Apple sneaks a Windows Recall-like feature onto the iPhone

Microsoft’s Recall sparked outrage that Microsoft was spying on users. But will Apple’s “semantic search” produce the same headlines?

Apple introduced the new feature at its “Glowtime” event on Monday, where the company launched the iPhone 16, plus new versions of the Apple Watch and its AirPod earbuds.

“If you need to quickly find an important detail, but can’t remember where it was shared, Siri will use your personal semantic index to quickly locate the information you’re looking for,” Greg Jozwiak, Apple’s senior vice-president of worldwide marketing, said during the brief segment on Apple Intelligence that accompanied the iPhone 16 Pro. (See the image at the top of this page for more.)

That was all Apple said on the subject. But the new feature seems to promise to do the same thing that Microsoft’s own Recall could do: track down a detail somewhere in your digital forest of apps.

Apple’s Jozwiak didn’t say how the semantic search would work, or which apps it would be restricted to, or how far back the search could be conducted. Apple has taken pains to emphasize that any information it captures is stored on the device, and not in Apple’s cloud; Microsoft has said the same thing, but garnered far more mistrust from users. Now, Microsoft has said that its Recall feature will be slowly rolled out and tested inside of its Recall program beginning in October, and anything that smells Recall-like is now met with suspicion. But the goal, apparently, is the same: track down the information you can’t find.

To be fair, Apple’s continued emphasis on securely storing consumer information on-device, rather than in the cloud, has built up a level of trust with consumers that Microsoft has failed to establish. Frankly, consumers simply don’t trust Microsoft the same way they trust Apple — even though Recall appears to take the same pains as Apple to secure user data directly on the device itself. And of course, there’s the hated ads within Windows.

Still, you can’t help but be struck by the discrepancy. Microsoft Recall? Horrible. But Apple? Absolutely fine. Bring on the Apple iOS Recall semantic search!