Natural language search on Apple Music and TV
With iOS 18.1, Apple introduced the natural language search in the Photos app, allowing users to easily find a photo or video using specific phrases. It now extends the latter to Apple Music and TV applications.
As a reminder, the Natural Language Processing (or Natural Language Processing in English / NLP) is a sub-discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It aims to enable computers to understand, interpret and produce human language, whether text or speech. And thus bring the humans to simply use everyday words and expressions for their prompts.
The news was confirmed by Apple itself in the RC download notes. In a few days all users will be able to describe what they are looking for without necessarily knowing the name of the song, film or series. Natural language search in Apple Music and the Apple TV app lets you describe what you're looking for using any combination of categories like genres, moods, actors, decades, and more.
NLP also works with Siri, and it will therefore be possible to ask requests of this type: play songs with epic guitar solos
. Siri will normally take care of keeping you from country music!
Hearing health
The hearing test on AirPods Pro 2 is extended to nine more countriesincluding Cyprus, the Czech Republic, FranceItaly, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Recall that the feature was first launched in the United States and some other countries at the end of October.
In particular, we will find an active function noise reduction
(Loud Sound Reduction
), a scientifically validated hearing test and an option Medical grade hearing aid
. In practice, the hearing test can be carried out at home, in a few minutes, with AirPods Pro but also a compatible iPhone or iPad. It is based on the technique ofpure-tone audiometryand the results will be displayed as a simple summary. The latter is stored privately and securely in the Health app, but you can always share them with your doctor.
The AirPods Pro 2 will also offer assistance to people with impaired hearing. After carrying out the famous Test and depending on the results, you will be able to personalize your listening experience with the AirPods Pro using your hearing profile. Thus, corrections made (such as highlighting certain frequencies) can also be activated for listening to music and for telephone conversations.
As a reminder, the September update introduced the new hands-free interaction mode with Siriwhich allows you to nod your head in order to respond yes or no to the proposals of the Cupertino virtual assistant (or to answer or reject a call) as well as le mode Voice Isolation or the possibility of adjusting the intensity of noise reduction for Adaptive mode.
Others
This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes. And for once Apple provides us with a long list!
– Voice Memos supports multi-track recordingallowing you to add vocals to an existing song without the need for headphones – then import your two-track projects directly into Logic Pro (available only on iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
– Share an object's location in Find My ../.. in particular with trusted third parties, such as airlines
– THE favorite categories in podcasts let you choose your favorite categories and get relevant show recommendations that you can easily access in your library
– The custom search page in Podcasts highlights the most relevant categories and editorial collections tailored to your needs
– Sudoku pour News+ Puzzles provided in three difficulty levels and available to News+ subscribers (limited to countries with this service/VPN)
– Troubleshooting where recently taken photos do not immediately appear in the All Photos grid
– Troubleshooting where in-camera night mode photos could appear degraded when capturing long exposures (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
