Apple will launch a new AI app strategy at the WWDC event in June, allowing third-party developers to access large language models

On Tuesday, according to media reports, Apple will launch a new AI app strategy at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, planning to allow third-party developers to access large language models.

According to insiders, Apple is preparing to allow third-party developers to use its artificial intelligence models to write software, aiming to stimulate the development of new applications and enhance the appeal of its devices. Apple is developing a software development kit (SDK) and related frameworks to enable external developers to build AI features based on the large language models used for Apple Intelligence.

Currently, Apple Intelligence supports some features in iOS and macOS, such as notification summaries, text editing, and basic image generation. This opening will allow developers to integrate these technologies into specific functions or entire applications.

Initially, Apple will open small models that can run on local devices, rather than more powerful cloud-based AI models that require server support.

The Apple Intelligence features available to developers are currently very limited, only supporting some notification summaries and prioritization, Writing Tools, Genmoji, and Image Playground applications, while they cannot directly use Apple's foundational model, Apple Foundation Models, to develop their own AI features.

Since Apple has not opened its models, developers can only rely on third-party technologies. Although Apple provides the Core ML framework to support open-source models and is compatible with systems like Google's TensorFlow, it is still insufficient to meet the development needs of generative AI.

The App Store has a range of AI applications from major vendors, including ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Anthropic's Claude, xAI's Grok, and Perplexity. These applications all use their respective internally developed models.

Apple hopes to replicate the early success model of the App Store—when Apple first opened its internal technologies and software frameworks to developers, which led to an explosion of the application ecosystem. Now, Apple also intends to build its operating system into the world's largest AI software platform by opening its AI models and simplifying their integration.

The surge in the number of applications may also bring financial benefits. Apple will take a share of in-app subscription revenue. However, the App Store is currently facing pressure from regulators around the world. Last month, a U.S. judge ruled that Apple must allow developers to direct users to web pages to complete purchases, thereby bypassing Apple's revenue-sharing system. The expected surge in AI applications may help alleviate the impact of some revenue loss for Apple.

Apple previously planned to launch a series of options for app developers, including a new feature called "App Intents." This feature will allow users to achieve more precise control over in-app functions through the Siri voice assistant. Apple intends to introduce this feature as early as the iOS 19 release cycle, which starts in September this year and will last until 2026 The launch of Apple Intelligence has experienced some setbacks. Previously, its news summary feature was criticized by the media for misinformation, and the emojis generated by Genmoji often differed significantly from Apple's advertising displays. More practical features like Writing Tools actually rely on OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Analysis indicates that Apple's latest move is an important step in its pursuit of catching up and striving for a leading position in the generative AI field. Apple faces challenges in the AI wave, having launched the Apple Intelligence platform a year ago, but its initial feature usage rate is low and remains weak compared to other AI platforms. Apple hopes to stimulate more attractive AI applications by opening up underlying technologies to developers.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the above news.

Highlights of the WWDC Conference

The developer program is expected to be one of the highlights of this WWDC conference. Additionally, highlights include significant updates to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems (codenamed "Solarium"), aimed at making the interfaces across platforms more unified and consistent, drawing on the visionOS operating system of Vision Pro.

In addition to open models, Apple also plans to launch an AI-driven battery management mode and a health application that incorporates AI, featuring a virtual health coach function, with the software portion expected to be released in 2026