Apple announced on Monday that it would allow app developers to access its artificial intelligence models for the first time, as the iPhone maker unveiled incremental software updates at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California.

The tech giant's software chief Craig Federighi said opening its AI models to third parties would "ignite a whole new wave of intelligent experiences in the apps users rely on every day". Developers will be able to tap directly into Apple's on-device foundation model that powers Apple Intelligence features.

"We're opening up access for any app to tap directly into the on-device, large language model at the core of Apple," Federighi said during the presentation.

The announcement comes as Apple faces mounting pressure over its perceived lag behind rivals in the artificial intelligence race. Shares of Apple closed 1.2 per cent lower on Monday following the presentation.

Apple also unveiled a major design overhaul for its operating systems, introducing what it calls "Liquid Glass" – a partially transparent aesthetic for icons and menus that will span iPhones, Macs and other Apple products. The company said the new design was made possible by more powerful custom chips in Apple devices.

In addition to the design changes, Apple announced it would shift to year-based naming for its operating systems rather than sequential version numbers, unifying naming conventions across its product range.

New features announced include Live Translation for phone calls, messages and FaceTime conversations, which runs entirely on device to protect user privacy. The company also introduced Call Screening, where iPhones will automatically answer unknown calls and provide transcriptions of the caller's purpose.

Apple's Visual Intelligence feature, which previously only worked with the iPhone camera, will now extend to analysing content on users' screens. This allows users to identify products and find similar items through third-party apps.

The new features will be available for developer testing immediately, with a public beta expected next month and full consumer rollout planned for autumn.

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