Yesterday, Apple released iOS 18.3 Beta 3, just two days after similar beta releases for watchOS and tvOS. Now, we have a possible explanation for the delay. Apple is working on improving the Notification Summary feature on platforms like iOS, which supports Apple Intelligence. This update follows the aftermath of several high-profile bot-generated AI summaries, which led to misleading and/or incorrect headlines, as seen with organizations like BBC News.
To demonstrate how serious these notifications were, Apple has made some significant changes to how these summaries work and how they are presented to users. Check out our full explanation video, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more information.
The Issue with Notification Summary
As part of its iOS 18.1 rollout, which included the first phase of Apple Intelligence, Apple introduced the Notification Summary feature. The Notification Summary attempts to condense multiple notifications from a single source into a more digestible, easy-to-view alert. Often, these summaries are not only helpful but are also accurate representations of the content in the entire batch of notifications.
Video Walkthrough
Like everything related to AI, it’s not always perfect, and mistakes do happen. While receiving a mixed text from a family member or friend is one thing, even if the summary isn’t accurate, it might often be humorous. It becomes a whole different issue when the notification summary condenses information from a news organization, resulting in misleading or sometimes outright incorrect summaries.
In the case of BBC News, this happened when the Apple Intelligence-powered summary feature sent out the following highly inaccurate notification:
This is a serious problem, as it can easily damage the credibility of the source. Needless to say, BBC News wasn’t happy and reported the misleading summary to Apple. Specifically, BBC News did not share the original headlines used to generate the notification summary, but it was clear that the AI-generated headlines were nothing like the originals.
This is not the first time this issue has occurred, and it certainly won’t be the last. However, as promised a few weeks ago, Apple is taking steps to minimize potential problems going forward.
Clear Indication of Beta Status
The first thing Apple wants users to know is that the Notification Summary feature is still in beta. While this may not have been as clear in previous iOS versions, now all Apple Intelligence features are in beta. In the latest iOS 18.3 Beta, Apple has made this even clearer when enabling the Notification Summary.
A Warning
Not only has the beta status of Apple Intelligence been made clearer, but iOS 18.3 will also warn users that these notification summaries “may contain errors.” Once again, raising public awareness about the limitations of AI-generated headlines is a good thing.
More Control to Disable Notification Summaries
Additionally, Apple is giving users more power to disable summaries for individual apps directly. This can always be done through Settings → Notifications, but now, you can do it directly from the Notification Center or lock screen by swiping left on a notification → Options → Disable Summary.
Italicized Text
Notification summaries on the Lock Screen will now be displayed with italicized text. While this might seem like a small change, it will make it clear at a glance that the content shown is AI-generated, thus distinguishing it from regular notifications.
Temporarily Disabling Categories
Summaries generated by apps in categories like News and Entertainment, such as BBC, can cause the biggest issues. Therefore, the notification summaries for apps in these categories will be indefinitely disabled. Apple says that a future software update will re-enable summaries for apps in this category as it works to improve the experience.
Other Features
Aside from the above-mentioned changes, there aren’t many new features in iOS 18.3 Beta 3. One thing we’ve found is a new AXFeatureOverrideServer component. As we understand it, this feature will allow users to temporarily turn accessibility features on or off. It could be a developer tool, or it could be a hint at an additional feature coming to iOS accessibility in the future.
I’ve been using Notification Summary since day one, and it quickly became one of my favorite Apple Intelligence features. However, I could see, as many others likely saw, that this feature was like a ticking time bomb in cases of false or misleading headlines. I’ve received many, mostly humorous summaries, that completely change the context of real information. That’s fine when it’s just between me and my friends, and we can all laugh about it. But it becomes a far more serious issue when it’s information from a news organization, and possibly millions of people are receiving misleading summaries.
It’s great that Apple is addressing this, but it seems like an unwanted mistake. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
What do you think? Share your thoughts on this issue in the comments below.
