News

Apple Announces iOS 18: What’s New and Exciting

By Jeff Butts

Published June 11, 2024

Apple has announced iOS 18, including new AI features and much, much more. Here’s what we know.

Apple has officially unveiled iOS 18, bringing a host of new features and enhancements to iPhone users. This update focuses on customization, improved functionality, and innovative new tools to make your iPhone experience better than ever. It also incorporates AI features to enrich your experience, assuming your iPhone supports them. Let’s dive into the most exciting changes coming with iOS 18.

Home Screen Customization

Among the standout features of iOS 18 are the new Home Screen customization options. Now, you can place app icons anywhere on the screen and even tint them. You can match them to Dark Mode or apply a tint to complement the wallpaper you’ve chosen for your iPhone. This flexibility allows you to create a personalized and unique look for your iPhone’s Home Screen.

Revamped Control Center

The Control Center has gained a significant overhaul with a new multipage layout. There’s also a “Controls Gallery.” This will allow third-party developers to offer custom widgets, enhancing the functionality and customization of the Control Center.

Image credit: Apple

You can also move controls to the Lock Screen, replacing default icons like the flashlight and camera. For iPhones with an Action Button, you can also change the functionality of the button in more ways, including the new Lock Screen controls.

Enhanced Messaging

The Messages app receives a notable update, including the ability to react with any emoji or sticker through redesigned Tapbacks. Users can now schedule messages to be sent later and utilize text formatting options like bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough.

New Home Screen customization, enhanced Tapback replies in Messages, and a refined Photos app in iOS 18 (Image credit: Apple)

Moreover, iPhone 14 and 15 users can send iMessages and SMS via satellite when without Wi-Fi or cell service, ensuring you stay connected wherever you are.

Improved Mail and Maps

The Mail app will offer automatic email categorization, making it easier to manage your inbox efficiently. This is a feature already included in many third-party email clients for the iPhone, so it’s going to be a welcome addition.

New to iOS 18, hikers can download maps of a growing library of trail networks (Image credit: Apple)

Apple Maps introduces detailed topographic maps, including offline support, and comprehensive trail networks for outdoor enthusiasts.

New Features in Apple Wallet and Journal

Apple Wallet adds several new features, such as the ability to tap to pay with Apple Cash. This means you’ll be able to quickly and easily pay your share of a meal with friends, just by bringing your iPhones near each other and tapping. There’s also enhanced support for event tickets and a new Apple Pay Online platform.

The Journal app now supports mood logging and goal tracking, and provides new insights and search capabilities, helping you maintain a healthy and organized lifestyle.

Game Mode and Photos App Overhaul

Gamers will appreciate the new Game Mode, which minimizes background activity to ensure the highest frame rates and more responsive connections to AirPods and game controllers. It will work much like Game Mode does on the Mac.

The Photos app undergoes its biggest redesign yet, with a new interface that makes managing your growing photo library easier. You can now hide screenshots, use a new “Collections” feature, and enjoy a carousel interface that highlights recent photos and suggestions.

‘Apple Intelligence’ Reveals Apple’s AI Strategy for iOS 18

In addition to the myriad of new features and enhancements in iOS 18, Apple has introduced a comprehensive AI strategy called Apple Intelligence. This suite of features is designed to be powerful, intuitive, integrated, personal, and private, ensuring that users get the best experience across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Apple Intelligence: Personalized AI for Your Devices

Apple Intelligence leverages both on-device and server-powered generative AI models to deliver a seamless and highly personalized experience. Here’s a closer look at what this new AI strategy will bring to the table when it launches this autumn:

• Personalized Notifications: Apple Intelligence prioritizes notifications based on your usage patterns, ensuring that you see what’s most important to you.
• Generative Writing Tools: These tools are integrated across various apps, helping you compose emails, messages, and documents more efficiently.
• Image Generation: You can create cartoon images resembling contacts in your address book and send them through Messages, adding a fun, personal touch to your communications.
• Contextual Assistance: When reading an email, Apple Intelligence can identify related contacts, provide directions, and locate relevant files, making your workflow smoother and more intuitive.

Apple’s generative AI is designed to stand out by being personalized to your individual context while maintaining your privacy. Most of the AI functionality is powered by on-device models, compatible with the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and M1 and later Apple Silicon Macs and iPads.

Private Cloud Compute

To handle more sophisticated AI models, Apple is introducing Private Cloud Compute. This server infrastructure processes your data using powerful generative AI models without compromising privacy.

Apple ensures that your data is never stored or made accessible to the company when using Private Cloud Compute, maintaining a strong commitment to user privacy.

ChatGPT Integration

Apple is also partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT directly into its operating systems. While Apple Intelligence features are available for free, accessing ChatGPT features (especially GPT-4o functionality) beyond the free quota will require a paid account.

This integration provides users with advanced conversational AI capabilities, expanding the utility of Apple’s devices.

Not Available in First Developer Beta

None of the Apple Intelligence features are available as of the first iOS 18 beta. Since Apple says the feature set will arrive to the public in its own beta sometime this fall, we can only hope to see a preview of it during the iOS 18 beta cycle this summer.

Additional Updates

iOS 18 also brings several other useful features:

• Lock individual apps with Face ID for added security.
• Messages via Satellite support for iPhone 14 and 15 users.
• Enhanced support for text effects and formatting in Messages.
• RCS messaging support, making it easier to communicate with Android users.
• Larger home screen icons and reminders integration in the calendar.

Availability

The first developer beta of iOS 18 is available now, with a public beta expected in July. The official release to the public is slated for the fall, so stay tuned for these exciting updates coming to your iPhone or iPad soon.

With iOS 18, Apple continues to push the boundaries of what a smartphone can do, offering users more customization, enhanced functionality, and innovative features to make everyday tasks simpler and more enjoyable.

iOS 18 is shaping up to be a significant update with its focus on customization, enhanced functionality, and innovative AI features. The introduction of Apple Intelligence promises to make your iPhone, iPad, and Mac more powerful and intuitive while safeguarding your privacy. This is the first really significant iOS update I’ve seen in several years, so I’m looking forward to exploring it and seeing what it’s capable of.