Not updated to iOS 18 yet? Read this first

Apple has now launched iOS 18, so getting the update is as simple as downloading and installing it on your iPhone.

If you haven’t been prompted already, simply head to Settings followed by Software Update to update manually. However, if you have an older iPhone, check that your iPhone model is compatible.

However, there are some things you should know before you update to iOS 18.

Keep this in mind when installing iOS 18

• Back up your iPhone: Back up your iPhone before installing the new version so you can always restore to the older version of iOS if something goes wrong
• Make space on your iPhone: If your iPhone doesn’t have a lot of free space internally, we recommend that you tidy up a bit. Easy ways to do this are to delete apps you don’t use, large files, old notes or any duplicate image
• Update your iPhone to the latest version first: Don’t skip an update and go straight to iOS 18. If you haven’t installed IOS 17.6.1 yet, do that first
• Be aware of potential issues: As our sister site Macworld reported, there has been a significant iOS 18 bug. But by the time you’re reading this, they should all be ironed out

Below we go through some of the biggest news on iOS 18 as it was presented during Apple’s launch event. Please note that none of the Apple Intelligence (Apple’s AI) features mentioned will be available until December 2024 at the earliest.

New levels of customisation

iPhone users get new ways to customise the home screen, lock screen and Control Centre. Users can now arrange apps and widgets in any location on the home screen, including above the dock for easy access or perfectly framing a background image.

App icons and widgets can be given a new look with a dark or tinted effect, and users can make them larger to create the perfect experience for them. You can also colour code apps.

Control Centre has been redesigned to provide easier access to many of the things people use every day.

The redesign provides quick access to new groups of a user’s most used controls, such as media playback, home controls, and connectivity, as well as the ability to easily swipe between them. You can now add controls from third-party apps to the Control Centre to quickly unlock a vehicle or jump straight into social media.

Photos get a unified view and new memories

The Photos app gets a major redesign.

A new carousel view presents highlights that update every day, showing your favourite people, pets and places.

Auto-playing content throughout the app brings libraries to life, so past moments can be replayed as you browse. And because each user’s photo library is unique, the app is customisable, so users can organise memories, pin for quick access or include only what’s most important in the carousel view.

Stay connected in Messages

Messages get new text effects that can enhance letters, words, phrases or emoji with dynamic, animated looks. Tapbacks for quick message responses are expanded to include any emoji or sticker, and now users can compose a message and schedule it to be sent later. The latter is something Android phones have been able to do for years within the Google Messages app.

When sending messages to contacts who don’t have an Apple device, the Messages app now supports RCS, making it easier to share photos, videos and other non-text content.

Improvements in Mail

Later this year, Mail will introduce new ways for users to manage their inbox and stay up-to-date. Device-based categorisation organises and sorts incoming emails into personal and time-sensitive emails. Mail also features a new digest view that brings together all relevant emails from a company, allowing users to quickly scan for what’s important at that moment.

Major updates to Safari

Safari, the world’s fastest browser according to Apple, will now have easier ways to discover information on the web with Highlights and a redesigned Reader experience.

With machine learning, Safari can highlight key information from a web page. For example, users can review a summary of an article; quickly see the location of a restaurant, hotel, or landmark; or listen to an artist’s song directly from an article about the song or album.

Reader has been redesigned to offer even more ways to read articles, with a summary and table of contents included for longer articles.

Passwords app

Built on the foundation of Key Manager, which was introduced more than 25 years ago, the new Passwords App makes it easier to access passwords, passkeys, wifi passwords and verification codes. The app also includes warnings for passwords that are easy to guess or used multiple times and those that appear in known data leaks.

New privacy features

iOS 18 gives users even more control with tools to manage who can see their apps, how contacts are shared and how their iPhone connects to accessories.

Locked and hidden apps give users peace of mind that information they want to keep private, such as app notifications and content, won’t be accidentally seen by others.

Users can now lock an app, and for additional privacy, they can hide an app, moving it to a locked, Hidden Apps folder. When an app is locked or hidden, content such as messages or emails inside the app are hidden from searches, notifications and other places in the system.

Apple Intelligence

Integrated into iOS 18, Apple Intelligence will open up new opportunities for users to improve their writing and communicate more effectively. With new system-wide writing tools built into iOS 18, users can rewrite, proofread, and summarise text almost anywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.

Features in Photos will allow users to create stories they want to see by typing a description. Apple Intelligence will pick out the best photos and videos based on the description, create a story with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and arrange them into a film with its own narrative structure. In addition, a new “cleaning tool” can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of an image without accidentally changing the subject.

Additional features in iOS 18

In Apple Maps, users can browse thousands of hiking trails across national parks in the US and easily create their own custom hiking routes that can be accessed offline. Whether this will be expanded to include the UK remains to be seen.

The game mode, available on Mac, provides more consistent frames per second (FPS), especially during long gaming sessions.

AirPods are also getting new features in iOS 18. Users of AirPods Pro (2nd generation) can simply nod yes or gently shake their head no to answer or decline a call. For even clearer call quality, Voice Isolation comes to AirPods Pro, allowing your voice to be heard clearly in noisy or windy environments.

The Notes app lets you solve formulas and equations entered with Apple Pencil.

And finally, the Calendar app becomes more useful by showing both events and tasks from Reminders. You can also create, edit and complete reminders directly from the Calendar app.