The top mobile AI features that Apple and Samsung owners actually use

Do you use any of the AI features on your smartphone, and if so, do you find them valuable? Those are two of the questions covered in a recent survey from phone reseller SellCell. Released on Monday, the results found that people are less than thrilled with the current crop of AI features but do use certain ones.

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The goal of the survey was to gauge what smartphone users think of the new mobile AI features, whether they’d switch brands for better AI tools, how important AI is when buying a new phone, and whether they’d pay for AI. Conducted online from November 28 to December 6, 2024, the survey gathered responses from more than 2,000 smartphone users in the US.

Among those polled, more than 1,000 owned an AI-enabled iPhone such as an iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max. Another 1,000+ owned an AI-equipped Samsung Galaxy phone, such as the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy Z Flip5, or Galaxy Z Flip4. Only those with AI-powered phones were allowed to participate in the survey.

Which AI features are most popular?

iPhone users were asked if they had used any of the Apple Intelligence AI features introduced in iOS 18.1 (the current version of iOS 18.2 was released after the survey), and if so, which ones. Writing Tools came in first place, cited as the top feature by 72% of the respondents. These tools can help proofread, revise, and summarize text across a range of apps, including Mail, Messages, and Notes.

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In second place, used by 54% of those surveyed, was the Notification Summaries feature, which offers a digest of multiple notifications in one shot. Next, 45% gave the nod to Priority Messages, which highlights urgent emails and summarizes messages.

Other AI features used by iPhone owners included the Clean Up option in Photos to remove objects with one tap, the Smart Reply in Mail and Messages to help draft responses, the Natural Language Search feature in Photos, Transcription Summaries to generate a summary of an audio message or phone call, the Memory Movie feature in Photos to create customized movies and slideshows, and the enhanced Siri with a better grasp of language and the ability to switch between voice and text.

Samsung Galaxy owners were asked if they’ve used any of the Galaxy AI features available in the most recent update. Taking the top spot among 82% of those polled was Circle to Search, which lets you draw a circle around an image to run a Google search on the content.

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Next up was Photo Assist, as cited by 55% of the respondents. This feature automatically regenerates an image as you resize, move, or remove objects in it. In third place, used by 29% of those polled, was Chat Assist, which tries to improve your writing style and correct grammatical mistakes.

Other commonly used features among Galaxy users were Note Assist to transcribe audio to text, Browsing Assist to summarize content on a web page, Transcript Assist to create a transcription of recorded speech, and the Interpreter to provide quick translations of text and audio.

Though certain features are commonly used, people aren’t all that impressed with the existing lineup of AI features. When asked if the current Apple Intelligence features add significant value to the iPhone experience, 65% of Apple users said they’re not very valuable and that other features are more important. Only 11% rated them as very valuable, while 16% said they’re somewhat valuable but not significantly so. That left 8% who found that the AI features add little to no value.

The results were even worse for Samsung’s AI. When asked about the value of Galaxy AI features, 52% of Samsung users said that they add little to no value. Some 35% said that they’re not very valuable and that other features are more important, while 7% thought they were somewhat valuable but not significantly so. That left just 6% who found the features very valuable.

The reasons for not using AI features

The survey also asked people who haven’t used the AI features on their phones why they’ve resisted. The majority of iPhone owners said that they simply haven’t updated their devices to the latest version. Others said that they don’t find such features useful or they don’t trust AI or its accuracy. Some said they were concerned about privacy and security, that they didn’t understand how to use the features, or that they were concerned about the ethics of using AI.

The results were similar on the Samsung front but in a slightly different order. The majority of Samsung Galaxy users said they haven’t yet used the AI features on their phones because they don’t find them useful. Others said that they don’t trust the accuracy of AI or are concerned about privacy. A failure to update to the latest software was fourth on the list of reasons, contrasted with iPhone users who placed it at the top of the list.

Also: iOS 18.2 rolls out to iPhones: Try these 6 new AI features today

When asked to compare Apple’s AI with Samsung’s Galaxy AI, 15% of iPhone AI users said that Apple Intelligence is better, while 6% gave the nod to Galaxy AI. Among Galaxy users, 4% cited Apple Intelligence as better, while 8% called Galaxy AI the better option. Some 17% of iPhone users would consider switching to Samsung for better AI features, while only 10% of Samsung users would switch to Apple if they felt the AI features were better.

AI is a developing process for both Apple and Samsung smartphones. Since the survey was taken, Apple has already released iOS 18.2 with additional AI features such as Image Playground, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration. More AI is in store for 2025, especially with iOS 18.4. Samsung officially unveiled its latest One UI 6.1.1 in July with several AI features. One UI Version 7 is due out early next year with more AI. This ongoing effort means that new features will likely catch on with users and that some people may find AI more valuable down the road.