During the keynote speech at WWDC, Apple announced the next version of its mobile operating system for iPhone – iOS 18. Vice President of Software Craig Federighi demonstrated a number of innovations.
iOS 18 offers more customization options for the Home screen, which finally allows you to freely place application icons anywhere you want. In addition, the operating system has new tools for customizing the Home screen. Application icons now have a dark mode, and users can tint them with color to create a unique look.
The Control Center has been redesigned and now also has extensive customization options thanks to a new gallery. Developers can share tools from their apps in the Control Center. Users can continuously swipe to access other Control Center screens. The Lock screen controls can also be customized.
The Messages app in iOS 18 will support RCS. This new standard will replace SMS as the standard communication protocol between Android and iOS devices. In Messages, users will also be able to respond to any emoji, schedule messages for later delivery, and format text in bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough. New text effects allow users to emphasize words and phrases with automatic suggestions. In addition, users will also be able to send and receive messages via satellite connection.
In the Mail app, emails can be automatically sorted into categories to help prioritize messages. Maps has new topographic maps with a network of trails and hiking routes. In Wallet, the new Tap to Cash feature allows you to send money while holding your phones together.
The Photos app has been completely redesigned. It offers a single view with a photo grid at the top and a library organized by topic at the bottom. The photo grid shows the entire library. Users can use the month and year views at the bottom, and there is a filter button that allows them to hide screenshots and sort in other ways. The space below the grid contains collections that can be viewed by topic, such as time, people, memories, travel, and more. Recent Days shows photos from the last few days, and things like receipt photos are automatically filtered out. People and Pets now collects photos of groups of people. You can change or pin collections. Swipe to the right of the grid and you’ll see a new carousel with Featured Photos and other favorite collections. This section automatically updates to showcase new images.
iOS 18 brings Game Mode to iPhone for the first time. It minimizes background activity to maintain a high frame rate, and provides better and faster interaction with AirPods and wireless game controllers.
The first developer beta of iOS 18 is available today, and the public beta will follow later. The official release of the new OS version is expected in the fall.
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: