After over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 has finally been widely released to the broader public.
There are some features that only Apple brand loyalists can be excited about, because if we’re being honest, most of them have been a part of Android phones for years.
We take a look at some of the offerings on the latest iOS 18 update, which will require just under 8 gigabytes of storage on qualifying devices.
Customisable Home Screen
You can now fully customise your Home Screen and place the previously rigid icons anywhere you wish on your screen, and recolour them to match your phone’s wallpaper or set them to ‘dark mode’. You can also make them bigger and remove the icon’s name.
This is great if you want to adjust the icons around a photo subject, for example, or if you just want home-screen access to one or two apps and widgets instead of several of them in a grid.
Redesigned Control Centre
Instead of a single page of preselected controls, iOS 18 lets you choose, arrange and resize your controls across multiple pages from an expanded list of options in the Controls gallery.
It now includes controls from third-party apps as well.
Upgraded texts and iMessage
A feature that both iPhone and Android users can appreciate is the upgraded text messages. Because of the support for the RCS messaging standard on iOS18, images and videos will be delivered at a higher resolution so no more worrying about your crisp videos looking like 80’s camcorder clips once sent.
You can also now react to an iMessage with a custom-made sticker or any emoji, not just Apple’s defaults.
And more excitedly, you can now schedule your 3am thoughts to send at a more appropriate time with the ‘send later’ option.
Number crunching in Notes app
The Notes app is no longer just a tool for influencers to write, screenshot and share “heartfelt” apologies to the public.
With iOS18, you can do some maths, for example, typing an equal sign to set values to variables, your list of groceries for example, and then using those variables in a maths equation, it will be solved, making budgeting quicker.
On the other hand, you can say goodbye to currency converter apps or quit going to Google each time, because the Calculator app will now be able to convert currency and measurements.
Locking of apps
A feature not new to the phone world, iOS 18 lets you lock specific apps, requiring Face ID in order to open them.
Additionally, some apps can be moved to a hidden folder that requires FaceID, if you do not want them to be seen at all.
Locked and hidden apps also have their content removed from search and don’t generate notifications.
Passwords app
The iOS 18 includes an all-new Passwords app that has many features previously only available through the iCloud Keychain in the Settings app.
The app makes it easier to manage passwords, passkeys, two-factor authentication codes, and more.
Voice memo transcription
With iOS18, transcriptions of your voice recordings can be automatically generated, eliminating the time you’d take to replay recordings while taking notes.
If you own a second-gen iPhone SE, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or newer (iPhones 11 through 15), you’ll be able to run iOS 18.
Apple Intelligence however, once rolled out, will only be available on all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
IOL