iOS 18 uses Apple Intelligence to fix Wallet’s broken order tracking

iOS 18 has transformed Apple Wallet’s long-struggling order tracking feature by leveraging Apple Intelligence to automatically extract purchase details from confirmation emails. This AI-powered enhancement finally delivers on the original promise of creating a centralized hub for all online purchases, addressing years of limited merchant adoption that had rendered the feature largely useless for most users.

What you should know: Apple Wallet’s order tracking feature, introduced in iOS 16, has been significantly underutilized due to poor merchant support until now.

• The feature required individual merchants to integrate with Apple’s system, which few bothered to do despite being available for years.
• Most users never received order tracking information in their Wallet app, making it essentially a dead feature.
• The author notes receiving their first Wallet order tracking notification only in December, years after the feature launched.

How Apple Intelligence fixes the problem: iOS 18 uses AI to automatically identify and summarize order tracking details from merchant and delivery carrier emails.

• Apple Intelligence extracts important purchase information from confirmation emails, which virtually all online retailers send.
• The system works across all merchants regardless of whether they’ve integrated with Apple’s tracking system.
• Users can now see “full order details, progress notifications, and more, all in one place” according to Apple.

The catch: This enhanced order tracking requires Apple Intelligence, limiting availability to newer devices.

• Only iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 series, or newer models can access the upgraded experience.
• The AI processing power needed for email analysis explains why Apple couldn’t implement this approach from the beginning.

Why this matters: The update represents a shift from Apple’s traditional partner-dependent approach to a more self-sufficient solution.

• Many Wallet features like digital IDs and car keys have struggled with slow adoption due to reliance on external partners.
• By using AI to work with existing email infrastructure, Apple has bypassed the need for merchant cooperation entirely.

Real-world performance: Beta testing suggests the AI-powered order tracking works effectively in practice.

• The author reports that “improved order tracking has been a major highlight of the new and improved Wallet app” during months of beta use.
• Initial concerns about AI accuracy appear to have been unfounded based on testing experience.