iOS 18 is packed with exciting new features set to enhance your iPhone experience, with some updates available later this year.
If you don’t want to wait until later this year to try out these new features, you can download iOS 18 now if you’re running the developer beta on your iPhone.
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Apple Intelligence
- Introduces personalized intelligence based on your personal context.
- Offers helpful and relevant insights tailored to you.
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Writing, focus, and communication
- New writing tools and language capabilities: Help you write, summarize longer text, and prioritize notifications.
- Images: Create images to express yourself, craft Genmoji for conversations, or revisit favorite moments with your own memory movies.
- Enhanced Siri: With richer language understanding and personal context awareness, Siri is more capable and helpful than ever.
Personalize your home screen layout
- New look for app icons: Sleeker appearance with a new dark look, customizable tint colors, and larger app icons and widgets.
- Locked and hidden apps: Lock an app: Requires Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode for access. Hide an app: Move it into a hidden apps folder that’s locked.
Control center
- Redesigned control center: New groups of controls accessible with a single, continuous swipe down on the Home Screen.
- Controls gallery: Add more controls from the gallery, displaying all your options in one place.
- Rearrange and resize controls: Customize layout and size of controls, build your own groups.
- Controls on lock screen: Swap out controls for quick access to notes or capturing moments for social media. Use the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro for new controls.
Photos app
- Organized library: Easily find photos fast with a gorgeous yet familiar look.
- Helpful topics: Collections organize your library by topics like Recent Days, Trips, and People & Pets. Pinned Collections offer quick access to important albums.
- Carousel: Access your best content in a beautiful, poster-like view with daily updates.
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Messages
- Text effects: Visually amplify texts with new effects for major news or emoji expressions.
- Tapback with any Emoji or sticker: Send a Tapback with any emoji or sticker, including Live Stickers from your photos.
- Messages via satellite: Stay connected over iMessage or SMS without cellular or Wi-Fi service. End-to-end encrypted iMessages over satellite.
- Send later: Schedule messages to send at a specified time.
- Support for RCS messaging: Richer media and delivery/read receipts for non-iMessage users.
Maps
- Topographic maps and trail networks
- Save hikes for offline access: Browse and save thousands of hikes with custom notes.
- Custom walking and hiking routes: Create and save routes with options like “one way,” “out and back,” or a loop.
Game Mode
- Maximize gameplay performance: Minimize background activity for sustained high frame rates.
- More responsive AirPods and controllers: Improved audio latency and responsiveness, enabling an immersive gaming experience.
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Tap to cash
- In-person payments: Quick and easy payments without sharing phone numbers or email addresses. Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode.
Apple Pay
- Rewards and installments: View and redeem rewards, access installment financing options from your bank.
- Event tickets and guides: Redesigned tickets with event guides combining venue information and recommendations from Apple apps.
AirPods
- Hands-free Siri interactions: Say yes with a nod or no with a shake.
- Voice Isolation on AirPods Pro: Crystal clear calls in noisy conditions.
- Personalized spatial audio for gaming: Immersive soundstage for an enhanced gaming experience.
Notes
- Live audio transcription: Record and transcribe audio sessions within your notes.
- Collapsible sections: Simplify and hide text with collapsible headers.
- Highlighting: New highlight style feature for quickly marking up notes.
SEE ALSO: Top Apple exec acknowledges shortcomings in effort to bring competition in iPhone app payments
Journal
- Journaling for wellbeing: Log your state of mind and track goals with insights view.
- Track goals: View writing streaks, calendar entries, and fun stats.
Home App
- Guest access controls: Manage access to garage openers, alarm systems, and door locks.
- Hands-free unlock: Unlock doors as you approach with iPhone or Apple Watch.
Privacy and security
- Control contact sharing: Decide which contacts to share with apps.
- Redesigned privacy and security settings: Easier management of shared information.
Accessibility
- Eye tracking: Control iPhone with just your eyes.
- Music haptics: Syncs iPhone Taptic Engine with song rhythms for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Vocal shortcuts: Record sounds that trigger specific actions on iPhone.
SEE ALSO: Apple’s biggest announcements from its iPad event: brighter screen, faster chips and the Pencil Pro
Additional features
- Calculator: New math notes calculator and features like unit conversion and history.
- Calendar: Redesigned monthly view with integrated reminders.
- Freeform: Improved diagramming mode and content alignment.
- SharePlay: Enhanced screen sharing capabilities.
- Emergency SOS Live Video: Share streaming video and recorded media during emergency calls.
- Apple Fitness+: Personalized workout selection, For You tab, and new search feature.
- Phone: Record and transcribe live calls, improved call history search, and seamless SIM card switching.
Device compatibility
- iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)