Apple halts news alert notification summaries in the latest iOS beta.
Apple has decided to temporarily disable certain Notification Summaries while it works on improving this feature.
With significant changes on the way, Apple is in the process of optimizing the notification summaries of its system. In the latest preview versions for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, the company has decided to suspend aggregated notifications, particularly those coming from news and entertainment apps, while improving the functionality of these alerts.
Additionally, a new notice has been incorporated that appears when users first enable notification summaries. This message indicates that notifications are a beta feature and may yield unexpected results. Moreover, the betas offer a new option that allows users to decide from the lock screen whether they want the notifications from an app to be summarized. Finally, alerts generated by artificial intelligence are distinguished from unsummarized ones by using italicized text.
Last week, Apple communicated about its efforts regarding notification summaries, stating that "Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are making continuous improvements based on user feedback." The company added that "a software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text shown is a summary provided by Apple Intelligence" and encouraged users to report any concerns about unexpected notification summaries.
Notification summaries were introduced alongside the first version of Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1. However, shortly after their public release, they began generating negative criticism for the company. Media reports, such as those from the BBC, accused the summaries of spreading misinformation. One particularly negative case highlighted a summary that claimed Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself.