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I tried the most underrated iPhone 16 AI feature on my iPhone 15 Pro (versus Pixel and Galaxy)

Published: Aug 31, 2024, 11:31 AM

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This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

Apple's web page summary feature as seen on the iPhone 15 Pro.

As someone who’s running the latest iOS 18 beta on my iPhone 15 Pro Max I have access to some “Apple Intelligence” features most iPhone 15 Pro users probably haven’t tried yet (and they absolutely shouldn’t - the beta is full of bugs).

And while the new Siri, text rewriting tools, and Apple’s take on the Magic Eraser called “Clean up” are fun to play around, I believe one of the most useful new iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro features will be the ability to summarize lengthy web pages - kinda like this one (only 1,500 words - no big deal).

And while Samsung and Google’s flagship phones have had a similar feature for some time now, you can bet Apple has gone for a slightly different approach - as always. So, let’s take a closer look…

Spoilers: There’s a clear winner, and I’m not holding back from being nitpicky…

New iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 AI summarization feature can save hours from reading long articles, but Apple could’ve done a better job

Screenshot of Apple&#039;s web page summary feature as seen on iPhone 15 Pro.

Unsurprisingly, Apple's web page summary feature looks really slick - even if it's late to the party. In terms of performance though, it's good but not as good as Galaxy AI.

For those of you who aren’t running the iOS 18 beta on their iPhone 15 Pro and haven’t already summarized this article, I should probably start by saying that Apple’s implementation of the web page summarization feature might be the cleanest of them all. At least visually.

You summon it by hitting a little contextual button on the left side of your Safari search bar. Unfortunately, it takes an extra step as you then need to hit the “Show Reader” button, which removes all distractions (including ads) and gives you a far cleaner look at whatever you’re reading - it's like a high-end magazine.

The third step is to simply hit the “Summarize” button, which comes up on top, and voila - Apple Intelligence (literally) starts shining a purple light across the text and then comes up with a short summary of whatever you’re too busy/lazy to read.

Here are a few things to note about how the web page summarization feature performs on my iPhone 15 Pro (running the iOS 18 beta)

Surprise, surprise… Apple’s AI summarization feature seems to be exclusive to Safari - that is unless the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 (with access to ChatGPT) get the ability to perform a similar action with a voice command regardless of the browser (or app) you’re in - but that’s a pure speculation on my side

Unlike Samsung’s equivalent feature (more about that below), Apple’s AI summary is quite short, which sounds good but it means you’re likely to miss out on some important detail you might be interested in - so bear that in mind

As I’ve tested Apple’s AI summarization feature alongside Samsung and Google’s versions, I can say (when the summary isn’t too short), it actually gives you a very similar breakdown to that of Samsung’s - which is great news

I tested Apple’s AI summarization feature with my recent “Crappy iPhone 16 Pro color proves how unexciting the iPhone has become (or does it?)” story, and it managed to give me a satisfactory summary, including my personal feelings about the alleged “Desert Titanium” color coming to iPhone 16 Pro. The Galaxy S24 Ultra nailed it too, and the Pixel… not so much.

iPhone and Pixel can summarize web pages but Samsung's "Galaxy AI" does it best (and it’s not even close)

Screenshot of Samsung&#039;s AI web page summary feature on Galaxy S24 Ultra.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra lets you choose between a short and a long summary - it's the fastest, and works pretty much every time.

I’m sure iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 & 16 Pro users will be thrilled to start using web page summarization as soon as iOS 18 is out, but I couldn’t skip comparing Apple’s take on this smart AI trick to Samsung’s and Google’s in more detail. And I quickly discovered which one’s best.

Yes, there’s a very clear winner, and it is Samsung’s AI summary, which does the best job by far.

The main reason is that Samsung’s take on the web page summarization feature isn’t just great at giving a summary of what you’re likely to want to know, but it also lets you choose whether you want a “standard” or a “detailed” bullet point breakdown. And depending on the web page you’re reading, this can make a huge difference.

Also, Samsung’s web page summarization is (by far!) the easiest and quikcest one compared to Apple and (especially) Google’s. You simply hit the Galaxy AI button, which is always underneath whatever you’re reading on your Samsung Internet browser, and then hit the AI summary button. Depending on the last setting it was on, Galaxy AI will give you a “standard” or a “detailed” summary, and you can switch between the two with just a tap.

It’s fitting to note that, just like the iPhone, Samsung’s web page summarization feature is exclusive to Samsung’s own Internet browser, which isn't great if you’re using a different one. Right now, the only phone able to summarize web pages in any browser is the OnePlus Nord 4 (which I don’t have here and couldn’t test).

Despite huge focus on AI, Google’s web page summary feature is a mess - Gemini and Google Assistant make Siri look smart

Screenshot of Google&#039;s AI web page summary feature on Pixel 8 Pro.

Google Assistant, Gemini, Chrome - none of Google's AI-powered apps/services can deliver a simple web page summarization.

And now it’s time to disappoint some Pixel fans and users…

Although it technically supports this feature through Gemini, my Pixel 8 Pro is actually the most disappointing of the bunch in the way it handles AI web page summarization - if it handles it at all…

See, if you want to summarize a web page on your Pixel, you must copy the link and manually paste it into the Gemini app - like a caveman. And that’s when it works - which it often doesn’t.

This extra step would’ve been less of a pain if, according to Google, both Gemini and Google Assistant (which are very much two separate entities) should be able to summarize a web page with a simple voice command - but this was pretty much impossible no matter what I tried.

The closest I got to getting a web page summary out of my Pixel 8 Pro was by summoning Gemini and hitting the “Ask about this screen” button, which looks at what’s on your screen, and tries to give you contextual information about it.

Unfortunately, Gemini was able to summarize only the text it saw on the screen the moment I hit the button and said it “can’t summarize the article in its entirety as it is cut off”. It also couldn’t “access the URL”, which clearly holds it back from delivering a smart response to a very basic request.

Google’s take on summarizing web pages on Pixel is wrong and completely broken - even OnePlus got ti right

Photo showing Google Gemini and Chat GPT working on Android.

Do better, Google!

Obviously, one of the problems seems to be that Google is trying to use Gemini and/or Google Assistant to summarize a web page, but they are voice assistants, which aren’t supposed to have access to your screen at all times (for privacy reasons).

Therefore, Samsung and Apple’s browser-based solution is more simple and it works 100% of the time, as opposed to… never.

For example, the Pixel outright refused to summarize a BBC news piece, because it “didn’t have the licence” to do so.

All in all, this is extremely bizarre since Google was the first phone-maker to bring this time-saving feature under the spotlight, and now has the worst implementation between the big three.

What’s also interesting is that Google just launched a new feature letting Gemini Premium subscribers summarize emails and perform specific Gmail searches by asking Gemini to do so.

On top of that, Pixel 9 will be able to summarize and extract information from entire YouTube videos, which sounds incredible. And yet we can’t get a basic web page summarization without jumping through hoops?

Useful AI tricks like web page and notes summary could make expensive phones like the Phone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and Pixel 9 Pro worth it - but let’s get it right

OnePlus&#039; web page summary feature as seen on the OnePlus Nord 4.

Unlike Apple and Samsung, OnePlus is the only phone-maker that lets you summarize web pages on any browser.

Creating fake photos is cool bur useful AI tricks like web page and notes summary could make expensive phones like the Phone 16 Pro, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and Pixel 9 Pro a much better deal.

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t talked about summarizing anything other than web pages, it’s because I couldn’t get this feature to work on any of the phones. At least on the current software I’m running (which is the latest on all three).

Apparently, the final version of iOS 18 should let you summarize just about any text on the iPhone, like in the Notes app, for example. And while summarizing notes and emails should already be working on the Pixel and Galaxy, it isn’t right now - at least on my European units.

That aside, I find the AI summary feature to be extremely helpful especially when it comes to web pages with tons of text.

And although Google is totally failing to deliver right now, it has the right ideas - I should be able to summarize a web page by asking my voice assistant. Not to mention, the YouTube video summary feature, which is a super powerful time-saving trick I can’t wait to try.

But as it stands, Samsung nails the web page summary trick, and the OnePlus Nord 4 gets a lot of points for being able to summarize web pages in any browser - which seems like a no-brainer. And this is what Google (and Apple) must copy in order to give users the best experience.

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Martin, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, brings a unique blend of humor and insight to his work. His fascination with smartphones began with a Galaxy Young and evolved through a series of trades and upgrades, making him a self-proclaimed smartphone nerd. Martin's content often combines current analysis of market trends with historical references and future predictions. Whether it's a deep dive into technical issues or a first-person commentary on industry events, Martin's articles are designed to inform and engage. His critical perspective is driven by genuine curiosity and a desire to keep readers informed, not by any corporate sponsorship.

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