Intelligent search, web eraser and more: Apple is working on more AI in Safari

The first details about possible new AI functions in iOS 18 are leaking out. Now there are reports of new features in the Safari browser.

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Safari-Icon und ein Emoji-Gehirn auf einem iPhone

Safari icon and an emoji brain on an iPhone: information about iOS 18 will be available from June.

2 min. read

Browsers with AI functions are in vogue - whether at start-ups like Arc or corporations like Google. Now Apple wants to join in: New smart Safari features are planned for iOS 18, which is already set to include a lot of artificial intelligence. AppleInsider reports this, citing informed sources. The most important improvement concerns the integrated search.

According to the report, Apple is planning an "Intelligent Search" assistant, which will apparently use Apple's own large language model "Ajax" directly on the device to create intelligent summaries of the currently displayed page - including its central questions.

It should also be possible to highlight sentences in order to receive AI explanations for them. A few weeks ago, there was already speculation on Twitter that Apple was planning a new "Browsing Assistant" for Safari. It remains to be seen whether the feature will only be included in iOS 18 or also in the Safari version for macOS.

AppleInsider also reports on other functions that are only partially related to AI. These include a revised Safari user interface on iOS and macOS. In the latter operating system, the settings dialog for a particular page will be moved to the URL bar, including zoom, reading view and intelligent browsing.

Apple is also reportedly planning a so-called "Web Eraser", which is currently being tested internally. This should make it possible to no longer display parts of a website, like a kind of eraser pen. This affects ads, text, images or entire sections of a page. The deletion does not disappear, but is saved in Safari. If you return to the page later, the change made by the user is retained. Improvements to the Visual Lookup image search are also planned for 2025, which, among other things, will provide precise information on products that can be seen in photos or on the web. Currently, plants, animals and places of interest can be recognized in this way.

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.