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Apple may announce several significant AI features for the iOS 18 Mail app as part of ‘Project BlackPearl’ during its Worldwide Developers Conference, according to reports.
AppleInsider cites sources stating that the upcoming improvements to the Mail app are linked to Apple’s new AI initiative. These upgrades are expected to debut in the new versions of Apple’s operating systems expected at WWDC. A major update includes advanced search capabilities in the Mail app, allowing searches across emails, contacts, locations, and local documents.
New iOS 18 rumors, via @markgurman 📲
⚙️ Revamped Settings app
🎛️ New Control Center with updated music widget and better home controls
💬 Messages app with new Tapback icons and individual word effects
🖼️ Photos app a new interface
📧 Mail app with "several improvements" pic.twitter.com/7woNGAy31x— AppleTrack (@appltrack) June 2, 2024
Project Blackpearl AI upgrades for Siri in iOS 18 Mail app
The Mail app will use Apple’s on-device Ajax large language model to improve search results, including Smart Replies and customizable response tones via Siri. With the AI improvements, Siri will have a better contextual understanding, considering various aspects like location and calendar events.
In addition, Mail, Messages, and Siri will introduce a “Smart Reply” feature, which will provide instant AI-generated responses. This means that customer service representatives and administrative assistants can streamline their communication tasks.
A new system-wide writing tools framework is also anticipated, which could enable text editing through Siri as part of the initiative, codenamed Project BlackPearl. This project aims to use machine learning for categorizing emails and identifying urgent messages or particular types of senders.
The upcoming iOS 18 and macOS 15 updates will also develop Siri to be able to summarize texts, including emails, messages, and more. This new version of the chatbot, expected to be unveiled at WWDC, will be a significant upgrade in how Apple’s virtual assistant interacts with text.
The types of text include individual emails and entire email threads, messages, both individual notifications and grouped notification stacks, notes, various posts, and texts or news articles provided by users. This is expected to streamline information management across Apple devices. Siri will also reportedly be able to edit photos and even bring up old photos from your library.
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