TL;DR: Apple has announced a slew of new features that are coming to iOS 18, including one that can automatically record and transcribe live phone calls, as well as summarize them. While that sounds like something that will have privacy implications, Apple says participants in the phone call will be notified that they are being recorded.
The new recording option arriving in iOS 18 will be accessible via the Phone app. Enabling it will bring up a soundwave alongside a timer that shows how long you've been recording a call.
Once the call is over, its contents can be transcribed in the Notes app. You can also generate a summary of the call using the new Apple Intelligence AI system Cupertino just announced at WWDC. Apple is also introducing the ability to record and transcribe audio directly from within the Notes app.
Apple writes that the audio transcriptions will be available in English (U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan), Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong), and Portuguese (Brazil).
Being able to seamlessly record phone calls is always going to raise privacy concerns, but the fact participants are notified of the recording might go some way towards assuaging those fears. It will certainly be a useful feature for journalists, and the summary tool could be helpful for anyone who wants to be reminded of the important parts of a long phone conversation.
Apple is bringing other new features to the phone app in iOS 18, including an interface for searching through your call history, an autofill that completes phone numbers as you start typing them, and the option to quickly switch between SIM cards.
In related news, Elon Musk has slammed Apple over its partnership with OpenAI and the ChatGPT integration. The Tesla/X/SpaceX boss said he will ban Apple devices from his companies if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, and any visitors will have to leave their iDevices in a Faraday cage.
Apple iOS 18 adds call recording and transcription features to iPhone
