Big night ahead for Apple and for users of its devices: all of the manufacturer's operating systems have been updated, starting with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 which activate Apple Intelligence functions in the EU, six months after the United States.
AI everywhere, not always wisely
Behind the Apple Intelligence banner, there is a Prévert-style list of functions and new features of varying interest. We'll spend five minutes testing Image Playground (image generation), whose results range from mediocre to terrible—especially compared to what a modern tool like ChatGPT's image generator is capable of delivering.
Genmoji, which combine several emojis into one after entering a query, are nice, but here too, the interest evaporates fairly quickly. Writing assistance tools (which work perfectly in French) will be more useful, as will Visual Intelligence. This feature, accessible on iPhone 16 (by holding down the camera control button) and iPhone 15 Pro (via the action button), is in some ways the equivalent of Google Lens for image recognition. So much so that the feature uses Google's capabilities!
Let's not forget poor Siri, whose interface requires only a lick of paint and whose personalized capabilities have been postponed until better days. The integration of ChatGPT fortunately provides a way to get answers to your questions, but we hope that Apple will allow you to change the default assistant.
Among the other functions of Apple Intelligence, we should mention the notification summary, which can potentially save time (or spread fake news), priority notifications, article summaries in Safari, which are quite effective, or even the magic eraser in the Photos app, which is useful on a case-by-case basis.
iOS 18.4 isn't all about artificial intelligence. The update also contains a number of essential new features, starting with... a small batch of new emojis! One of which perfectly sums up our times: a man with dark circles under his eyes. There's also a shovel, a dead tree, a fingerprint, and a harp.
More good news: it's possible to select new default apps to replace Apple's, such as Google Maps instead of Maps, or WhatsApp instead of Phone.
The Photos app offers some improvements, such as new filters to show or hide images present in an album, reorganization of images in collections by media, consistent sorting options across all collections. Hidden photos are no longer included in imports on Mac or PC if FaceID has been enabled.
Other new features:
- a new Apple Vision Pro app allows headset owners to find out about new releases and immersive content;
- in the App Store, it is finally possible to resume downloading an application after pausing it, without losing progress;
- ambient sounds can be activated from the Control Center.
On the other hand, the iPhone mirroring feature on the Mac screen is still missing in Europe. It was one of the major new features of macOS Sequoia, which Apple refused to release in the EU for obscure reasons.
iOS 18.4 is not alone. Apple also offers iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, and visionOS 2.4 for download. The Vision Pro's operating system introduces Apple Intelligence features (but only in English...), improves guest mode, and integrates a new app for viewing immersive images and videos.
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