iOS 18 is Here! Here’s What Apple Announced.

And stay tuned for the devices that support it. We’ll list it here.

iOS is becoming Android, and Android is becoming iOS. The world is a circle and iOS 18 feels completely like that when there are now bigger customization options (including the ability to move icons through the home page… like Android a decade ago). See, the new version was launched during the June 10 WWDC24 event, among other things. However, for this article, we’re only going to focus on what iOS 18 brought us.

Apple Intelligence (AI)

So that’s what it means. Apple has “reinvented” AI (meaning Apple Intelligence and not Artificial Intelligence) and is quite obviously the main highlight of the event, and iOS 18 in general. As with other forms of AI, Apple Intelligence brings generative AI right to your iPhone, among other things. The brand even went so far to collab with OpenAI and makes use of ChatGPT in order to improve Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. However, this collaboration isn’t 100% smooth-sailing, as Elon Musk proposes to ban Apple products on every one of his companies, including Tesla and OpenAI.

Apple Intelligence will be part of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max around September 2024. The feature is quite demanding of hardware requirements, so previous versions of iPhone compatible with iOS 18 will NOT get Apple Intelligence.

Generative Features:

iOS 18 is loaded with several generative features, to make things easier for you. Do note that AI is not always accurate and should not be 100% relied on it. Text generators do not look at the context of what you’re trying to write when you ask it to rewrite your paragraph to make it more professional, for example. Image generation is trained on pre-existing data, so copyright can be an issue. AI-generated images cannot be copyrighted either.

With iOS 18, being a prompter is very easy now. Image Playground works similarly to DALL-E wherein you can create an image based on the descriptions you give it, based on photos in your library, or through the app’s suggestions, such as the one above. You can choose the style you want, and you can paste it in your iMessages and in your Keynotes.

Another feature Apple introduced are Writing Tools which changes the text you have highlighted to another to make it simpler, more professional, based on the context you give it. If you’re writing a formal letter, this is the tool you could use. However, if your employer has sharp eyes, they might see that the text is AI-generated and possibly plagiarized, so it’s better to either type the message yourself or proofread before hitting that send button to your boss.

Improved SIRI:

Siri just got more personal, and it got a massive overhaul too! It took Apple 18 generations of iOS before they actually fixed it, surprisingly. As an AI itself, of course Siri needs to be improved. ChatGPT is integrated into Siri so whenever you ask it questions, it will come up with more natural and realistic-sounding results. Now, when you ask it how to do things, it creates a step-by-step guide. Also, thanks to a better understanding of phrases and contexts in different languages, Siri can now naturally adapt to commands you say to it. So, if you changed your mind and wanted to set up a timer instead of an alarm, Siri can now understand it and will wait for you to finish your sentence so that it can understand the context, before executing a certain command.

CUSTOMIZATION:

We remember the days when Apple fans said that having the home screen unified makes iOS unique from Android. However, things are changing for iOS 18 and now Apple is finally letting you customize the home screen and rearrange widgets and apps there, like how many Android skins did since 2012. Do note this is an optional feature and if you don’t want it, you can always turn it off. Also no, the app drawer is still not available.

Also, just like Material You and many Android skins, you can color the app icons the way you want it, or have it match your wallpaper. We’ve seen this feature in so many Android skins that it feels bewildering that Apple only released it now, 18 generations late. Still, they say it’s better late than never.

In addition to customizing how app icons would look like, you can finally start hiding your apps. You can use FaceID or TouchID to access these hidden apps that you selected individually in the settings.

Also, the control center has been redesigned. In iOS 18, you can now also customize each icon in the controls gallery. Instead of swiping on the topright corner where the battery is, you can now access the control center at the home screen, at any direction swiping continuously from above.

The control gallery is there so that you can switch out different controls as you please. As mentioned earlier, you can resize them similar to the control panel available on Android since 2013. You can now also freely customize actions in the lock screen too.

MESSAGES and PHOTOS:

iMessage just got more personal. Aside from the usual bold, italics, and underline, you can now add custom animations to each letter, word, or emoji in the text as you sent. Some of these are suggested as you type. In addition, iMessage is getting the Facebook Messenger treatment by allowing you to react to various available emojis by long tapping a message, either from yours or from the reciepient.

Everything about iOS 18 is redesigned to make way for various AI and convenience features. Now, Photos feature collections which organize your photos. These are arranged according to recently made shots, to category like People and Pets, and even places you have been. So in a nutshell, like Google Photos.

Highlights are also available in the form of a carousel. Simply swipe right to see the best moments your phone thinks are the best moments, based on the composition of the image and possibly how you viewed it.

NO NEED TO REMEMBER YOUR PASSWORDS:

iOS 18 has a built-in Password Manager which stores not only your credentials but also your most sensitive information. This app is end-to-end encrypted and allows you to find certain passwords easily thanks to a sorting feature. We do know that Apple is the most reliable when it comes to privacy and safety, otherwise, they will not tell us that.

OTHER FEATURES:

• Game Mode is now a feature in iOS 18 as part of Apple’s commitment to make the iPhone a stunning game console to compete with other mobile consoles. This feature uses Apple Intelligence to reduce latency with AirPods, reduce the number of notifications, and improve performance by focusing most of its resources on the game you’re playing currently.
• You can now download maps offline and you can create your own routes as well when you’re hiking or walking
• Apple Mail is now more organized, similar to GMail.
• Reading Mode in Safari gets AI treatment. Now you get the gist of the article and a table of contents to boot, probably including this article you’re reading right now.
• Various hands-free interactions for Siri and AirPods. The AirPods Pro also gets better noise cancelling and sound isolation
• You can now record live audio sessions or generate an AI-recorded voice of your note. Also, when you have a calculation in your note, your phone can automatically solve it while you type so you don’t have to do it yourself.
• The new InSight feature allows you to see the information about the show/movie you’re about to watch while it plays out onscreen. This is available for Apple TV and works similarly to IMDB.

You can find the many features and featurettes of iOS 18 through this link.

AVAILABILITY:

The new iOS 18 will be available across these devices:

• iPhone SE 2
• iPhone XR
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone 11 Series (including Pro and Pro Max)
• iPhone 12 Series (including Mini, Pro, and Pro Max)
• iPhone 13 Series (including Mini, Pro, and Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Series (including Plus, Pro, and Pro Max)
• iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus (no Apple Intelligence)
• iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (With Apple Intelligence)

Any iPhone not listed means it’s EOL, and those still using iPhone 8 might need to say goodbye. iOS 18’s stable build will be available around September, just before the next iPhone is announced.