A few days after seeding the first iOS 18.1 public beta, Apple released its second testing version for users willing to try Apple Intelligence before its official release next month. Along with iOS 18.1 public beta 2, Apple has also seeded new versions of iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.
In this beta, Apple has updated iPhone Mirroring with the ability to drag and drop files between iPhone and Mac. The Control Center also features new toggles, and the iPhone 16 has a Camera Control icon for quick accessing the front-facing camera.
With the previous testing version, Apple added new functionalities. Here’s what’s changed:
- Spatial photos support on iPhone 15 Pro: This beta allows iPhone 15 Pro users to finally take Spatial Photos.
- Record calls: All iOS 18 iPhone models can record calls directly within the Phone app. Still, an iPhone 15 Pro is required to summarize a recording.
- Type to Siri: The type-to-Siri function has improved for Apple Intelligence devices, as the assistant tries to complete the user’s queries.
Besides that, the iOS 18.1 public beta brings the following Apple Intelligence features:
- Writing Tools: Users can rewrite, proofread, and summarize text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps
- Improved Siri: With a new design, Siri can maintain context between requests. Even if you stumble over words or shift what you’re saying mid-sentence, Siri can understand what you actually want.
- Priority notifications: They appear at the top of the stack, letting you know what to pay attention to at a glance. Notifications are summarized, so you can scan them faster.
- Priority messages in Mail: Elevate time-sensitive messages to the top of your inbox, like an invitation that has a deadline today or a check-in reminder for your flight this afternoon.
- Reduce interruptions: With iOS 18.1 beta 1, an all-new Focus Mode understands the content of your notifications and shows you the ones that might need immediate attention, like a text about picking up your child from daycare later today.
- Email summarization: Tap to reveal a summary of a long email in the Mail app and cut to the chase.
- Record and transcribe calls in the Notes app: Just hit record in the Notes or Phone apps to capture audio recordings and transcripts. Apple Intelligence generates summaries of your transcripts, so you can get to the most important information at a glance.
- Smart Reply in Mail: Quickly draft an email response with all the right details. Apple Intelligence can identify the question you were asked in an email and offer relevant selections to include in your response.
- Clean Up: This Photos app feature can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo without accidentally altering the subject.
- Summarization: Apple Intelligence can now summarize more than just Messages and Mail notifications.
You can learn more about iOS 18 below.
