It sounds like you won’t be linking your Instagram or WhatsApp accounts up with Apple Intelligence, at least not anytime soon. That’s because, according to Sorcererhat Tech, Meta has blocked Apple Intelligence from its apps.
Back when Apple first announced Apple Intelligence, and its integration with iOS apps, the company confirmed that developers had a choice on whether to allow the AI access or not.
Clearly Meta has chosen to take Apple up on that, meaning the likes of Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Instagram won’t support any Apple Intelligence features.
My first thought was that Meta didn’t want anything to do with the upcoming Siri updates. Apple announced that Siri would gain the ability to perform different functions within your apps, and I figured that Meta didn’t want to hand over that control to Apple’s AI. But there’s more to it than that.
SorcererhatTech notes that even the most mundane Apple intelligence features, like Writing Tools or even Genmoji, aren’t available in Meta’s apps. I tried this myself on Instagram, and found that I couldn’t access either feature.
This is despite the fact all the Apple Intelligence features were switched on in Instagram’s app settings.
Why is this happening?
Meta hasn’t made any official announcement about the lack of Apple Intelligence in its apps at the time of writing. So all we can really do is speculate, based on what we know about Meta and its relationship with Apple.
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The most obvious point to consider is that Meta is also heavily investing in AI, and can be considered a rival to Apple in that sector. A conspiratorially-minded person might assume that Meta is simply trying to push people towards using its own Meta AI, and not rely on a rival system.
It’s also possible that Meta has taken exception to Apple Intelligence for some reason, and doesn’t want someone else’s AI getting access to user accounts. Even if those users opted-in to allow Apple Intelligence access in the first place.
It’s something that could happen more and more once Siri’s long-promised upgrades start rolling out.
It’s also worth mentioning that Apple and Meta have a pretty strained relationship at times. Meta has often clashed with Apple over App Store guidelines, and Apple’s strict policies regarding user data. Privacy policies are also reported to have played a major role in killing a potential deal between the two, which could have brought Meta’s AI to Apple Intelligence.
Apple lawyers also said the company may not be able to trust Meta anymore during Meta's ongoing antitrust lawsuit. All because Meta used a flawed method of redacting PDF files that could easily be reversed — thereby leaking confidential information.
We’ve reached out to Meta and will update this story when we hear back. But for now it seems we’re all going to have to learn to live without Apple Intelligence in Meta-owned apps.
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Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor
Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.
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