Not yet updated to iOS 18? Read this first

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

If you haven’t already been invited, just go 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 a few things you should know before updating 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 that you can always restore the old version of iOS if something goes wrong.
• Free up space on your iPhone: If your iPhone doesn’t have a lot of free space internally, we recommend doing some tidying up. An easy way to do this is to delete apps you don’t use, large files, old notes, or any duplicate images.
• First update your iPhone to the latest version: 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 problems: As our sister site Macworld reported, there was a significant bug in iOS 18. But by the time you read this, they should all be fixed.

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

New levels of customization

iPhone users have new ways to personalize the Home screen, Lock screen, and Control Center. Users can now arrange apps and widgets anywhere on the Home screen, including above the dock for easy access or to perfectly frame a background image.

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

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

The redesign provides quick access to new groups of controls a user uses most, such as media playback, home controls and connectivity, as well as the ability to easily swipe between them. You can now add third-party app commands to the Control Center to quickly unlock a vehicle or access social media directly.

Photos benefit from a unified view and new memories

The Photos app is getting a major overhaul.

A new carousel view features daily updated highlights, showing your favorite people, animals and places.

Autoplaying content in 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 customizable, so users can organize their memories, pin them for quick access, or include only what’s most important in the carousel view.

Stay connected in Messages

Messages benefit from new text effects that can enhance letters, words, phrases or emoji with a dynamic, animated look. Tapbacks for quick replies to messages are expanded to include any emoji or sticker, and users can now compose a message and schedule it to be sent later. The latter is something Android phones have been able to do for years in 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.

Mail improvements

Later this year, Mail will introduce new ways for users to manage their inbox and stay up to date. Device-based categorization organizes and sorts incoming emails into personal and urgent emails. Mail also features a new summary view that brings together all of a company’s relevant emails, allowing users to quickly search for what’s important at that moment.

Major Safari Updates

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

Using machine learning, Safari can highlight key information on a web page. For example, users can view the abstract 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, introduced over 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 breaches.

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 confidence that information they want to keep private, such as notifications and app content, won’t be accidentally seen by others.

Users can now lock an app, and for added privacy, they can hide an app by moving it to a locked hidden apps folder. When an app is locked or hidden, content such as messages or emails contained within the app are hidden from searches, notifications, and other system locations.

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 summarize text almost anywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.

Photos features will allow users to create stories they want to see by typing a description. Apple Intelligence will select the best photos and videos based on the description, create a story with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and organize them into a movie with its own narrative structure. Additionally, a new “cleanup 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 explore thousands of hiking trails across U.S. national parks and easily create their own personalized hiking routes accessible offline. Whether this will be extended to the UK remains to be seen.

Game Mode, available on Mac, delivers more consistent frames per second (FPS), especially during long gaming sessions.

AirPods also get new features in iOS 18. AirPods Pro (2nd generation) users can simply nod yes or gently shake their head no to answer or decline a call. For even clearer call quality, voice isolation is available on 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 displaying both reminder events and tasks. You can also create, edit, and complete reminders directly from the Calendar app.