WWDC 2025 is here, and that means we’re 12 months on from the Apple Intelligence reveal that grabbed all the headlines at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
It’s been a rocky year for Apple AI, with broken promises, features that are yet to launch, and confusing marketing that hasn’t quite met the billing.
While it’s easy to criticise the Apple Intelligence rollout and write about my disappointment towards the AI features on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, I’ve instead decided to focus on the positives. After all, it’s Apple Intelligence’s first birthday.
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After a year of testing Apple Intelligence and all the current AI capabilities on my Apple products, I’ve chosen three features that are genuinely useful and worth celebrating.
WWDC 2025 ushers in the second year of Apple Intelligence, so before it begins, let’s focus on the positives of year one.
1. Genmoji (iPhone and iPad)
When Genmoji first launched, I said, “Apple is onto something with Genmoji, and it might just be the best Apple Intelligence feature, ready to expose other AI tools to the average customer.”
Fast forward to today, and most of us have probably forgotten that the ability to use AI-generated emojis is even on our Apple devices.
While Genmoji didn’t go viral in the way I expected, it has become a staple on my iPhone, and I find myself generating a new emoji almost weekly.
Using a feature once a week might not sound groundbreaking, but I’ve found myself reusing Genmojis time and time again after the initial creation. Genmoji isn’t groundbreaking, and it sure isn’t worth upgrading your iPhone for, but it’s fun, and I’ve found it to be my favorite Apple Intelligence feature over the last 12 months.
If you’ve not used Genmoji or need a refresher on how you can create your own emojis from scratch, we’ve got a how to use Genmoji guide that will give you all the info you need.
Writing Tools is a tricky one to recommend, after all, as a journalist, the only thing I use it for is proofreading. That said, I think Writing Tools might be one of the best AI-powered content products on the market, up there with the likes of Grammarly.
Throughout iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, you can select text and quickly proofread, rewrite, and even get advice on how to improve the copy. It’s an excellent companion for writing emails, taking notes, and even sending text messages.
While I rarely use Writing Tools, I’ve tested most AI writing abilities and found that Apple Intelligence’s version is as good, if not better, than the competition.
If you do a lot of writing for work, having Writing Tools to help keep you on track and fix grammatical issues can be a lifesaver. That said, as with all these AI capabilities, no one should use it for any form of creative work.
If I weren’t a journalist, and I didn’t love to write, I think Writing Tools would probably be my go-to Apple Intelligence feature.
3. Visual Intelligence (iPhone 16, 16 Pro)
Last but not least, the third Apple Intelligence feature that’s actually worth giving a go is Visual Intelligence, Apple’s take on the Google Lens formula.
My colleague, Axel Metz, recently wrote an article about Visual Intelligence where he used the feature every day for a week. After testing Visual Intelligence on holiday, he said, “Visual Intelligence works, and it shouldn’t be dismissed as a useless gimmick by those who have only tried Apple Intelligence’s more superfluous features.”
I would tend to agree with Axel, Visual Intelligence works well, but you definitely need to force yourself to implement it into your daily life. I don’t think I’ve used Visual Intelligence in about two months, because it’s not needed every day, and I’ll often forget it exists.
That said, Visual Intelligence is good enough to help anyone who incorporates it into the way they use their iPhone to be a genuinely useful Apple Intelligence feature.
Whether that’s pointing the camera at a flyer and adding an event to your calendar, or finding out the name of a plant you spotted in your garden, Visual Intelligence is useful, it’s just not useful enough to be the standout Apple Intelligence feature on its own.
A year on… What next?
With a year under its belt, Apple Intelligence’s second voyage around the sun is key to Apple’s AI success.
Apple Intelligence doesn’t need flashy features, it needs to lock down the basics and make “AI for the rest of us” as important as Apple makes it sound.
Year two of Apple Intelligence will hopefully be the year we see an AI-powered Siri, and if it’s as good as Apple wants us to believe, then this time next year we’ll have way more than three AI features to write home about.