Apple today previewed iOS 18, a groundbreaking update set to transform the iPhone experience with enhanced customization, a redesigned Photos app, powerful new connectivity options, and the introduction of Apple Intelligence, a sophisticated personal intelligence system. This major release marks a significant leap forward in making the iPhone more personal, capable, and intelligent than ever before.
A New Era of Customization
With iOS 18, Apple introduces unprecedented levels of customization across the Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Control Center. Users can now arrange apps and widgets freely in any open space on the Home Screen, even placing them above the dock for quicker access. This flexibility extends to the Lock Screen, where users can switch or remove controls at the bottom, choosing from a gallery of options for a tailored experience. The redesigned Control Center offers new customization and flexibility, allowing users to add controls from third-party apps and organize them into personalized groups for media playback, home controls, and connectivity.
Photos App Gets a Major Overhaul
The Photos app receives its biggest redesign to date, aimed at helping users easily find and relive their cherished moments. A unified, single view now displays photos in a familiar grid format, enhanced with new collections that organize content by themes. Users can pin favorite collections for quick access, while a new carousel view showcases daily highlights featuring people, pets, places, and more. Autoplaying content within the app brings photo libraries to life, and customizable features allow users to tailor the experience to their unique needs.
Staying Connected in Innovative Ways
iOS 18 brings significant enhancements to the Messages app, including dynamic text effects and new formatting options such as bold, underline, italics, and strikethrough. Users can now express themselves more vividly with animated appearances for letters, words, phrases, or emojis. The app also introduces Messages via satellite, enabling communication when cellular or Wi-Fi connections are unavailable. This feature leverages existing iPhone satellite technology to send and receive texts, emojis, and Tapbacks over iMessage and SMS.
For the first time, the Messages app supports RCS (Rich Communication Services), providing a richer media experience and more reliable group messaging compared to traditional SMS and MMS. This update ensures seamless communication across devices, enhancing user connectivity.
Mail and Safari Enhancements
Later this year, Mail will introduce on-device categorization to streamline inbox management, sorting emails into categories like Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. A new digest view compiles relevant emails from a single business, allowing users to quickly scan important information.
Safari, the world’s fastest browser, now offers a redesigned Reader experience and Highlights feature that surfaces key information about webpages. Machine learning technology enables users to review summaries, locate key details, and enjoy articles without distraction.
Introducing the Passwords App
Building on the foundation of Keychain, the new Passwords app consolidates passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes into one convenient place. The app also alerts users about common password weaknesses and potential data breaches, enhancing security.
Privacy and Security Innovations
iOS 18 emphasizes user privacy with new features like locked and hidden apps, ensuring that sensitive information remains private. Users can lock apps with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode, and hide them from search and notifications. Additionally, iOS 18 allows users to selectively share contacts with apps and seamlessly connect third-party accessories without exposing their entire network.
Apple Intelligence: A Leap Forward
Apple Intelligence, deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, leverages the power of generative models combined with personal context to deliver highly relevant and useful experiences. This new system enhances writing with systemwide tools for rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text across various apps. Image Playground allows users to create playful images, while the new Clean Up tool in Photos removes distracting background objects without altering the subject.
Siri becomes more natural and contextually relevant, with the ability to switch between text and voice communication. Private Cloud Compute ensures privacy in AI processing, with data used solely to fulfill user requests and not stored or accessed by Apple.
Additional Features and Enhancements
- Apple Maps: Users can explore national park hikes, create custom walking routes, and access offline maps. A new Places Library allows saving favorite hikes and locations with personal notes.
- Game Mode: Enhances gaming with consistent frame rates and responsive wireless accessories.
- Apple Pay: Introduces new ways to pay, including redeeming rewards and accessing installments from eligible cards. Tap to Cash allows sending and receiving Apple Cash by holding two iPhones together.
- SharePlay: Enhances the listening experience with shared control of music from HomePod, Apple TV, or Bluetooth-enabled speakers.
- AirPods Updates: Introduces head gestures for Siri interactions, voice isolation for clearer calls, and the best wireless audio latency for mobile gaming.
- Notes and Journal: Adds Math Notes for instant equation solving, collapsible sections, and new journaling features with mindful minutes tracking.
- Calendar and Health: Shows events and tasks together, redesigned Medical ID, and pregnancy health recommendations.
- Emergency SOS Live Video: Allows sharing live video or media during emergency calls for faster assistance.
- Home App: Introduces guest access and hands-free unlock with Ultra Wideband technology.
- Accessibility: Adds Eye Tracking for navigation, Music Haptics for experiencing music through vibrations, and Vocal Shortcuts for performing tasks with custom sounds.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, expressed excitement about the release, stating, “iOS 18 is a huge release with incredible features, including new levels of customization and capability, a redesigned Photos app, and powerful ways to stay connected with Messages. This release also marks the beginning of a tremendously exciting new era of personal intelligence with Apple Intelligence delivering intuitive, powerful, and instantly useful experiences that will transform the iPhone experience, all with privacy at the core. We can’t wait for users to experience it.”
iOS 18 is poised to redefine the iPhone experience, offering users more control, privacy, and intelligence than ever before.