Apple's iOS 18 update became available to all users on September 16. Before the release, key new features included customizable app icons on the home screen, changing app shortcuts on the lock screen, a redesigned Control Center, support for RCS, and new capabilities in the Passwords app.
However, there are many other small and fun changes that can be quite useful.
Settings
Instead of listing all apps on the main page of the Settings app—which can require a lot of scrolling for users with many installed apps—Apple now has a dedicated Apps menu for your apps. This cleans up the busy settings screen and makes it clearer where to find controls for individual apps.
Photos
The Photos app now allows you to view your photo library without seeing screenshots. You can tap the filter icon in the bottom left corner and uncheck "Screenshots" under "View Options" to hide them.
The Photos app features new content types in the Utilities collection, including documents, receipts, handwritten notes, reflections, and QR codes, making it easier to find information in your photos. Additionally, you can view recently added, edited, and shared media items.
The Photos app automatically suggests photos suitable for wallpaper.
You can now copy edits from one photo to another, including crop, exposure, and white balance adjustments.
The Photos app automatically organizes your trips in the Trips section and groups people and pets together, making it easier to find pictures that include your companions and pets.
A new video speed control feature allows you to create slow-motion video effects.
Camera
One of the biggest complaints from users was that music playing through AirPods would stop when taking a photo or video. iOS 18 addresses this issue, allowing music to continue playing via Bluetooth while capturing photos or videos.
The Camera app now includes a new 5-second timer alongside the existing 3 and 10-second options.
Control Center
You can customize your Control Center with widgets and buttons in iOS 18.
Additionally, one of the significant changes in the new view is the power button in the upper right corner. This means you no longer need to press the power and volume down buttons to turn off your device—you can access it directly from the Control Center.
Messages
The Messages app finally allows you to schedule messages to be sent later, though this option is hidden in the + menu instead of being associated with the send button, making it a bit harder to find.
iMessage now allows you to send full-resolution images up to 100 MB in size.
Text effects add animations to any character, word, or sentence, like explosions or ripples, making conversations visually more interesting. You can also include text formatting like bold, underline, italic, and strikethrough.
When the grid is off, you can send messages via satellite when you otherwise have no signal.
You can now "Tap Back" with any emoji or sticker, and multiple Tap Backs are displayed for easy viewing of the last three.
Safari
Safari now includes a feature to remove distractions from web pages. While this won't remove ads, it can clean up parts of a website that you don’t need or want to see. For example, if a website insists you sign up for their email newsletter, you can hide the signup box.
Summary highlights allow you to read an article's summary before diving into the full text.
Other highlights will point you towards useful information about people, music, movies, or TV shows.
Weather
The Weather app now features a widget that prominently displays real-time temperatures alongside feels-like temperatures for easy comparison.
The Weather app will show wind speed, gusts, and directions more prominently.
You can now set home and work locations in the Weather app from your contacts.
Siri
AirPods now allow you to control Siri notifications by nodding or shaking your head, meaning you can accept or decline calls just with gestures.
Podcasts
The new Podcasts app allows you to jump to a specific chapter from the progress bar if the podcast has defined chapters.
The Podcasts app now also allows you to reorder and remove episodes in your listening queue.
You can share a specific part of a podcast using the podcast transcript.
Maps
Maps now include new topographic maps, hiking, and route creation features that compete with popular third-party tools like AllTrails.
The Maps app will allow you to save offline access to all U.S. national parks. Additionally, you can create and save your walking and hiking routes.
Apple is making the Maps app more useful for exploration by allowing you to compare locations by browsing photos, ratings, and price levels.
Notes
Notes now support collapsible sections, allowing you to create structured documents within the app.
The app has also added audio recording support, meaning you can record audio sessions to keep alongside your notes, comments, checklists, and documents. You can edit notes while recording. The Notes app supports inline PDF search and various colored highlighting. Both the Notes and Calculator apps support solving mathematical equations. You can also include various graphs and variables related to the equations.
The Mail app finally offers a way to group emails by sender. You can perform quick actions on them, including marking emails as read, deleting, and saving them.
A new Transactions category will help you easily find order confirmations, receipts, shipping, and travel information.
Meanwhile, the Updates category will collect your newsletters, news items, and social updates in one place, similar to Gmail.
Time-sensitive items from Transactions, Updates, and Promotions will still appear in the primary section. (They will also be labeled with their category icons for easy reference.)
New cleanup tools are available from the Mail app, as well as on iCloud.com and through iCloud Mail settings.
Utilities and Keyboard
The keyboard now supports multiple languages in one keyboard. It also detects the last language used in apps like Messages and switches automatically.
Apple has introduced a unified picker for emojis and stickers in the keyboard, making them searchable.
The Calculator can now review feedback, assign variables, and create graphs.
When providing tech support, you can request permission to remotely control a friend’s device.
On select phones, there’s a fun new makeover for the flashlight interface in iOS 18, allowing you to control variable brightness and adjust the beam width.
Journal
The Journal app allows you to log your mood.
The time spent writing in the journal will be logged in mindfulness minutes.
The app also supports audio transcripts and printing your entries.
You can add reminders and prompts to write on your home screen via a widget to help build the journaling habit.
Calendar and Reminders
With iOS 18, the Calendar will display time reminders, and you can create new items or edit them directly in the app.
The Calendar now includes new views for days, weeks, and months, making it easier to visualize your schedule.
Additionally, the Reminders app now features multilingual grocery lists and recently deleted lists.
Apple now allows you to quickly create new items for shared family lists, like shared calendars, grocery lists, and password lists.
Files
The Files app allows you to keep specific iCloud files or folders on your phone, keeping them downloaded and synced.
iPhones with iOS 18 now support more file formats when formatting external drives, including APFS, exFAT, or MS-DOS (FAT32). You can also erase these drives from the Files app.
Apple TV App
The Apple TV app now features an X-Ray-like feature for Amazon Prime Video called "In-Sight," which displays information about actors and music in a show or movie.
A new "Better Dialogue" feature will help you hear better, even during scenes with loud effects and music.
Home
With the Home app update for iOS 18, you can lock connected doors hands-free. You can also add up to 29 guests for time-based access.
You can unlock smart locks (available next year) using ultra-wideband without having to take your phone out of your pocket.
Accessibility
iOS 18 includes accessibility features for controlling your phone’s interface, including eye tracking.
Additionally, users can create custom statements to perform actions like going to the home screen, opening the camera, launching shortcuts, or invoking Siri.
iOS 18 also provides motion sickness assistance with visual indicators at the edges of the screen to signal vehicle movement. You can set this to on, off, or automatic detection mode.
Music haptics will sync the iPhone’s taptic engine with the rhythm of songs, allowing deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to enjoy Apple Music.
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