I was in a bad mood after that Google I/O Last month I found myself thinking, “What’s the point of artificial intelligence if it’s going to interfere with the Android experience?”, and then I found myself excited about similar AI features from Apple. Announced For iPhone at WWDC.
I chalked it up to being at Apple Park and enjoying a fluffy, flaky chocolate croissant at Cafe Mac. But as the time passed at the developer conference and I got a better sense of what was to come, I realized I had kind of acquiesced. I wasn’t as resistant to the idea of Apple Intelligence as I was to the AI I saw sitting in the press box at Google I/O. The branding on Apple’s part was excellent. The Powerful Gemini The proposed user-friendliness makes it even more appealing.
iOS18 Update Most of Apple Intelligence’s features won’t be available in the upcoming public beta, which is still months away from release. Only available On a subset of Apple devices. Still, the way Apple packaged it all convinced me that its move into AI is neater and more organized than Google’s.
Captivating Keynote Speech
Apple didn’t say much about “AI” in its keynote, instead focusing on the features that will be available to users when Apple Intelligence is released later this year. Whereas Google used its keynote to justify its change of direction, Apple barely mentioned the topic until the second hour. It doesn’t look like a timeshare presentation.convincing me of what I would gain if I gave in, more like a State of the Union address explaining the changes that would occur as a result of industry trends.
Apple spent the latter half of the keynote explaining the capabilities of Apple Intelligence and what it powers, from scrubbing background people and objects out of photos to generating emojis based on text prompts, all of which are part of the Apple logo. Android can do it For the most part, that was the case, but by presenting AI not as cutting-edge technology but as a quality-of-life improvement to its operating system, Apple made it seem approachable and even appealing in some cases.
The Promise of Contextual Siri
I’m not doing too well with Google’s move to Gemini. Rolling back to Google Assistant After some frustrating experiences with the current Gemini AI product, It is disappearingGoogle hasn’t been very forthcoming about the future of Smart Home Routines and other related features once Gemini takes over, so until then, it feels safe to use Gemini only on the web.
Meanwhile, Apple is showing me what I envisioned for Google Assistant: a contextual Siri that will be available on iPhones later this year. The idea is to start a conversation with a traditional digital assistant, and while the screen edges light up, you can keep the context flowing with your voice or on-screen actions until you get the result you want.
I have Nest Audio speakers installed throughout my home because I envisioned the future of Google being where a digital assistant would guide me around each room as I entered it. But as the months went by, and especially since the launch of Gemini, the Assistant’s ability to understand which device I was controlling in a particular room has become more of a hassle than a help. If you don’t believe me, check out this article: Dozens Frustrated user On Reddit Some people are struggling to get the benefits of Gemini because it’s not fully integrated with other features that the Google Assistant is supposed to do.
In the end, it’s all about AI
Behind the manicured garden walls, Apple Intelligence is moving full steam ahead, despite some lingering questions about privacy and data sets. Apple explains that AI is a natural evolution of its software, and user roles are given the privilege to experiment within defined limits.
Google is also trying to lead us all into a narrative of experimentation, which tends to lead to instability in the Android world. I wonder if I would be less frustrated if I were entirely on the Apple side. Some of the comments on Apple Intelligence make me think I am one of the few people feeling optimistic after WWDC. Either way, it seems like there aren’t many options. Either accept that the future of mobile depends on AI, or be one of those people who go back to “dumb phones” to stay sane.
