Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, U.S., Monday, June 10, 2024.
Bloomberg | Getty
apple on Monday a preview version of the big new iPhone update was released.
The iOS 18 Public Preview is a beta version of the software that will be released with new iPhones this fall, allowing Apple fans and developers to test the latest features before they officially launch and catch bugs before all iPhone users install the new software.
This year, however, the most important new service isn’t in public beta: Apple Intelligence. In June, Apple announced that some of its newest devices will be able to access Apple’s AI service that can intelligently answer questions, control your iPhone, and even create images.
Apple said Apple Intelligence will be released in beta this fall, and users will be able to test it this summer. Some of the promised Apple Intelligence features, such as ChatGPT integration and some improvements to Siri, are expected to be released later this year.
However, there are still many changes in this version of iOS that will change the way iPhones look and feel and could surprise users when they first install the software. Apple has updated several of the device’s core user interface elements, including the lock screen, home screen, and Control Center, to support a wider range of colors and customization.
Top apps like Photos have been redesigned. Messages are more colorful and support emoji reactions. Users can even change all their app icons to the same color.
Many of these look-and-feel features have been available to Android users for years, but will be new to longtime iPhone users and are part of a multi-year process in which Apple opens up the formerly rigid iPhone software design to greater visual customization, after last year’s release redesigned the device’s lock screen.
Apple WWDC 2024 App Night Mode Product Updates
Source: Apple Inc.
Here are some of the big changes in iOS 18:
- Users can now place icons anywhere on the home screen — for example, you can place all your apps around the border of the screen so you can see your wallpaper better.
- App icons can be changed to dark mode, or iOS can change all your app icons to the same color.
- Apple’s Control Center menu — accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner — is more customizable, with multiple pages of screens and new types of controls.
- Users can swap the camera and lens shortcuts on the lock screen with other apps.
- Apple’s Photos app is getting a big update with a redesign. Now, the app uses AI to organize photos into trips or albums, which are on the first page when the app is opened.
- Apple’s Messages app can now bold or italicize text. Users can also react to messages with any emoji. These so-called “tapbacks” are now displayed in color in the Messages app.
Apple’s iOS 18 changes the look and feel of many of the iPhone’s most used features
apple
- iOS 18 users with recent devices can send text messages via satellite if there is no Wi-Fi or cellular service.
- Safari will summarize news and other web articles, including creating tables of contents. These features are accessed using the button on the left side of the URL bar in Safari.
- Apple has put all of its password management capabilities into a new app, Passwords.
- Users can tap one iPhone against another iPhone to quickly transfer digital money.
- iPhones can now create transcripts from calls or recordings.
- The Siri animation now takes up the entire iPhone screen.
Siri gets an update during Apple’s WWDC2024 in Cupertino, California on June 10, 2024.
Source: Apple Inc.
Here’s how to download the beta:
- Make sure your phone can run the latest software. It should have been released in 2018 or later.
- Update to the latest public version of iOS.
- I’m going to you Settings > General > Software Update. Select the iOS 18 public beta from the drop-down menu.
