Apple Introduces Visual Intelligence for Smarter On-Screen Actions in iOS 26

What you need to Know

• Apple introduces Visual Intelligence with iOS 26 for AI-powered screen analysis.

• Works automatically with any app and activates via the screenshot button.

• Allows image search for on-screen items like clothing or products.

• Developers can use App Intents to integrate their apps into this experience.

• Enables visual search across frequently used apps using the iPhone camera.

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At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced a robust new addition to iOS 26 Visual Intelligence, a powerful AI-powered image analysis technology that works directly on the iPhone screen. With this AI-driven analysis of images, users are able to better interact with the visual information in front of them every day. Apple is combining real-time screen analysis with practical tools that make your iPhone smarter and more useful with Visual Intelligence.

As described by Apple, Visual Intelligence speeds up and simplifies getting more out of what you already have on your screen. The good news? It happens automatically in any app. For example, if you see a gray jacket in an Instagram post, you can turn on Visual Intelligence with the same button you use to take a screenshot. This initiates an image search for the product like invoking Google Search or other such commonly accessed applications without having to manually switch between them.

Aside from shopping or object recognition, Visual Intelligence also processes contextual shortcuts. If a post or message has a date, time, and location displayed, the feature can pick up on that info and pre-enter it into your calendar, allowing it to become easy to add events with a single tap. This makes daily tasks such as scheduling a meeting, planning an event, or setting reminders easy from content you're already looking at.

Apple is also leaving the window open for more integration with other AI applications. A good example is the ability to upload a screenshot to ChatGPT for analysis or more insights. This makes the feature not only about convenience, but also about productivity and access to knowledge, all while remaining on your device.

Developers are also receiving the toolset to tap into this capability. Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said at the keynote that developers can bring their apps into Visual Intelligence through App Intents. Apps will be able to add their search features to the Visual Intelligence experience. Additionally, users will be able to search visually across their most used apps using the camera on the iPhone, driven by this same Visual Intelligence engine.

With iOS 26, Visual Intelligence is one of Apple's most useful AI upgrades, giving everyday consumers more ability to act on what they're seeing in the moment, intelligently and instantly, without having to leave the screen they're viewing.