iOS 18 is available today, with a mix of AI-powered features, enhanced customization options, and improvements to core apps. Here’s what to expect when you update your iPhone.
Compatibility: Who gets what?
iOS 18 will be compatible with iPhone 11 and later models, including iPhone SE (2nd generation or later). The update, however, requires at least 10GB of free space. The full list of compatible models is as follows:
- iPhone 15 (including Plus, Pro and Max)
- iPhone 14 (including Plus, Pro and Max)
- iPhone 13 (including Mini, Pro and Max)
- iPhone 12 (including Mini, Pro and Max)
- iPhone 11 (including Pro and Max)
- iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and SE (2nd generation or later)
However, the distribution of features is not uniform across all devices. The new features powered by Apple Intelligence will be exclusive to the existing iPhone 15 Pro models and the upcoming iPhone 16 lineup.
This includes Siri’s “glow up” feature, where glowing edges will replace the familiar colored orb on the new smartphone model when the voice assistant is invoked; the glow oscillates in response to the voice and does not distract the user from what they are doing on the screen.
Home Screen Customization
iOS 18 introduces Home screen customization. You’re no longer limited to the rigid grid layout of previous versions; you can now place app icons and widgets anywhere on the screen: at the bottom for easy thumb access, on the sides, or scattered across the screen in a pattern that suits your style.
The update also brings new icon options. You can opt for larger icons without labels for a cleaner look, or choose dark, tinted icon variations to match your wallpaper or personal aesthetic. Each home screen page can have its own unique layout, allowing you to create different configurations for work, play, and more.
Messages get a makeover
Until now, the Messages app has been quite restrictive in terms of reactions and messaging with non-iOS users. With iOS 18, Tapbacks (Apple’s version of reactions) have expanded beyond the original thumbs up, thumbs down, hearts, question marks, and “haha” to include all the emojis available in apps like WhatsApp as well as custom Genmoji that can be created with unique prompts.
You can now add text effects to your messages, making words explode, ripple, or slide into view. Formatting options like bold, italics, and underline are also available.
Messages also integrates the Rich Communication Service (RCS) protocol, which means it will be more compatible with devices other than the iPhone. Sharing images and videos between Android and iOS will be improved, with the addition of cross-platform read receipts, voice notes, and emoji reactions.
Apple Intelligence and Siri
Apple Intelligence offers a set of intelligent writing tools that work across its ecosystem of apps. Whether you’re composing an email, writing a document, or writing a social media post, these tools, like Microsoft Copilot, will help you polish your writing. You can ask it to rewrite text in different styles (for example, more professional or more casual), proofread for grammar and clarity, or generate summaries of longer texts through ChatGPT integration.
Contextual and personalized search will make it easier to find what you’re looking for. It will allow Siri to understand and act based on the content on your screen, as well as the personal data stored on the device. This means you can ask questions or make requests based on what you’re looking at or doing, without having to provide explicit context. For example, when filling out a form, you can ask Siri to “add my passport number here,” and the voice assistant will extract the number from a previously saved photo of your passport and insert it.
This feature extends to what Apple calls “on-screen recognition,” using the example of a friend texting about a new coffee shop. If you ask Siri, “How long would it take me to walk there from my house?” it will “guess” that you’re talking about the coffee shop in question and calculate directions.
The full suite of Apple Intelligence features won’t be available with the September 16 update. For example, it will only be available in US English, as more languages will be added over the next year.
Apple Inc.
A redesign for photos
Apple says this is the biggest update ever to the Photos app. The new design incorporates collections that are automatically organized into the photo grid, making it easier to browse and find content by theme. The app uses AI to create “smart” albums based on people, places, or events it recognizes in your photos.
Another feature is the AI-powered “creative stories” feature. The Photos app can now automatically generate multimedia presentations of your memories, complete with chapters, stories, and associated music. It may not be a common feature, but over time it will help you group your photos into life events, like birthdays, weddings, and graduations.
The new Clean Up tool also uses AI and can remove unwanted elements from your photos, something that previously had to be done with third-party apps. Other handy features include the ability to hide screenshots from your library and smart copy-paste edits to apply the same filters, crops, and more to a batch of photos at once.
Other notable features
- Mail can now consolidate your receipts, purchases, shipping information, and invoices into one place.
- Maps include topographic maps and an interactive feature to explore hiking trails across the United States
- Game Mode minimizes alerts and background activity for less disruption and improved frame rates.
- Tap to Cash lets iPhone users securely exchange money through Apple Cash by tapping their phones, and eligible credit and debit cards can now be added by tapping them against the back of iPhone.
What Developers Need to Know
For app developers, iOS 18 presents both opportunities and challenges. New Apple Intelligence APIs allow developers to integrate AI capabilities into their apps, but the introduction of Swift 6 means developers will have to migrate their code.
Enhanced app intents enable deeper Siri integration, with new possibilities for voice-activated app features, but developers also need to be aware of new privacy requirements, including more granular permissions to access user data. The new App Tracking Transparency feature gives users more control over which apps and websites can track them, which means developers will need to ensure compatibility.
