iOS 18.1 Beta Now Offers Notification Summaries for All Apps

With the third beta of iOS 18.1, Apple has introduced new Apple Intelligence features for notifications. The notification summarization option that was previously available for the Mail and Messages apps now works with all of your apps.

summarize notification previews
After updating to the latest beta, there is an ‌Apple Intelligence‌ setup flow that walks through some of the new features and includes settings for the Summarize Notification Previews section.

During setup, you can opt to summarize all of your notification previews or choose which apps should use the summarization feature. After setup, these preferences can be tweaked in the Summarize Previews of the Settings app under the Notifications heading.

Notification summarization allows ‌Apple Intelligence‌ to glean key details from groups of notifications from an app, making them more succinct so you can see what's important at a glance. From the Settings app:

Summarize content in direct messages and groups of notifications making them more succinct and easier to read. Summary accuracy may vary based on content.

There are individual toggles to enable or disable summarization on a per-app basis, and it can also be entirely disabled for those who do not want to use the feature.

You will see notification summaries on the Lock Screen, and it is a feature that pairs well with the new Reduce Interruptions Focus Mode.

As with other ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features, notification summarization requires a device that can run ‌Apple Intelligence‌, aka the iPhone 15 Pro models or an iPad or Mac with an M-series chip. The functionality is limited to developers who have installed the third beta of iOS 18.1 at the current time, but ‌Apple Intelligence‌ will see a public release later this year.

Today's beta also adds the Clean Up object removal tool to the Photos app.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...

Top Rated Comments

Motawa Avatar
17 months ago

so instead of "reading" 6 notifications,you have read 2, i wouldn't pay for this "feature".
Nobody asking you to pay for this, what are you talking about.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surferfb Avatar
17 months ago

As someone who absolutely despises notifications, and doesn't have them enabled for anything other than calls and messages....we'll see.

I'm not disregarding the idea just yet!
I recently installed the beta on my main device, and was on a three hour drive yesterday where I couldn't check my phone. Apple AI successfully summarized an 11-message group iMessage thread into a short sentence that was a completely accurate summary. I was shocked at how well it worked and how useful it was. Hopefully it works just as well on longer group chat threads, but color me surprisingly impressed.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
17 months ago
Working pretty well so far! This one accurately summarizes the previous 3 NYT alerts.

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IceCool Avatar
17 months ago

so basically apple couldn’t figure out to show us notifications and instead will use chatgpt

jesus christ i miss my android sometimes
Apple Intelligence isn't ChatGPT... At all.

The only area ChatGPT and Apple Intelligence connect is in Siri's ChatGPT integration. And in that regard Siri is not being powered by ChatGPT behind the scenes. Siri is only being given the ability - at the end-users discretion - to refer to ChatGPT when it fails to produce a result for the most demanding queries. And honestly, most people probably won't ever need it assuming Apple Intelligence Siri is as smart as most people are anticipating.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DavidLeblond Avatar
17 months ago
I want Eufy Security to just say "Yeah, I think your wife is watering the front lawn. I'll mute myself for an hour, no need to worry."
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Motawa Avatar
17 months ago
Does this help for people spamming messages to me? It’s annoying getting notifications from certain friends like 5 in a row in 10 seconds
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)