Apple opens on-device AI capabilities to developers through new Foundation Models framework

Apple is expanding access to its AI infrastructure with the introduction of the Foundation Models framework, a new developer-facing tool that offers direct access to the on-device models powering Apple Intelligence. Announced at WWDC 2025, the framework will be available with iOS 26 and related platform updates, allowing developers to integrate powerful AI features into their apps without relying on cloud services.

For the first time, third-party developers will be able to utilize Apple’s on-device large language model—the same core technology behind features like Mail summaries and text generation in Apple’s native apps. This opens the door for broader adoption of intelligent features, such as personalized quizzes in education apps, natural-language chat interfaces in games, or summarization tools in productivity software.

The Foundation Models framework runs entirely on Apple Silicon chips, ensuring operations remain private and offline. Developers can incorporate AI capabilities into their apps without incurring cloud API usage costs or compromising user data privacy. Users must enable Apple Intelligence on their devices to activate these functionalities.

Designed with deep integration into Apple’s ecosystem, the framework supports native Swift development. Features include robust text generation tools for summarization, entity extraction, refinement, and more. Developers can also use the @Generable macro to define custom Swift data structures, with built-in guarantees that the AI model will generate valid instances of those structures.

Another notable feature is tool calling, which enables the model to interact with custom developer-created tools—such as querying a local database or calling an internal app service—enhancing the model’s ability to perform specialized tasks.

Apple positions this as a no-cost resource, accessible with minimal setup. Developers can get started with as little as three lines of code, bringing Apple Intelligence’s on-device model into third-party apps in a scalable and privacy-focused way.