AI on Your Phone Explained: Apple Intelligence and Gemini

You may have noticed new words appearing on your phone lately. Apple talks about “Apple Intelligence.” Android phones now mention “Gemini.” Both are forms of AI, built right into the phone you already own. It can all sound like a lot of fuss, but the idea is simple, and you do not have to use any of it if you would rather not.

This guide explains, in plain English, what the AI on your phone actually does, which phones have it, and how to try it gently. If you would like the bigger picture first, our guide to what AI is is a good starting point. If you are helping an older parent get online, see our wider guide to helping a parent go online.

What this AI actually does for you

Behind the brand names, both do broadly similar everyday things. The most useful for most people are:

• Helping with writing. Tidy up a message, make it shorter or friendlier, or fix the wording of an email.
• Summarising. Give you the gist of a long email or a web page in a few lines.
• Answering questions. Ask out loud or by typing, and get a plain answer.
• Photos. Tidy a picture, remove something in the background, or find a photo by describing it.
• Everyday help. Set reminders, sort notifications, and the like.

Much of this overlaps with the voice assistants you may already use. Our guide to voice assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google covers the talking-to-your-phone side in more detail.

Apple Intelligence on an iPhone

Apple Intelligence is Apple’s name for the AI woven through recent iPhones, iPads, and Macs. It now works in Australian English. It powers a smarter Siri, writing tools that help reword or proofread, summaries of long messages, and photo features like cleaning up a picture.

The catch is that it needs a fairly recent iPhone. It runs on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and on every iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 model. Older iPhones do not have it, but they still work perfectly well for calls, messages, photos, and apps. You are not missing anything essential.

If your iPhone supports it, you will usually be invited to turn it on, or you can look under Settings for “Apple Intelligence.” There is no rush. You can leave it off and switch it on whenever you feel like trying it.

Gemini on an Android phone

Gemini is Google’s AI. On most modern Android phones, such as Samsung and Google Pixel, it comes as a free app and has largely taken over from the older Google Assistant. You can tap or hold the right button, or open the Gemini app, then speak or type a question.

Because Gemini is also a free app, it is available more widely than Apple Intelligence. Even if your phone is a few years old, you can often download Gemini and use it. The very newest, fanciest on-device features are reserved for the latest flagship phones, but the everyday Gemini that answers questions and helps with writing works on a great many phones at no cost.

Do you need any of it?

No. This is the reassuring part. AI on your phone is a set of optional extras, not something you must learn. If you are happy with your phone as it is, you can ignore all of it and nothing will break.

That said, a couple of features are worth a gentle try, because they genuinely save bother: asking a question out loud instead of typing, and using the writing help to tidy up a message. Try one thing, see if you like it, and leave the rest. There is no test at the end.

One sensible note on privacy: when you ask AI a question, some of what you type may be sent away to be answered, so keep personal details like passwords and bank numbers out of it. You can read more in our guide to whether AI is safe. And to see the AI features you are probably already using, see helpful AI features already on your phone.