iOS 18: Features, Release Date & Supported Devices
Apple unveiled the next-generation iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. As anticipated, iOS 18 turned out to be theiPhone’s biggest software update in history. The latest iOS 18 arrives with a boatload of impressive features like customizable home & lock screens, a revamped Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, a new Passwords app, and much more. If you’re also curious to know what’s new in iOS 18, when iOS 18 will come out, and which devices will get iOS 18, we’ve got you covered. We’ve mentioned everything you need to know about Apple’s latest iPhone operating system. Let’s get started right away!
iOS 18 Features
1. Personalised iOS 18 Home Screen
After 17 years, Apple finally offers a redesigned andmore customizable home screen experiencewith iOS 18. It’s a long-awaited feature that gives iPhone users greater control over the Home Screen app icon arrangement. To ensure uniformity, the app icons will remain locked to its invisible grid system, but you have the freedom to create blank spaces, columns, and rows between app icons. This will allow you to reveal more of a wallpaper.
Another thing that’s new in iOS 18 Home Screen is that app icons can now have a dark or tinted appearance. You can set app icons to appear in dark or light mode, or they can also automatically make a switch based on whether you’ve enabled Dark Mode on your iPhone.
2. Customizable Lock Screen Controls
One of my favorite iOS 18 features is the ability to change the lock screen controls on my iPhone. You can swap out the lock screen controls for something else, like Shortcuts, QR code scanner, Calculator app, or Dark Mode. Finally, I canremove the Flashlight icon from the Lock Screenso I don’t turn it accidentally.
3. Lock & Hide Apps
The latest iOS 18 brings the long-request feature- the ability to lock individual apps on an iPhone. Apple now offers two new ways to protect sensitive apps and related data when someone else is using your iPhone. You can now lock an app with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. When you do this, no information from the app will appear in other places across the system, including Search, Siri, & Notifications. This will give you peace of mind that your sensitive info is never exposed accidentally.
In addition, if you ever want tohide an app on your iPhone, you can move it into a hidden apps folder that can be locked.
4. Redesigned Control Center with a new Controls Gallery
The next-gen iOS 18 brings a massive update to the Control Center with new groups of controls, and you can swipe down on the Home Screen to access different Control Center Screens. There’s a new Controls Gallery that displays all your options in one place, including new controls from Music, Home, and your favorite apps. You can choose to rearrange or resize controls or build your own group controls so everything you need is just a swipe away. Check out our in-depth guide onhow to customize Control Center in iOS 18.
5. New Passwords app
As anticipated, Apple turned its password keychain feature into a full-blown Passwords app. With a dedicated Passwords app in iOS 18, it’s easier to store all your account passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and other credentials in one place. Everything is secured with end-to-end encryption and your passwords are synced across your Apple devices. So, if you ever change your Netflix password on your iPhone, it will be reflected across your iPad and Mac.
6. Redesigned Photos app
It’s great to cherish old memories but it’s challenging to navigate a loaded photo library. Interestingly, iOS 18 brings the biggest redesign to the Photos app which will make it easier to find specific photos. The Photos app now features Collections which automatically organizes your entire photo library by helpful themes like Recent Days, Trips, and People & Pets. You’ll see everything at your fingertips, so searching for photos is much easier and quicker in iOS 18.
7. RCS, Tapbacks, Text effects, & more in Messages
The Messages app also got a much-needed upgrade with the new iOS 18. You can nowschedule messages to send later, react to messages with more Tapbacks, andapply animated effectsto individual words, phrases, or emojis. You can also bold, underline, italicize, or strikethrough the text to get your point across.
Also, iOS 18 finally brings RCS (Rich Communication Services) to iPhones. This iOS 18 feature should enable smooth communication between iPhone and Android users. We’ve prepared a guide onhow to use RCS on iPhonewith iOS 18. That’s not all. If you own an iPhone 14 or later, you can send and receive messages with satellite connectivity. It’s a super useful addition that helps you stay connected with your family or friends even when there’s no cellular or Wi-Fi service.
8. Tap to Cash
The iOS 18 update brings a new way of paying with Apple Pay, called Tap to Cash. As the name suggests, this iOS 18 feature lets you pay for things by simply tapping two iPhones together, without exchanging phone numbers or email addresses. This feature is reminiscent of aniOS 17 feature NameDrop, that allows users to exchange contacts by bringing their devices together.
Apple Wallet also got some other upgrades like support for displaying rewards or points balance in Apple Pay. Also, redesigned event tickets will allow users to see helpful venue information like concert seat numbers or shortcuts for directions.
9. Record and Transcribe phone calls
The newiOS 18 brings call recording to iPhones.Yes, there’s finally an official way to record calls on your iPhone via the Phone app. You can enable call recording on an iPhone after making or answering a call. To keep everything ethical, all the participants will be notified about the call being recorded. As the call is recorded, your iPhone will also offer a transcript. With Apple Intelligence, your compatible iPhone can also generate a summary of the key points of the call. Here’s how you canrecord calls on iPhone with iOS 18.
10. Safari Gets Highlights & Redesigned Reader
Safari gets an array of new features and improvements with iOS 18. There’s a newHighlightsfeature that detects helpful information on a webpage and highlights it for you. For example, summaries, directions, or quick links to know more about people, movies, music, and TV shows.
Next is the smarter & redesigned Reader mode in Safari which removes distractions for a better reading experience and also shows a table of contents for a longer article. If you’re curious to see this iOS 18 feature in action, here’show to how hide ads in Safari web pages.
11. Game Mode
For the first time ever,iOS 18 brings Game Mode to iPhones.The Game Mode will minimize background activity to provide consistent FPS for better gameplay. Also, it will reduce audio latency and deliver better responsiveness with game controllers and AirPods. This is surely gonna be one of the most highlighting iOS 18 features for gamers.
12. AirPods and Hands-free Siri Interactions
Thanks to iOS 18, Siri interactions on AirPods Pro 2 have become much easier and more interesting. You can simply nod your head yes or gently shake your head to respond to Siri. This new iOS 18 feature will be super helpful in situations when you’re traveling or you wish to respond to Siri when your baby is sleeping. With iOS 18, Voice Isolation also comes to AirPods Pro.
13. Native App Updates
TheCalculator appgets a nice update with an all-new Math Notes calculator, new features like unit conversion and history, and a new portrait orientation for the scientific calculator.
Apple’s iOS 18 also improves theNotes appto a great extent. The Notes app in iOS 18 offers support for recording voice memos which can be embedded in the notes on purpose. Also, you can now perform more complex mathematical equations on your notes. Just enter an expression and it will be solved while you’re typing.
TheMail appon iOS 18 automatically sorts your emails into categories to help prioritize messages. The Primary category will have your most essential emails, and the rest of the emails will be organized into new categories like Transactions, Promotions, and Updates.
With iOS 18, iPadOS 18, andmacOS Sequoia,Apple Mapsgains Topographic Maps with trail networks and hikes, including all 63 U.S. national parks. You can Save maps for offline access with turn-by-turn voice guidance. Also, the iOS 18 update brings a Google Maps feature- custom routes to Apple Maps.
Additionally, theCalendar app gains Reminders integration, enabling users to view and interact with Reminders directly within the Calendar app.
Apple also announcedJournal appimprovements coming to iPhone users with iOS 18. You can now log your state of mind and track your goals with insight views. You can also search within the Journal and sort your older entries.
You can now access a redesignedPrivacy & Security settings menuto easily manage how much information you’re sharing with your apps.
iOS 18 also adds some improvements to the Apple TV app, Home app, SharePlay, Apple Fitness+, and Freeform.
14. iOS 18 Accessibility Features
Apple announcednew accessibility featureswe’ll see with upcoming software updates like iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and visionOS 2. The iPhone and iPad users will get to enjoy one of the most remarkable features ofApple Vision Pro– Eye tracking. It will allow iPhone and iPad users to navigate their devices with just their eyes. It’s a useful accessibility feature designed especially for users with physical disabilities, allowing them to control their devices just by looking at them. The Eye Tracking on iPhone and iPad will work acrossiOS and iPadOS apps, and there’s no need for any additional hardware or accessories.
Besides Eye Tracking, Apple announcedMusic Hapticswhich will allow the Taptic Engine in the iPhone to play taps, vibrations, and textures to the audio of the music. This will allow users with hearing problems to enjoy music like everyone else.
TheVocal Shortcutsfeature will allow iPhone and iPad users to assign custom utterances so Siri can launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks. You can evenrename Siri on iPhonenow with this feature.
Finally, there is a newVehicle Motion Cuesoption that can help reduce motion sickness for passengers in moving vehicles. Motion sickness is a common issue in moving vehicles which is caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel.
15. CarPlay upgrades
Apple has also expanded accessibility features on CarPlay with a bunch of new offerings. First isVoice Controlso you can navigate CarPlay and control apps with your voice. TheSound Recognitionfeature helps drivers of passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing to turn on alerts to be notified of car horns. Then, there’s aColor Filtersfeature that can help colorblinds make the CarPlay interface easier to use with bold and large texts. Check out all newCarPlay features in iOS 18.
iOS 18 Release Date
Apple announced iOS 18 on June 10, along withiPadOS 18,macOS 15 Sequoia, and other software updates. The first developer beta for iOS 18 was released right after the WWDC 2024 Keynote event. At its Glowtime event, Apple announced theiOS 18 release dateas September 16, 2024. After months of best testing, the polished version of iOS 18 was released and is now available for all iPhone users.
iOS 18 Supported Devices
As anticipated, Apple’s iOS 18 supports every iPhone model that’s supported by the iOS 17 version, which includes iPhone XR, XS, XS Max, and newer models.
Here’s the complete list ofiOS 18-supported devices:
Of course, the iPhone 16 lineup will come with iOS 18 right out of the box.
It’s worth knowing that even if several iPhone models are supported by iOS 18, not all of them arecompatible with Apple Intelligence.As a processing requirement, Apple Intelligence needs at least an A17 chipset or M-Series chips (on iPads & Macs). Therefore, Apple Intelligence is exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro andiPhone 15 Pro Max, plus all the models of the iPhone 16 lineup. If you’ve got an older model, you may have to make an upgrade to use all AI features.
That’s everything you should know about iOS 18. Which iOS 18 feature did you like the most? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Kanika Gogia
Kanika has been a loyal iPhone user since 2014 and loves everything Apple. With a Master’s in Computer Applications, passion for technology, and over five years of experience in writing, she landed at Beebom as an Apple Ecosystem Writer. She specializes in writing How To’s, troubleshooting guides, App features, and roundups for Apple users to help them make the best use of their gadgets. When not writing, she loves to try out new recipes and enjoy some family time.
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