Remember when Apple introduced its “Apple Intelligence” last year? Well, it’s just grown up a lot.
A new wave of features rolled out last month, and it’s all about making your devices genuinely helpful in your daily life. The changes are deeply integrated across the company’s operating systems, with a strong focus on breaking down communication barriers and boosting creativity.
Bridging the language gap with ‘Live Translation’
One of the most human-centered new additions is Live Translation, a feature that aims to make cross-language communication seamless. It’s integrated directly into Messages, FaceTime, the Phone app, and with AirPods Pro 3.
Users can now hold live conversations with instant translations or see captions appear on FaceTime while still hearing the other person’s voice. Apple explained in its newsroom release that “it protects user’s privacy with on-device processing, so personal conversations stay personal.”
Live Translation also integrates with gestures and Siri commands, allowing users to easily activate it during calls or in-person chats.
Visual intelligence that understands your screen
Apple’s new Visual Intelligence tool takes things further by letting users interact with whatever appears on their screen. Whether it’s identifying an object, translating text, or searching for an item online, users can now highlight what they see and get instant results.
According to Apple, users can highlight an object on their screen “to search for that specific item or similar objects online.” With ChatGPT integration, users can also ask direct questions about what they’re viewing.
This visual upgrade also ties into system-wide actions—users can trigger it via the Action button, Control Center, or the screenshot shortcut, making it easier to learn or act on what’s in front of them.
Genmoji and image playground get creative boosts
Apple’s fun side shines with new creative tools for Genmoji and Image Playground.
With the updated Genmoji tool, users can mix multiple emojis or combine them with short descriptions to create entirely new ones. They can also tweak details like hairstyles and expressions to match real people in their contacts.
Meanwhile, Image Playground now integrates with ChatGPT, allowing users to generate artwork in styles such as Watercolor or Oil Painting. Apple confirmed, “Image Playground sends a user’s description or photo to ChatGPT, which creates a unique image.”
Personalized workouts with ‘Workout Buddy’
For fitness enthusiasts, Apple has introduced Workout Buddy, an AI-powered feature that turns exercise sessions into personalized coaching experiences. It uses Apple Intelligence to analyze users’ workout data — such as heart rate, distance, and milestones — and delivers real-time voice motivation using dynamic, trainer-style voices.
Apple says the system ensures privacy by processing data on-device and that the generative voice is “built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout.”
Workout Buddy will initially be available in English across popular workout types for Apple Watch users connected to an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone.
Shortcuts, reminders, and developer access
The Shortcuts app now includes intelligent actions powered by Apple Intelligence, enabling users to automate complex workflows using writing tools or image generation. For example, users can summarize documents, extract data from PDFs, or compare transcripts to notes — all without sharing data externally.
Developers are also gaining access to Apple’s on-device large language model, allowing apps like CARROT Weather and Streaks to offer new, personalized AI features. Apple confirmed these experiences are “available offline and protect user privacy, using AI inference that is free of cost to developers.”
Reminders can now auto-categorize lists, Wallet summarizes order tracking details from emails, and Messages can suggest polls or add creative backgrounds through Image Playground.
Apple continues to emphasize its privacy-first approach to AI. The company says that “many Apple Intelligence models run entirely on device.” For larger tasks, “Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud… data is never stored or shared with Apple.”
All these new tools are now available as part of the latest software updates: iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26. Apple Intelligence remains in beta, supporting languages such as English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese (simplified).