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

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...
govee floor lamp

CES 2026: Govee Announces New Matter-Connected Ceiling and Floor Lights

Sunday January 4, 2026 5:00 am PST by
Govee today introduced three new HomeKit-compatible lighting products, including the Govee Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light. The Govee Floor Lamp 3 is the successor to the Floor Lamp 2, and it offers Matter integration with the option to connect to HomeKit. The Floor Lamp 3 offers an upgraded LuminBlend+ lighting system that can reproduce 281...

Top Rated Comments

Motawa Avatar
18 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
18 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
18 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
18 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
18 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
18 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)