Download iOS 18.3 Now for Updates to AI Notification Summaries and More

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Apple released iOS 18.3 on Monday, more than a month after the company released iOS 18.2. While that update introduced more Apple Intelligence features to some iPhones, like Genmoji and Image Playground, the latest update focuses on patching features and squashing bugs, like in Apple Intelligence notification summaries. 

You can download the update by going to Settings > General > Software Update, tapping Update Now and following the prompts on your screen.

Read more: An Expert’s Guide to iOS 18

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Here’s what iOS 18.3 could bring to your iPhone. Just a reminder that only people with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access Apple Intelligence features for now. If you have any other iPhone, you won’t have access to those features.

Visual Intelligence updates

A dog wearing a red plaid collar with a bow in the sun. Apple's Visual Intelligence has marked this dog as a basenji.

Since Cinnamon’s not a basenji, this is a good reminder that these tools are imperfect.

Screenshot by Zach McAuliffe/CNET

With iOS 18.3, people with any of the iPhone 16 models get updates to Visual Intelligence. The feature can now add an event to your calendar from a poster or flyer. That way you don’t have to manually enter the event information into your calendar. 

Apple also said it updated Visual Intelligence to better identify plants and animals. This feature can then display information in real time by tapping the bubble on your screen.

AI notification summary updates

The iOS 18.3 update makes some adjustments to Apple Intelligence notification summaries. With this feature, some of your apps can give you summaries of notifications on your Lock Screen, and the feature is on by default in most cases. But according to the BBC, one of the publication’s headlines was summarized inaccurately.

With the update, this feature no longer works for the News app, and there’s a disclaimer in the Summarize Notifications menu in Settings that reads, “Summaries may contain errors.” Notification summaries are temporarily disabled for apps in the News & Entertainment category, but you can opt in to these notifications to see them again.

The Summarize Notification menu with the words "Summaries may contain errors" outlined in red.

Screenshot by Zach McAuliffe/CNET

The update also italicizes AI notification summaries on your Lock Screen to distinguish them from other notifications. You can turn off AI notification summaries for certain apps from your Lock Screen, too, by slightly swiping left on the notification, tapping Options then tapping Turn Off Summaries.

2025 Black Unity wallpapers

Three of the new Unity wallpapers included in iOS 18.3.

Screenshot by Zach McAuliffe/CNET

Apple regularly releases Black Unity wallpapers to celebrate Black History Month, and this year is no different. As part of iOS 18.3, everyone can access these new wallpapers that Apple said online are inspired by the “rhythm of humanity.” There are six wallpapers in the new collection which all say “Unity” in the colors of the Pan-African flag: black, green and red. 

You can find these wallpapers by going to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper and scrolling down to the Unity section. 

Repeating operations in Calculator

Something everyone can do with iOS 18.3 is repeat operations in the Calculator app without entering the equation again. This isn’t new, but Apple removed this ability from Calculator when the company released iOS 18 in September.

Now you can continue to double something, for example, just by pressing the equal sign multiple times instead of entering an equation again and again. 

Here are the full release notes for iOS 18.3.

Visual intelligence with Camera Control (All iPhone 16 models)

  • Add an event to Calendar from a poster or flyer.
  • Easily identify plants and animals.

Notification summaries (All iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max)

  • Easily manage settings for notification summaries from the Lock Screen.
  • Updated style for summarized notifications better distinguishes them from other notifications by using italicized text as well as the glyph.
  • Notification summaries for News & Entertainment apps are temporarily unavailable, and users who opt-in will see them again when the feature becomes available.

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

  • Calculator repeats the last mathematical operation when you tap the equals sign again.
  • Fixes an issue where the keyboard might disappear when initiating a typed Siri request.
  • Resolves an issue where audio playback continues until the song ends even after closing Apple Music.

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit:

https://support.apple.com/100100

For more on iOS, here’s what to know about iOS 18.2.1 and iOS 18.2. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet. 

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