This Android skin is powered by AI that lets you order coffee and manage your subscriptions

HONOR’s Magic OS software is not the top Android skin, but it still offers a lot of features. This time, the Chinese manufacturer has launched Android 15-based Magic OS 9.0 skin in the domestic market, bringing a ton of AI features.

According to HONOR, this latest software introduces the MagicLM family of AI models that support text, voice, audio, visuals, and more. The company specifically highlighted a 3 billion-parameter on-device AI model as part of its MagicLM suite, which it said will support midrange and premium phones. Otherwise, HONOR says its cloud-based AI models will run across the “full scope” of its portfolio. However, it is unclear which features are on the device and which require the cloud.

HONOR teased the AI ​​agent at the Snapdragon 8 Elite launch earlier this week, but now this upgraded experience has been fully revealed. The company says it will turn its existing YoYo smart assistant into an AI agent that supports natural language understanding, computer vision, user habit learning and “scenario recognition,” intent recognition and smart decision-making, and “within and across apps.” Announced. Surgery. But what does that actually mean?

The smartphone maker says the upgraded YoYo tools can understand user needs and work independently to achieve user goals. HONOR gave an example of ordering a latte with a simple command. YoYo can open a user’s favorite food delivery app, find their preferred coffee shop, automatically place the order, and then confirm payment with the user.

HONOR says its AI agents can automatically perform 900 tasks on command, including delivering the aforementioned coffee, managing subscription auto-renewals, tasks related to permissions and notifications, converting documents, and filling out forms. It is said that it can be executed. We have reached out to HONOR to find out if this AI agent will be available in the global market and will update the article accordingly.

Magic Portal and Magic Capsule improvements

The new Android software also offers upgrades to the company’s Magic Portal and Magic Capsule features. The former currently allows users to seamlessly share text and images between apps with drag-and-drop, but now has a better understanding of semantic context.

Magic Portal also offers Circle to Search style functionality. This allows you to use your knuckles to circle content, and Magic Portal will recommend apps that are appropriate for that content (for example, if you circle text that includes an event name, date, and time, the Calendar app provided). However, it is worth noting that Circle to Search is already available on HONOR devices worldwide.

Magic Capsule, on the other hand, is HONOR’s Dynamic Island clone and now supports more scenarios. This includes airline tickets, taxi services, takeout, movie playback, train services, and more.

AI for photography and productivity

There have been a lot of AI-related features in photography over the past few years, and HONOR is following this trend. The company’s gallery app now supports object deletion, “face restoration”, and AI image enlargement functions.

The company also joins rivals in offering several productivity-focused AI tools. This includes AI meeting features (transcribe meetings, identify speakers, provide meeting summaries), AI documentation features for writing assistance, and AI translation for real-time translation.

HONOR’s new software also features previously introduced deepfake detection technology, upgraded MagicRing cross-device functionality, and the Magic Personalization suite of system customization tools.

So what about supported devices? HONOR posted a roadmap on Weibo (see machine-translated version above), revealing that many of its 2023 and 2024 flagships, including the Magic V3 and Magic 6 Pro, will be getting the software next month . However, the roadmap also confirms that many older, lower-cost devices will eventually be upgraded by March 2025.

Please note that this roadmap is currently only for China, and the global roadmap may be different. But it does give us a solid idea of ​​what to expect when the global version of Magic OS 9.0 is released.