Apple’s Messages app on iPhone now has a third-party AI agent

Third-party AI service Poke was just approved for use in Apple’s Messages app on iPhone, bringing an AI agent directly into iMessage for the first time. Here are the details.

Poke is now available in Apple’s Messages app via Business workaround

Years ago, Apple launched Messages for Business as a way for iPhone users to contact businesses inside the native iMessage interface.

Now, that technology appears to have enabled the first third-party AI agent inside Messages.

Poke has been approved by Apple, letting you chat with the service in the iPhone’s Messages app and have it take action on your requests.

Here’s a glimpse at what it looks like, via Poke’s announcement post:

You can message Poke on your iPhone following the instructions on Poke’s website. And a variety of examples of what Poke can do, including third-party integrations, can be found here.

Currently, the service appears to be experiencing issues. I sent a message a few minutes ago and have yet to receive a reply, and saw similar reports on social media.

Hopefully that’s just a sign of overwhelming demand, rather than evidence that Apple has already revoked its initial approval.

Have you tried using Poke in the Messages app? How’s it working for you? Let us know in the comments.

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