{"id":55373,"date":"2025-01-29T11:28:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T11:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/apple-2\/apples-january-2025-os-updates-enhance-apple-intelligence-fix-bugs\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T11:28:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T11:28:29","slug":"apples-january-2025-os-updates-enhance-apple-intelligence-fix-bugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=55373","title":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s January 2025 OS Updates Enhance Apple Intelligence, Fix Bugs"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Apple has released its third major set of operating system updates, including macOS 15.3 Sequoia<\/a>, iOS 18.3<\/a>, iPadOS 18.3<\/a>, watchOS 11.3<\/a>, visionOS 2.3<\/a>, tvOS 18.3<\/a>, and HomePod Software 18.3<\/a>. Enhancements to Apple Intelligence dominate the release notes, though Apple also fixed a few bugs and addressed numerous security vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

The company also released\u00a0iPadOS 17.7.4<\/a>,\u00a0macOS 14.7.3 Sonoma<\/a>,\u00a0macOS 13.7.3 Ventura<\/a>, and Safari 18.3 for Sonoma and Ventura, all of which include security updates from the current operating systems. For the second consecutive release, Apple did not update iOS 17 to align with iPadOS 17, presumably because all iPhones capable of running iOS 17 can also support iOS 18.<\/p>\n

Apple Intelligence Changes<\/h2>\n

Although we\u2019re still waiting for Siri to gain onscreen awareness, understand personal context, and work more deeply with apps, these updates bring changes to Apple Intelligence notification summaries, Visual Intelligence, and Genmoji.<\/p>\n

Notification Summaries<\/h3>\n

After complaints that Apple Intelligence\u2019s notification summaries generated\u00a0blatantly incorrect news summaries<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0misidentified spouses<\/a>, Apple responded by changing the style of summarized notifications to italics. Previously, the only indicator of a summarized notification was a glyph.<\/p>\n

More tellingly, the company temporarily turned off notification summaries for all apps in the App Store\u2019s News & Entertainment category. We presume Apple\u2019s engineers are putting more effort into summarizing news articles and verifying that the results match the source. Apple says that \u201cusers who opt-in will see them again when the feature becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Apple made it easier to manage settings for notification summaries from the Lock Screen. On an iPhone, for instance, you can swipe right to reveal an Options button, tap it, and then tap Turn Off AppName<\/em> Summaries. You can also report a concern with a summary.<\/p>\n

\"Notification<\/a><\/p>\n

Visual Intelligence Adds Scheduling, Plant and Animal Identification<\/h3>\n

Apple Intelligence enhances the new Camera Control button on iPhone 16 models, allowing it to take action based on what\u2019s in the viewfinder. Initially, it could only ask ChatGPT about what it saw or perform a Google image search. Now, when you press and hold the Camera Control, Visual Intelligence can also detect if you\u2019re pointing at a poster or flyer and suggest creating a calendar event. Additionally, if it recognizes a plant or animal within the frame, it will identify it and provide more information with a tap.<\/p>\n

\"Visual<\/a><\/p>\n

I generally use the Seek<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Leaf Identification<\/a>\u00a0apps to learn plant names, so once spring arrives, I\u2019ll be curious to see if Visual Intelligence does as well. Poster scanning may be a bigger win because Ithaca is a college town with many events advertised on local bulletin boards.<\/p>\n

Genmoji Arrive on the Mac<\/h3>\n

iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 introduced the custom emoji that Apple calls Genmoji, but macOS 15.2 lacked the feature. With macOS 15.3, the Mac has now caught up. The feature remains the same\u2014you describe what you want to see in a few words, and you can base the emoji on a picture of a person. The Genmoji you create are actually stickers, but you can use them just like regular emojis.<\/p>\n

\"Genmoji<\/a><\/p>\n

Calculator Gains Repeated Operations<\/h2>\n

The Calculator app on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad now repeats the last mathematical operation each time you click or tap the equals sign. In other words, if you use it to multiply 2 by 2, clicking the equals sign the first time gives you 4. Clicking it again multiplies 4 by 2, then 8 by 2, then 16 by 2, and so forth. Although I can\u2019t imagine using this feature on a calculator (as opposed to in a spreadsheet), it could be useful for cumulative multiplication or division (such as when resizing an image), calculating compound interest, or modeling exponential growth.<\/p>\n

\"Calculator\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2025 Black Unity Collection<\/h2>\n

To honor Black History Month, Apple unveiled its\u00a0Black Unity Collection<\/a>\u00a0for 2025, which includes a special-edition Apple Watch Black Unity Sport Loop, a matching watch face, and iPhone and iPad wallpapers. I mention these because the new Unity Rhythm watch face is the main change in\u00a0watchOS 11.3<\/a>. Otherwise, Apple merely states that it offers improvements and bug fixes.<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Bug and Security Fixes<\/h2>\n

Apple admitted to only two bug fixes in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, which:<\/p>\n