iOS 18 Leaks, Apple Brings AI Assistant to Safari Browser?

Morrissey Technology – iOS 18 will reportedly include a number of new artificial intelligence (AI) features spread across the operating system. A new rumor today suggests that one of those features may be a “Safari browsing assistant.” However, it is still unclear what the actual function of this feature is. Reported by 9to5Mac, in a post on social media today, code examiner Nicolás Álvarez shared two new features that are being worked on at Apple, namely:

– Safari browsing assistant

– Encrypted visual search

According to Álvarez, both of these features use Apple’s Private Relay infrastructure to send data back to Apple. Álvarez speculates that this is a privacy-preserving practice on Apple’s part, so that Apple does not learn users’ IP addresses. Please note, iCloud Private Relay is currently only available to iCloud+ customers FOR4D. Apple already offers different visual search style features, integrated into Spotlight and the Photos app. It’s not explicitly clear whether “encrypted visual search” is just a more secure version of an existing feature or something entirely new.

What’s more interesting here is the “Safari browsing assistant” feature. Based on the name alone, this feature will likely bring AI features to Safari, similar to what other browsers already offer. Microsoft’s Edge browser, for example, has a different built-in AI Copilot feature. Arc from The Browser Company also combines various AI features with web browsing.

Bloomberg reports that Apple will likely work with companies like Google to support some of its new AI features. iOS 18 is expected to be announced at WWDC, which kicks off on June 10, and any announcement regarding AI collaboration on iOS 18 likely won’t happen before that event. Álvarez also reports that iOS 18 will bring two new features to Apple Maps on iPhone, including custom route creation and new topographic maps FOR4D.