Apple’s iOS 18 update arrived for the general public last Monday, and promises to improve Apple’s handset in several ways. After downloading the first public release of iOS 18, here are the five new features I’m most excited about that are available today. Bear in mind, Apple’s big step into AI dubbed Apple Intelligence will not be available until iOS 18.1, and will likely only be available for a few newer models of iPhone, and M1 and later iPads and Macs.
New Control Center
The redesigned Control Center is one of my favorite new features for both iOS and iPadOS 18. I’ve been testing iPadOS 18 betas on my iPad since they became available a few months ago, so I’ve grown accustomed to the new Control Center and it’s customization options. It’s wonderful now having the same Control Center on my iPhone as well. The new Control Center design opens all kinds of possibilities for the system going forward. For example, among the new system controls available for the Control Center is a toggle called “Print Center”. This control opens its own app window that shows all active prints in the printer’s queue. It behaves just like any other app, only the difference is that it is accessed via the Control Center rather than a Home Screen icon. Could this be the way Apple integrates more niche functionality into the OS without having to develop full system apps in order to do it? I think it’s very possible, even likely considering they’ve already done it in this case. I imagine Apple could eventually integrate a clipboard manager in a similar fashion. The new Control Center design lays the groundwork for potentially big changes to iOS and iPadOS in terms of functionality in the future. I’m really excited to see what more third-party app developers will do with it as they begin to adopt it as well. The new Control Center does more than incorporate many of the functions of the macOS Menu Bar, it could also potentially be the springboard for incorporating more complex system functionality in a way that users can easily access.
Recording Transcription
One of the best productivity features in iOS 18 is the new transcription feature for audio recordings. I’ve predominantly used it in the Notes app, and it’s very useful for recording meetings and being able to read the transcript later. The results of the transcription feature are also very accurate in my experience. I’ve had very few instances where the transcription confused one word with another. And now that the audio recording features are accessible directly within the Notes app, it’s much more convenient than having to use the Voice Memo app separately from the Notes app. Overall, this is definitely one of my favorite new additions.
Math Notes
While Math Notes offers extra Apple Pencil oriented features on iPadOS, the iOS version is still very useful. I often collect measurements for a project in Notes, and Math Notes helps to organize them better, and offers additional features that streamline the process. For example, if I have several measurements I want to add together, I can simply add plus signs between the measurements and an equal sign at the end, and Math Notes will automatically add them together and autofill the result! This significantly streamlines the process vs having to type each number into the Calculator app to get the same result.
Safari Hide Distracting Items
Ever have annoying ads or popups that block content and add distractions? The new “Hide Distracting Items” feature in Safari allows you to eradicate such clutter from your screen. I wrote a more in depth review of this feature several weeks ago, but to summarize, it allows you to select visual elements from a web page and then tap “hide”. The selected item then evaporates into a cloud of pixels and floats away off screen. It’s a very fun and satisfying way of removing clutter from web pages.
Better Theming
One of the top new features Apple incorporated into iOS 18 is custom theming for the Home Screen. App icons can be positioned more freely on the app grid, and icons themselves can be tinted or swapped for what Apple calls “Dark Mode” versions of the icons. These changes allow for a greater level of freedom with theming, pairing very well with the Lock Screen theming options introduced in iOS 16. The dark mode icons for Apple’s own apps is typically a more inverted color cast, with a black backdrop in place of white, and colored symbols. Tinted icons typically share the same black background as the dark mode icons, but the symbols are tinted to a color chosen by the user. The tint is adjusted by a couple of sliders, one for choosing the color, and the other for choosing the brightness. There is also a color selector for matching the tint of the app icons with a selected color from the wallpaper.
Many More Changes to Come
There are many other great changes included in iOS 18 as well, such as reformatting options for external drives, a new design for the Photos app, new changes to the Settings app, and of course many bigger features coming in later versions of iOS such as Apple Intelligence. I’ve been testing the iPadOS 18.1 developer betas on my iPad, and I’m excited about Apple Intelligence. I believe it definitely shows potential to revolutionize workflows, even in its early stages. There are likely to be other improvements Apple drops in with future updates as well. It will be interesting to keep an eye on iOS 18 and how it continues to evolve.