Create Bullet Summaries Using iOS 18 Writing Tools

With the arrival of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18, users can easily condense lengthy reports, articles, and emails into concise, bulleted executive summaries. This article covers how the built-in Writing Tools feature generates bulleted overviews, the specific options available for structuring information, and the device requirements necessary to use the tool.

Generating Bulleted Summaries in iOS 18

Users can generate bulleted executive summaries from long-form content using the system-wide Writing Tools suite. Rather than reading an entire document or drafting a manual briefing, users can highlight text and instruct the system to extract the most critical takeaways into an organized list.

How to Create a Bulleted Summary

  1. Highlight the Text: Select the text within a report, email, webpage, or document that needs to be summarized.
  2. Open Writing Tools: Tap the popover context menu and select Writing Tools (indicated by the Apple Intelligence icon).
  3. Select Key Points: From the menu options, tap Key Points. Apple Intelligence will process the selected text and replace or overlay it with a concise, bulleted list highlighting the main arguments or data points.

Alternatively, users can select the List option to convert raw text into a standard bulleted outline, or choose Summary for a short narrative overview.

Where Writing Tools Can Be Used

Writing Tools is integrated at the system level and functions across native iOS apps and third-party software that support standard iOS text editing frameworks:

  • Apple Pages and Notes: Ideal for digesting drafts, business proposals, and meeting transcripts.
  • Mail: Quickly condense long email threads into core action items.
  • Safari: Summarize online whitepapers, articles, and news stories (often accessible directly via Safari's Reader Mode summary feature).
  • Third-Party Apps: Compatible with word processors, messaging apps, and document readers that adopt standard iOS text selection menus.

Hardware and System Requirements

Generating AI-driven summaries requires Apple Intelligence, which is available starting in iOS 18.1. Due to on-device processing and memory constraints, the feature requires specific hardware:

  • iPhone: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models.
  • Language & Region: Device language and Siri must be set to a supported Apple Intelligence language.