How developers are using Apple’s local AI models with iOS 26

Summary

Earlier this year, Apple introduced its Foundation Models framework during WWDC 2025, which allows developers to use the company’s local AI models to power features in their applications. The company touted that with this framework, developers gain access to AI models without worrying about any inference cost. Plus, these local models have capabilities such as guided generation and tool calling built in. As iOS 26 is rolling out to all users, developers have been updating their apps to include features powered by Apple’s local AI models. Apple’s models are small compared with leading models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or Meta. That is why local-only features largely improve quality of life with these apps rather than introducing major changes to the app’s workflow. Below are some of the first apps to tap into Apple’s AI framework. Lil Artist The Lil Artist app offers various interactive experiences to help kids learn different skills like creativity, math, and music. Developer Arima Jain and Aman Jain shipped an AI story creator with the iOS 26 update. This allows users to select a character and a theme, with the app generating a story using AI. The developer said that the text generation in the story is powered by the local model. Image Credits:Lil Artist Daylish The developer of the Daylish app is working on a prototype for automatically suggesting emojis for timeline events based on the title for the daily planner app. MoneyCoach Finance tracking app MoneyCoach has two neat features powered by local models. First, the app shows insights about your spending, such as whether you spent more than average on groceries for that particular week. The other feature automatically suggests categories and subcategories for a spending item for quick entries. Image Credits:MoneyCoach LookUp The word learning app LookUp has added two new modes using Apple’s AI models. There is a new learning mode, which leverages a local model to create examples corresponding to a word. Plu...