleted list
Subtasks in Smart Lists
Multi-language grocery lists
SharePlay
Ask to share
Draw to highlight
Remote control
iPhone to iPhone, iPad to iPad
Privacy friendly
SharePlay on more devices
Tips
Tips sharing
Weather
Easier-to-find Feels Like temperature
Home and work locations
Prominent wind gusts and direction
261 Features Coming to iOS 18
Plus, for fun, I removed all the categories and groups to create a single-file list of all the features – assuming I didn’t miss anything, there’s 261 features coming to iOS 18 (according to the list Apple provided):
On Sunday, September 8, on the Mac Power Users podcast, I had the pleasure of joining hosts David Sparks and Stephen Hackett – here’s the show notes:
Matt Cassinelli joins the show to discuss his background with Workflow and Apple and how it led to him becoming the "Shortcuts Guy." The group then discusses Apple's automation tools across its platforms, and how those tools have extended to the web.
Explore the latest shortcuts actions in iOS 18, including powerful new tools for Apple Journal, HomeKit, and Safari. Learn how to streamline your workflow with multi-conditional if statements, smart home toggles, and better organization for your Shortcuts.
In iOS 18.1 developer beta 2, Apple has updated how it organizes actions in the Shortcuts app to create a better experience for users, including a new ordering inside action and categories, as well as two new categories.
This a long overdue change to the Action Editor, which should make it easier for new users to learn how to use Shortcuts – categories are more distinct, important actions are easier to find, and there’s a logical sort order inside groups to help you progressively understand how to use them.
New Order
Throughout all categories and subcategories in the Shortcuts app, Apple has updated the order of actions from alphabetical to a custom order. Instead of actions being ordered by what letter happened to appear at the beginning of what verb happened to be chosen for that action, now the actions inside Shortcuts have a logical order that emphasizes important functions first and group similar functions near each other.
A great example of this new group ordering is in the Media category, which consists of Music, Podcasts, and Photos actions – previously there was were multiple small categories at the beginning (shown above), then photos, then music, then back to photos, then more music in the form of Playlists, and finally podcasts.
Now, all the entire category has been streamlined, music and podcast actions are near each other, and the photos actions are grouped logically as well.
Another great example of the new logical ordering of actions inside categories is the Scripting category, where the most commonly-used actions like Show Result and Ask for Input have been entirely moved up to the top, rather than buried in their respective “No-Ops” and “Notification” categories that deemphasized their critical use while Scripting.
Now, when looking through the Scripting group, it should be easier to find the actions you’re most likely to use near the top, and the more esoteric tools are lower down where advanced users can find them – or just Search for them.
New Groups
Going further, the Scripting category is also now dedicated more directly towards true scripting functions, and in the process Apple has moved a subset of actions out and into new groups for Controls and Device functions.
Over time, as Apple added more and more functionality to the Scripting category, it became bloated with lots of system functions that don’t necessarily relate to the act of scripting, per se.
Now, with the introduction of Controls as function in Control Center, Apple has broken out all Controls-related actions into a new Controls group. Similarly, all the actions that related to the specific Device details have been moved into the new Device category.
These new groups are a great addition, emphasizing the functionality found in Controls and Device categories that might’ve otherwise been lost on users who don’t do much Scripting, while also making the Scripting category more clear on its own.
I hope Apple continues to expand these groups and adds more categories. Apple could open these categories to third-party developers, letting developers add actions to these categories as well as creating more top-level groupings – this would further help users find what actions are available to utilize without going through app-by-app to check.
Welcome Improvements
These updated action grouping, ordering, and new categories are a very welcome addition to the Action Editor experience in Shortcuts – this automation platform has so much potential and little user experience tweaks like this can go a long way towards introducing newer users to such a complicated experience.
And even as a seasoned expert, I’ve wanted these for a long time – hence why I directly asked for these changes via Apple’s Feedback tool, which I’m extremely happy to see implemented.
Check out the developer betas to get early access to these changes, or you can look forward to these updates when iOS 18.1 releases this fall.
Here’s the full breakdown of the new categorization (note that some actions are not contained in a subcategory):
Actions
Scripting
Comment
Show Result
Show Alert
Ask for Input
Count
Control Flow
Choose from Menu
If
Repeat
Repeat with Each
Wait
Variables
Set Variable
Get Variable
Add to Variable
Lists
List
Choose from List
Get Item from List
Dictionaries
Dictionary
Get Dictionary Value
Set Dictionary Value
Get Dictionary from Input
Numbers
Number
Random Number
Round Number
Format Number
Get Numbers from Input
Math
Calculate
Calculate Expression
Calculate Statistics
Measurement
Measurement
Convert Measurement
Dates
Date
Format Date
Adjust Date
Get Time Between Dates
Get Dates from Input
Convert Time Zone
Text
Text
Get Text from Input
Show Definition
Get Name of Emoji
Text Editing
Change
Combine Text
Split Text
Replace Text
Match Text
Get Group from Matched Text
Correct Spelling
Audio
Dictate Text
Transcribe Audio
Speak Text
Make Spoken Audio from Text
Translation
Detect Language
Translate Text
Items
Get Name
Get Type
Set Name
Quick Look
View Content Graph
Shortcuts
Get My Shortcuts
Run Shortcut
Other
Get What’s On Screen
Base64 Encode
Generate Hash
URL Encode
Format File Size
Stop and Output
Stop This Shortcut
Wait to Return
Run Script over SSH
Open X-Callback URL
Nothing
Controls
Set Silent Mode
Set Focus
Set Volume
Set Flashlight
Set Low Power Mode
Shut Down
Connectivity
Set Airplane Mode
Set Wi-Fi
Set Bluetooth
Set Cellular Data
Set Personal Hotspot
Set VPN
Set AirDrop Receiving
Display
Set Appearance
Set Orientation Lock
Set Brightness
Set True Tone
Set Night Shift
Lock Screen
Set Stage Manager
Navigation
Open App
Go to Home Screen
Capture
Take Photo
Take Video
Record Audio
Take Screenshot
Device
Get Device Details
Get Battery Status
Get Orientation
Get Current Focus
Get Physical Activity
Clipboard
Copy to Clipboard
Get Clipboard
Notification
Show Notification
Play Sound
Network
Get Current IP Address
Get Network Details
Get Hotspot Password
Reset Cellular Data Statistics
Wallpaper
Set Wallpaper Photo
Get All Wallpapers
Switch Between Wallpapers
Location
Get Current Location
Find Places
Filter Locations
Open Directions
Open in Maps
Request Ride
Location
Get Details of Location
Location
Get Maps URL
Addresses
Street Address
Get Addresses from Input
Travel
Get Distance
Get Halfway Point
Get Travel Time
Media
Image
Convert Image
Filter Images
Get Details of Images
Get Images from Input
Make Image from PDF Page
Make Image Rich Text
Extract Text from Image
Image Editing
Markup
Combine Images
Crop Image
Flip Image
Mask Image
Overlay Image
Overlay Text
Resize Image
Rotate Image/Video
Remove Image Background
GIFs
Make GIF
Make Video from GIF
Add Frame to GIF
Get Frames from Image
Photos
Select Photos
Find Photos
Get Latest Photos
Get Latest Videos
Get Latest Screenshots
Get Latest Bursts
Get Latest Live Photos
Get Last Import
Remove from Photo Album
Delete Photos
Save to Photo Album
Video
Encode Media
Trim Media
Playback
Set Volume
Play/Pause
Seek
Skip Back
Skip Forward
Set Noise Control Mode
Hand Off Playback
Change Playback Destination
Music
Select Music
Find Music
Play Music
Add to Playing Next
Clear Playing Next
Get Current Song
Get Details of Music
Playing Next
Add to Playing Next
Clear Playing Next
Playlists
Add to Playlist
Create Playlist
Get Playlist
Podcasts
Find Podcasts
Follow Podcast
Play Podcast
Get Episodes of Podcast
Get Podcasts from Library
Get Details of Podcast
Get Details of Podcast Episode
Sharing
Share
Share with Apps
Send Message
Send Email
AirDrop
AirDrop
Clipboard
Copy to Clipboard
Get Clipboard
Photos
Post to Shared Album
QR Code
Generate QR Code
Scan QR or Barcode
Documents
Print
Markup
PDFs
Make PDF
Optimize File size of PDF
Split PDF into Pages
Add PDF to Books
Get Text from PDF
File Storage
File
Select File
Move File
Rename File
Save File
Delete Files
Get Link to File
Create Folder
Get Contents of Folder
Get File from Folder
Append to Text File
Archives
Make Archive
Extract Archive
Files
Open File
Get Details of Files
Filter Filters
Rich Text
Make HTML from Rich Text
Make Markdown from Rich Text
Make Rich Text from HTML
Make Rich Text from Markdown
Web
Search Web
Open URLs
Find Giphy GIFs
Safari
Show Web View
Add to Reading List
RSS
Get Items from RSS Feed
Get RSS Feeds from Page
Articles
Filter Articles
Get Details of Article
Get Article using Safari Reader
URLs
URL
Get URLs from Input
Expand URL
Get Component of URL
Web Requests
Get Contents of URL
Get Headers of URL
Web Pages
Get Contents of Web Page
Get Details of Safari Web Page
Run JavaScript on Web Page
* Save to Photo Album should be higher in this list, as it’s required for any images to be saved to Photos at all – this is often a case of confusion where people create GIFs or edit images, but don’t know to save them to Photos.
** The Playing Next category appears to be a duplicate, as the actions contained are also listed in the Music category.
These shortcuts come alongside new actions for Create Entry, Create Audio Entry, and Search Entries for the Journal app on iPhone, which are available in the iOS 18.1 developer beta (and possibly iOS 18, but I didn’t happen to come across them until my phone was updated).
Check out the new shortcuts:
Open my Journal: Opens the deep link into the Journal app for iPhone.
Search my Journal entries: Prompts you to enter a query, then opens to search results for your input text in the Journal app.
Create Journal entry: Prompts you to add enter text, then uses that text to create a simple entry in the Journal app.
Create audio entry: Opens the Journal app to the recording screen so you can create an Audio entry.
Create photo entry: Asks you to select an image from Photos or Files, then some associated text, then attaches it to a new entry in the Journal app.
Create bookmarked entry: Prompts you to enter text and a title for an entry, then adds it to the Journal app marked as “Bookmarked.”
Open Journal settings: Opens the deep link into Settings > Journal where you can adjust features like Journaling Suggestions, whether to lock your journal, and your journaling schedule.
From Jordan Morgan, developer advocate at Superwall:
Let's add a new file, and call it GetCaffeineIntent.swift:
struct GetCaffeineIntent: AppIntent {
static var title = LocalizedStringResource("Get Caffeine Intake")
static var description = IntentDescription("Shows how much caffeine you've had today.")
func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
let store = CaffeineStore.shared
let amount = store.amountIngested
return amount
}
}
This has all of the three things we mentioned above:
It has a title ("Get Caffeine Intake").
A description of what happens when we use it ("Shows much much caffeine you've had today.")
And, an implementation of that action, vended via the perform function.
However, if we build and run — we'll get a compiler error:
`Return type of instance method 'perform ()' requires that 'Double' conform to 'IntentResult'`
Looking at the return type, it's some IntentResult. This is critical to understand to avoid a lot of undue frustration with App Intents. You always return some form of an IntentResult. For example, if your intent just does an action, and has nothing of value to say about that action — you can simply return .result(). You don't ever return some primitive or domain specific type like we've done above.
Ours, though? It would be useful to tell the user how much caffeine they've had and return the actual amount, so change the return type to mark the intent to return two things:
An actual Double value of how much caffeine has been consumed.
And, some dialog to speak out their caffeine for the day.
So, instead of some IntentResult, here's what we need:
func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<Double> & ProvidesDialog {
let store = CaffeineStore.shared
let amount = store.amountIngested
return .result(value: amount,
dialog: .init("You've had \(store.formattedAmount(for: .dailyIntake))."))
}
Each intent's return type needs to start with some Intent opaque return type, but from there we can also include more specific types. Here, we've noted that we return a double value and speak out dialog.
Developers should read the entire post, but I highlighted this portion because it’s fairly poorly documented and incredibly important.
Jordan also covers basic Intent setup, more on the Entity front, and using Siri Tips and Shortcuts Links to bring more visibility to your actions.
For quick access to the main developer video website, sessions by topic or year, and to search, these shortcuts will suit you well:
Show all Apple Developer videos: Opens to the “All Videos” page on the Apple Developer website so you browse the entire scope of what’s offered.
Browse WWDC videos by year: Presents a list of categories from Apple’s developer pages, then reformats the option of your choosing into the URL for that category and opens it.
Browse Apple Developer topics: Presents a list of categories from Apple’s developer pages, then reformats the option of your choosing into the URL for that category and opens it.
Search Apple Developer sessions: Asks you to enter a search query, then URL encodes the result, and opens the results on the web.
AppleScript commands
For folks wanting direct access to features in the Apple Developer app for the Mac, these shortcuts use AppleScript to open the app and trigger keyboard shortcuts for all the main functions – these are great for Stream Deck users:
Discover in the Developer app: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + 1 to open to the Discover page, where you can see curated categories and recent articles.
Show Bookmarks in the Developer app: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + 2 to open to the Bookmarks page, where you can see sessions you’ve saved for later.
Open Downloads in the Developer app: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + 3 to open to the Downloads page, where you can find videos you’ve saved offline.
Continue Watching in the Developer app: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + 4 to open to the Continue Watching page, where you can resume sessions you’ve already started.
Copy link from Apple Developer: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + Option + C to copy the URL of the current session to your clipboard.
Copy link at timestamp: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + Shift + Option + C to copy the URL of the current session at your specific timestamp to your clipboard, so you can jump back to that moment at any time.
Toggle Bookmark status: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press the Command + / keyboard command that adds a session to your bookmarks (or removes it).
Toggle Watched status: Utilizes AppleScript to open the Developer and press Command + Shift + U to mark the current video as watched (or unwatched).
Session setup
Once you’re ready to watch sessions, these shortcuts make it easy to get set up on your Apple TV or Mac for a first-run, then a second pass to screenshot relevant information, and finally a way to scrape the titles from all the sessions you’ve saved, for referencing later:
Open Developer TV: Opens the Apple Developer app for Apple TV so you can view bookmarks, browse presentations, and search for topics. When run from Mac, maximizes the window to Full Screen.
Prep for session screenshots: Resizes the Apple Developer window to the second screen at my preferred size for taking screenshots, then opens Craft and centers it on the main display.
Scrape session titles: For a given list of Apple Developer session URLs, this will iterate through each, grabbing the name of the webpage, cleaning it up, and reformatting it into a Markdown list before copying that to your clipboard.
Today I just happened to stumble across the Apple Developer page for “Shortcuts for developers”, which was first launched in July 2023, that Apple designed as a landing page for all things, well, Shortcuts and development for it.
Here’s how Apple pitches Shortcuts here:
Increase your app’s surface area and help users quickly access the most important views and actions in your app. With no user setup required, App Shortcuts are available as soon as your app is installed in iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, or watchOS and can be run from Spotlight, the Home Screen, the Shortcuts app, or even by using your voice with Siri.
Underneath that, Apple calls attention to App Intents, which they describe this way:
Enable shortcuts with App Intents, a Swift-only framework designed to make it faster and easier to build great actions that people can access throughout the system.
The page also links to the documentation to help you begin implementing App Intents with these starting points:
I’m glad Apple has made this resource for developers unfamiliar with Shortcuts and App Intents, as it’s a clear jumping-off point while emphasizing the value of Shortcuts and what apps can enable for their users.
I hope to see this page updated for App Intents in iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, clarifying the connection between what you can do with Siri and how it’s all going to be available in the Shortcuts app as well.
