Rejoice! iOS 18, the latest software update for compatible iPhones arrived on September 16. Along with it comes a wave of updated third-party apps that take advantage of iOS 18's new features.

Since this latest version of iOS was made available to developers after it was announced at WWDC in June — Apple's yearly developer conference — many developers have been working on new features for their apps. For example, Control Center, a menu that you can swipe down from the top-right of your iPhone's display, has been redesigned, which now allows third-party controls.

As you update your iPhone to iOS 18, you may notice a slew of app updates ready for you to download from the App Store. With so many changes, you might find yourself at a loss to see what's new in your everyday apps. With this in mind, we've compiled a list of apps that have been updated to take full advantage of iOS 18, including some that make use of the exclusive features on iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models.

Focus

Developed by Kerstin Schmidtmann, Focus is designed to help you structure your day with 25-minute work sprints, followed by five-minute breaks to keep you fresh and productive.

In a new update for iOS 18, Focus now supports widgets in the redesigned Control Center, giving you quick access to its features. In addition, you can use tinted App Icons on your home screen, and new App Intents have been added for deeper use with Apple Shortcuts.

Things 3

We've featured Things 3 on our 101 best iPhone apps list, and for good reason. Developed by Cultured Code, Things 3 is a fantastic to-do list app that offers a lot of power in an easy-to-use user interface.

You can create projects with lists, create more lists within lists, fantastic interactive widgets to help tick off any completed tasks, and so much more.

For iOS 18, Things 3 gets a slight glow-up, starting with tinted and dark app icons, as well as support for the redesigned Control Center, where you can add two controls:

• Create a new to-do
• Jump into a list. (Flip it over to choose which list)

The latest update also lays the groundwork for Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI tools coming to iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 later this year. Once released, users can choose between 4 different actions when talking to Siri, as well as integrating Writing Tools into Things 3.

You can buy the app for a one-time fee of $9.99.

Dark Noise

Dark Noise lets you set a range of background sounds to help you focus on something, or go to sleep with. From heavy rain sounds to the inside of a plane - it’s a great app to use if you’re struggling to concentrate.

Developed by Charlie Chapman, the latest update to Dark Noise features tinted app icons for the home screen, and the ability to place widgets in the redesigned Control Center to easily play background sounds whenever you need them.

Available from today, you can also purchase a ‘Pro’ subscription for $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year with a three-day trial, or a one-time purchase for $49.99. This offers the ability to add custom sounds, alternate app icons, and exclusive themes.

TV Remote

Developed by Adam Foot, TV Remote is a fully customizable remote app for iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. You can change the look of the app through themes, as well as change its layouts and much more. The app can also change sources and lets you enter text via a keyboard.

TV Remote supports televisions from LG, Samsung, Sony, and more manufacturers around the world, meaning you don't have to launch the required app every time.

Available on the App Store for free but with an optional subscription that starts at $1.99 a month, it’s very useful for cord-cutters around the world. For iOS 18, TV Remote has had its layout refreshed, as well as the ability to manage a TV through the redesigned Control Center, and the option to choose from dark and tinted app icons for your iPhone's Home Screen.

It should be mentioned that Foot has a lot of apps that he's been working on that all take advantage of iOS 18. Be sure to check them out if you need ways to help watch TV on your Apple devices.

Sticky Widgets

If you're someone who likes to place a bunch of sticky notes around your home or place of work, Sticky Widgets could help reduce that.

It's a simple app but it does one thing incredibly well — you can create a sticky note as a widget, and place it on your iPhone's (or iPad's) Home Screen. If you need to add or remove anything, you simply tap it to update the note.

For iOS 18, you can now customize these notes with 'Super Gradients', allowing you to choose from up to 16 different colors to make them pop. You can also place a favorite note in the new Control Center, making it easier for you to reach them.

Sticky Widgets is a free download from the App Store, but there are a variety of prices to unlock even more features, starting from $1.49 a month.

Vinyl Fetish

No, it's not the kind of app you may be thinking from its name. Instead, Vinyl Fetish is a fantastic app that transforms your music library into a record player, with support for 7-inch 45s with standard or large spindle holes, as well as 10-inch 78 RPM records.

You can browse albums in 'crate mode', seamlessly simulating flicking through records in a box like you usually would, and you can even create labels from Discogs or generate automatic labels.

For iOS 18, Vinyl Fetish has been refreshed with new dark App icons and more. The app is free to download but does have an optional subscription or one-time fee to unlock features like more customization options and last.fm support. 

Bills to Budget

Balancing a family budget every week can be a stressful time, especially as you try to manage everyone's outgoings and any sudden changes due to rising prices of a product, or a job change.

With Bills to Budget, developed by Matt Corey, you can easily view detailed overviews of what's been spent in a month so far with elegant graphs and lists to help you keep track.

For iOS 18, there are a few new features to note. Account Insights lets you link your Apple Card, Apple Cash, or Apple Savings Account in the Wallet app. This way, you can discover how your spending and saving habits can help help manage your finances more effectively — all done privately and securely. Shopping Spree is a very useful feature that lets you keep track of your spending in real time while shopping. Powered by Live Activities, you can see how much is left in your budget as well as allowing you to quickly log purchases with one tap. Alongside these new features, Bills to Budgets adds support for the new Control Center, as well as the Action button.

Bills to Budget can be downloaded for free from the App Store, but there are a variety of paid subscription options, as well as a one-off fee to unlock all of the app's features.

Söka

If you've ever created a bucket list but not followed through with it, or you've lost it, this is where the brilliant Söka comes in. Not only can you create and manage bucket lists with this app, but features AI that can help give you ideas of a location you've picked within Söka.

For iOS 18, the app has been redesigned, adding controls to the redesigned Control Center to quickly reach your lists, as well as a new "Our Recommendations" section. This can help you browse a wide selection of activities that you can add to your lists, which is constantly added to help with current real-world events, such as sports and more.

Söka can be downloaded for free from the App Store, which includes a 'Söka+' tier that unlocks features such as unlimited bucket lists, the ability to archive them, and more that costs from $1.99 a month.

Mango Baby

Mango Baby is a fantastic app for new parents ( such as this very writer). You can log your newborn's activities in a variety of ways, from their last sleep, diaper change, and more.

For iOS 18, keeping track is even easier. In the new Control Center, you can quickly log new diaper changes as well as being able to switch on and off timers for things like tummy time and bath time. These timers also work seamlessly with live activities, so you can have this display on your iPhone's Lock Screen. In addition, there are plenty of tinted app icons you can choose from for your iPhone's Home Screen.

You can download Mango Baby for free on the App Store, but you can also purchase Mango Baby Premium for a one-time fee of $9.99 which unlocks exclusive features like iCloud Sharing, Growth Charts, and Data Import/Export.

Obscura

At iMore, we've long considered Obscura as the best third-party camera app you can use for your iPhone. Obscura 4, released in 2023, features a clean aesthetic with powerful controls, ensuring you to capture photos in the best light.

With iOS 18, developer Ben McCarthy has updated Obscura to support the new Lock Screen Camera Extension. This means, instead of having the Flashlight and Camera icons, found at the bottom of an iPhone's Lock Screen for years, these can now be replaced with whatever supported app you wish — including Obscura. McCarthy also confirmed to iMore that a further update will enable iPhone 16 and 16 Pro users to assign the Capture Control button to Obscura.

Slopes

If you're a lifelong skier, you've likely heard of Slopes, one of the best apps on iPhone for tracking your adventures. Slopes offers official trail maps for thousands of resorts worldwide, and the app can learn about every ski you take — tracking details like your top speed, elevation, season totals, and lifetime stats.

One standout feature is the ability to find your friends who also use Slopes. The app's detailed maps make it easy to find where they are, measured in feet.

With iOS 18, Slopes delivers its biggest update yet, and it's not just about the new tinted and dark app icons. First off, the app now features elegant data cards in key sections, providing you with important details about your activities, your record of what you've been doing since you arrived at a ski resort, and much more. A new Resorts Section allows you to navigate and explore nearby resorts or search for your favorite locations. This section provides quick access to resort information, ski maps, current conditions, and snow forecasts.

You can download Slopes from the App Store for free, but there are several in-app purchases and subscriptions available that unlock every feature. These include the ability to search for Trails & Lifts information, find out where you hit top speeds, identify your best run, and much more.

Email Me

At first glance, Email Me may seem like a normal note-taking app, but it offers a twist that may evoke nostalgia for some. Developed by Manuel Escrig, the app lets you jot down any quick thoughts that may come to you much like any other notes app, but instead of saving them within Email Me, you can send them to an email of your choice. This way, you have a record of your notes, wherever you use your email account. But Email Me doesn't stop there — it also uses the share extension in iOS to send a post in X or a link to an article, right to your email inbox.

With iOS 18, the app has been updated to include App Intents, tinted App icons, and Apple Intelligence once iOS 18.1 arrives later this year. Email Me is free to download from the App Store, but there is a subscription that starts at $2.99 a month, which unlocks unlimited email sending.

Noir

Dark Mode has been available since iOS 13 in 2019, transforming the entire operating system into a dark shade. iOS 18 expands this to include dark App icons on the home screen — but what about websites?

This is where Noir comes in. Available to download from the App Store for $2.99, the app works as an extension for the Safari web browser. If you're on a website that doesn't offer a dark mode option, simply press the aA button in Safari's address bar, tap Noir, and voila!

For iOS 18, Noia is adding support for the new Control Center, allowing users to quickly enable or disable Noir from there. Additionally, the update adds support for the new dark and tinted App icons to use for your Home Screen.

OmniFocus 4

Since its debut in 2008 for the Mac, OmniFocus has become one of the best go-to task manager apps to use on iPhone. It allows users to easily create tasks and organize them with projects, tags, and dates — all within a redesigned user interface introduced with OmniFocus 4 in December 2023.

Now, with the release of version 4.4 to coincide with iOS 18, OmniFocus brings new Controls that allow users to access features such as Quick Entry, Quick Open, and Open Perspective on the Lock Screen and Control Center. These Controls can also be configured for the iPhone's Action Button, supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and the entire iPhone 16 lineup.

In addition, OmniFocus' widgets and App Icon support iOS 18's tinted Home Screen feature.

OmniFocus 4 is free to download on the App Store, but unlocking all of its features requires a subscription, starting at $9.99 per month. There's a 14-day free trial to try out its features, but there are one-time-purchase options available (if you don't want a subscription) starting at $74.99.

Please Don’t Rain

Created by Chris Wu, Please Don’t Rain gets to the point by letting you know whether it will rain or not, getting rid of that anxious morning thought.

The design of it is simple, but fun. If there’s a good chance that it will rain, a photo of a sad animal, such as a cat, will appear when you load the app up. But if it’s not looking likely, a photo of a happy fox will appear instead.

For iOS 18, the user interface has been redesigned, enabling users to view sections for different types of weather for the month, such as rain, snow, and temperatures. 

Please Don’t Rain is free to download, but these new features and more are available as a ‘Pro’ subscription feature. You can either pay $0.99 for three months, or $2.99 for a year.

Orbit

Orbit is a new task manager app designed to help you keep track of your daily errands. Built from the ground up for iOS 18, Orbit features interactive widgets for your iPhone's Home Screen, Lock Screen, and the revamped Control Center.

The app has a simple yet attractive design which makes it easy for users to add and complete tasks quickly. You can download Orbit for free, but there is a premium subscription available that allows you to change the user interface, as well as the ability to view past tasks. To celebrate Orbit's launch, developer Rob Owen has the following offers:

- ORBITLAUNCH - 30% discount on individual annual subscription which includes a seven-day free trial

- ORBITLAUNCHFAMILY - 30% discount on family annual subscription which includes a seven-day free trial

Chronicling

While you can use Apple’s Journal app on your iPhone, Rebecca Owen has a fantastic alternative called Chronicling.

Available for free or as a subscription for $0.99 a month or $9.99 for a year, you can track anything you want. From meals to fitness, or to help keep track of a book you're reading, Chronicling makes it easy but fun to journal all of these.

The app features a great design that takes no time at all to learn the ins and outs of. Its widgets and Apple Shortcuts support can help you refine how you want to track certain projects each week. Owen makes this part fun as well, making you want to keep going in whatever you're trying to accomplish.

In Chronicling's update for iOS 18, you can add events and open the app within the new Control Center, as well as dark/tinted App Icons and support for new journal suggestion types. These include reflection, state of mind, generic media, and motion activity.

Flyleaf

Have you ever been on a website to read an article, but left it soon after because of its poor design and over-reliance on ads? Flyleaf, developed by Max Melzer, endeavors to solve this by transforming any web page into a sleek magazine-style article.

Once converted, articles appear in a layout similar to an eBook that you can buy from Apple's Book Store, allowing you to easily swipe through pages, depending on how the length of the article. Flyleaf's latest update for iOS 18 includes tinted and dark App Icons, along with some bug fixes.

The app can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but there is a monthly or yearly subscription at $2.00 and $17.00 respectively, offering the ability to customize the app with themes, and to use tags to better sort the articles you've saved.

Rain Viewer

If you're a fan of weather radar maps, Rain Viewer could be the perfect app for you. Developed by MeteoLab, it provides detailed radar views of severe weather conditions such as rain, snow, and hurricanes. Unlike apps like CARROT Weather, which offers a huge range of weather-related features, Rain Viewer focuses on weather conditions through detailed radar maps and nothing else. If you live in an area that's prone to conditions like heavy wind, rain, and snow, Rain Viewer could be the ideal app to use.

With its iOS 18 update, the app now supports widgets in the redesigned Control Center, allowing for quick access to weather radar maps, as well as App Intents, letting users ask Siri questions like chance of rain.

Rain Viewer is free to download on the App Store, but there is a subscription starting at $4.99 per month, which unlocks features like the removal of ads, extended daily and hourly forecasts,  48-hour map archives, and lots more.

NowPlaying

At first glance, NowPlaying seems like a different take on Shazam, another music recognition app. But this offers so much more when you start to look at the details. NowPlaying gathers info from various public sources, giving you a list of all music trivia related to the track. You can find out everything about any song, artist, or record easily by scanning the barcode of an album, or by facing your iPhone to a track.

For iOS 18, users can ask Siri to tell you more about the song that’s currently playing, as well as the ability to find more info about a song by pressing a new button in the redesigned Control Center. NowPlaying is also dipping its toe into editorial content with 'Album of the Day'. By checking the app daily, you'll be able to discover info about a new album.

NowPlaying is free to download but you can upgrade to its 'Gold' subscription with the following price points:

$1.99 / month

$11.95 / year

$49.99 / one-time-fee

Countdowns

Countdowns is exactly what you think it is. The app lets users count down to something that they're looking forward to, such as a birthday, an anniversary, or the launch of a new game. The app has a simple yet colorful design, featuring useful widgets, tinted icons for your iPhone's home screen, and plenty of customization options.

Version 10 is available now for free, but there is a subscription option that enables your countdowns to sync across your devices, lists, custom notifications, and more. You can buy this for $0.99 a month, $7.99 yearly, or $19.99 for a lifetime pass.

Control Mark

Control Mark is a brand new app for iOS 18 that offers one simple function — to let you bookmark any web page from the redesigned Control Center or the Lock Screen as a widget.

It sounds very simple, and you'd be right. The ease of use here will be very appealing to those who use their iPhones to browse the web — Control Mark simply makes adding a bookmark an easier experience.

Control Mark can be downloaded from the App Store for $0.99.

Ambre

If you're passionate about cooking, Ambre is the perfect app for organizing any recipes you find. You can import them from anywhere, including Instagram, and store them in one place.

With its update for iOS 18, Ambre now offers widgets for the revamped Control Center, allowing you to scan cookbooks, schedule a dinner, and more. If you've spotted a recipe in a different language, Ambre can now translate it directly on your device. Additionally, tinted and dark mode app icons can be used for your iPhone's Home Screen.

Ambre can be downloaded for free but a premium subscription at $1.99 a month, unlocks additional features like widgets, meal plans, unit conversions, and more.

Timelines

Timelines, a powerful time-tracking app, has been updated for iOS 18 to enable Control Center widgets, enabling users to quickly start and stop specific timers. Like other apps in this list, Timelines supports tinted app icons and the ability to change its app icon to a darker gradient on the home screen.

Zenitizer

Developed by Manuel Kehl, Zenitizer is a powerful app designed to help you create and manage meditation routines. These can be viewed through widgets on your iPhone's Home Screen, as well as being able to choose from a bunch of calming background sounds to help you meditate.

With the iOS 18 update, Zenitizer adds support for your favorite meditation routines on the media playback pages of the redesigned Control Center. Additionally, you can pick tinted app icons and widgets to customize your iPhone's Home Screen further.

Zenitizer is free to download, but there is a subscription that has access to a full selection of bell sounds, the ability to log mindful minutes, and much more, starting at $2.99 a month.

Pockity

With the cost of living still enduring, budgeting your income and expenses is more important than ever. Budgeting apps can help manage all of this, without relying on a table you've created in Apple's Notes app.

This is where Pockity comes in, free to download with an optional $10.99 one-time fee to unlock all features, the app lets you set up automatic expenses and income tracking. Additionally, notification reminders can be set for anything that might impact your budget, all within an elegant interface.

In an update for iOS 18, there are tinted and dark app icons to choose from, as well as Lock Screen and Control Center widgets to create a new budget entry or scan receipts quickly.

MusicHarbor

Popular music tracking and discovery app MusicHarbor has been updated for iOS 18, which includes a new method to quickly launch the app from the new Control Center, as well as the Lock Screen or Action button. New App Shortcuts now enable users to view upcoming releases. This means you can ask Siri the following: “Siri, show upcoming releases in MusicHarbor”, and Apple's assistant will display what's coming up.

Saturn

If you've recently switched from X to Mastodon and you've been searching for a dedicated iOS app, Saturn, developed by Shihab Mehboob, might be just what you need.

This is an app tailor-made for both Mastodon and iOS 18. You can use App Intents (Shortcuts), Control Center widgets, Translations, and more. Its interface is reminiscent of X's own iOS app but with an orange color scheme.

You download Saturn for free from the App Store, but there is a yearly subscription of $12.99 or a one-time unlock fee of $39.99.

Dumb Phone

Do you just want to use your iPhone with minimal distractions? Dumb Phone, developed by Michael Tigas, aims to help with that. This is a simple app launcher that allows you to display a curated list of apps.

Available to download for free with an optional $2.99 monthly subscription to start with, Dumb Phone does exactly what it promises. With the iOS 18 update, you can launch the app from the redesigned Control Center and choose between a light or dark app icon.

Snbd

Snbd (short for Soundboard) lets you create custom soundboards by adding sounds from your Photos, Music, and Voice Memo recordings. It's a simple yet powerful app that might inspire you to create music you hadn't previously considered.

In a new update to mark iOS 18's arrival, users can add their soundboards to the redesigned Control Center, making them a swipe away from the top-right of your iPhone's screen. Additionally, Snbd's Home Screen widgets now match the new tint themes available in iOS 18.

Snbd is free to download, but there is a $3.99 Pro option that unlocks a bunch of extra features. This includes live sound recording and the power to add them to your soundboard, as well as the ability to change the speed, pitch, and looping of your audio.

It's important to note that submitting a review of an app in the App Store is a great way to give awareness to new users. If you've downloaded any of the apps mentioned above and you want to rave all about it, follow these steps:

• Find the app on the App Store
• Open its details page
• Tap on 'Reviews'
• Tap on 'Write a Review'

Of course, this is only a small slice of the apps that have been updated to take advantage of iOS 18. If there's an app you'd like us to feature, do get in touch.

Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. After several months of beta releases, Apple is today finally rolling out iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 to everyone – just in time for the new iPhone 16 release.

Aside from the focus of Apple Intelligence, there's a redesigned Photos app, there are more customization options for your Home Screen (begone, grid!) and icons can be tinted. RCS messaging is also now available, too. 

To update to iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 head into the Settings app on your device. Go to General and then Software Update. If you don't see iOS 18 immediately, select the option at the top of your screen where you can pick between iOS 17 and iOS 18. Note that updates may take a while to install while the update is so new, as many users will be scrambling to download it.

We recommend making an iCloud backup of all your important content. From photos to videos, it's always a good idea to prepare your iPhone before updating its software.

No Apple Intelligence features just yet

As you might expect, the headline feature of iOS 18 is the new Apple Intelligence suite of AI features – but you won't find it in the first release of iOS 18. Apple Intelligence will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro later this year, offering features like live transcribing, Writing Tools, generative image creation, and more. 

It also features new emergency features like Messages Via Satellite and Emergency SOS Live Video, as well as Roadside Assistance via Satellite. 

Apple Intelligence will debut as part of iOS 18.1 and beyond in October. The first rollouts will be U.S. English only, with localizations for English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. coming in December. There's support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming next year, too. 

More from iMore

• iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro preorders are now live
• Apple hints that the iPhone SE 4 is closer than ever
• This gaming case could be the perfect accessory for your iPhone 16

Apple has added a new 'Repair Assistant' to iOS 18, the latest update for compatible iPhones, to better help users manage used genuine parts when repairing their handset.

First announced in a back in April, MacRumors has since uncovered more details about the tool. With 'Repair Assistant', users can now pair genuine parts, such as a display, battery, camera module, and more, with an iPhone themselves, or by a third-party repair provider. Previously, this step of the repair process was handled by Apple, but iOS 18 enables users to complete the step solo. Apple says that 'Repair Assistant' only works with iPhone 12 models and later.

In addition, iOS 18 allows users to check any replacement parts by going to Settings > About > Parts and Service. 

This update is packed with new features, including the ability to customize your Home Screen with dark app icons, as well as the ability to place your apps anywhere. iOS 18 is set to be released later today for compatible iPhones.

A win for everyone, especially for retail workers

In what feels like a previous life, I used to work as tech support for a phone store, fixing software issues on countless smartphones and tablets. Often, customers would bring in iPhones that couldn't be fixed on-site.  In these cases, we had to send the handset off for diagnosis through the store's repair program. Once a technician looked at the iPhone, we'd receive a quote for the repair. If the customer accepted it, the device would be fixed — but the whole process would take at least three weeks.

Being without a device like an iPhone for that long is frustrating, especially if it's used for work. From experience, I can say that retail staff often bore the brunt of frustrations from customers with these long turnaround times.

Now, with 'Repair Assistant' in iOS 18, that frustration will mostly become a thing of the past. Customers will have greater flexibility to repair their iPhones as third-party repair shops will be able to pair a used genuine part without having to send the device off to Apple. This reduces the risk of compatibility issues with parts and saves valuable time for the customer.

Ultimately, this new change benefits everyone. Customers will enjoy faster repairs, and retail staff can guide them to local repair services — or, if they're comfortable, customers can buy a part and attempt a repair themselves.

More from iMore

• iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro preorders are now live
• Apple hints that the iPhone SE 4 is closer than ever
• This gaming case could be the perfect accessory for your iPhone 16

Apple has confirmed its massive iOS 18 update for iPhone, replete with Apple Intelligence, will debut September 16. 

Apple today unveiled its new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro alongside a new Apple Watch Series 10, new AirPods, and new health features for its existing models. In a press release, the company stated:

"iOS 18 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 16." 

Apple Intelligence arrives

As you might expect, the headline feature of iOS 18 is the new Apple Intelligence suite of AI features. Apple Intelligence will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro, offering features like live transcribing, Writing Tools, generative image creation, and more. 

It also features new emergency features like Messages Via Satellite and Emergency SOS Live Video, as well as Roadside Assistance via Satellite. 

Apple Intelligence will debut as part of iOS 18.1 and beyond in October. The first rollouts will be U.S. English only, with localizations for English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. coming in December. There's support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming next year, too. 

As you might expect, the new iPhone 16 lineup is designed to take advantage of iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence with powerful new processors, the A18 and A18 Pro chips, housed in the 16 and 16 Pro respectively. Other notable features include image editing tools, and integration with ChatGPT. The iPhone 16 lineup includes a specific visual intelligence tool, which uses the new Camera Control button to help you find out information about objects and places with just one click. You can use it to pull up restaurant reviews, add an event to a calendar, or even find out the breed of a dog, using just your camera and AI. 

We're covering all the Apple iPhone 16 event announcements live as they happen. Don't miss all our iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple Watch X, Apple Watch Ultra 3, iOS 18 and watchOS 11 coverage so far.

Live Activities and the always-on displays of recent iPhones have been perfect partners for a couple of years now, letting a user check real-time data without needing to unlock their phone.

Whether it's to track a food delivery, find out what song you're listening to, or check a flight's status, Live Activities have become invaluable - but they may actually get worse with iOS 18.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, an app developer, Nico, posted on X (formerly Twitter) to say that his app, which tracks a cyclist's speed and needs to update every second, will now only update once every 5 to 15 seconds - rendering it almost useless.

iOS 18 could break some Live Activities

As Nico shares, Apple is suggesting this is an intentional change because the constant writing of data to an iPhone's storage could lead to additional wear.

Interestingly, the company's response suggests "real-time experiences" were never supposed to be supported by Live Activities, which may affect the usefulness of plenty of other apps that lean on the same framework.

 Still, it's curious that Apple's own developer site suggests a use case where a "workout app could show real time fitness metrics", but the follow-up for Nico's app suggests the opposite.

More from iMore

• The Apple Sports app will soon offer real-time updates via Live Activities on iPhones running iOS 18
• Here's how to add some flair to your messages with new iOS 18 text effects
• Apple reportedly in early talks of investing in OpenAI — just before ChatGPT comes to Siri in iOS 18

iOS 18 is likely just weeks away at the time of writing, but if you're using the beta already you'll know there are plenty of new features you can test drive right now.

And, while RCS messaging is definitely one of the headline features of Messages this year, we'd be remiss if we didn't shine a spotlight on the fun new text effects making their debut in iOS 18.

Ideal for making a statement in a crowded group chat, or just to add a little of your own personal flair to text messages, things are a little different this year since you can now apply effects to single words or phrases - not just the entirety of a message.

Here's how to have fun with text effects on iOS 18.

How to use text effects in Messages on iOS 18

Text effects are available as part of Messages, but they'll only work between iPhones and other Apple devices - sorry, green bubble users.

Still, they're easy to use and fun to experiment with. You can only use one at a time, however, although the formatting options (Bold, Italic, Underline and Strikethrough) are able to be used all at once. You can use multiple text effects on separate words in the same message, though.

1. Open your Messages app, and prepare to start typing a new message or replying to an existing chat
2. Tap the text box where you enter your text, then tap the 'A' icon on the right-hand side of the predictive text options.
3. Select your formatting option between Bold, Italic, Underline, or Strikethrough, or use one of the eight included text effect options.

You can also highlight the words, tap on them to open the 'Cut/Paste' menu, and press the arrow from there to reach Text Effects. The A symbol is likely quicker, though.

All text effects available in iOS 18

There are eight text effects in iOS 18 -  here's the list:

• Big - as the name suggests, this will cause your chosen word or phrase to appear larger, adding emphasis.
• Small - use this to make a more subtle point.
• Shake - make your word selection shift from side to side.
• Nod - agree with a point? This will let your words shift up and down in agreement.
• Explode - this one sends your letters flying.
• Ripple - this text effect adds a touch of sarcasm, I'd say.
• Bloom - Bloom highlights your word, letter by letter, so it catches the eye.
• Jitter - Give your word a nervous shake.

As stated above, you can add multiple text effects to the same message, so long as you're using different words for each.

So, you can highlight, the first half of your message and use Big, and the second half to use Small, if you were so inclined.

Personally, I like the idea of using Explode on a 'Hello', before following up with a Bloom later in the message - just for fun.

Will you be using any of the text effect features in iOS 18 when it arrives? Let us know in the comments.

What about message effects?

Despite the arrival of text effects, you can still use message effects. Just hold down the send button and you'll still have access to Slam, Loud, Gentle, and Invisible Ink - the latter of which is often a godsend for spoilers.

Apple is in talks to invest big bucks into OpenAI as part of an upcoming funding round.

According to sources at the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI — known for its AI assistant ChatGPT — has been in talks with Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft about a funding round that could value the company at $100 billion. The article also highlights how Microsoft, already a major partner of OpenAI, is looking to invest even more in the company. 'It couldn’t be learned how much Apple or Microsoft will invest into OpenAI this round. To date, Microsoft has been the primary strategic investor in OpenAI. It owns a 49% share of the AI startup’s profits after investing $13 billion since 2019."

The timing of this impending funding round is curious. ChatGPT is set to be integrated into Apple's assistant, Siri, as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 when these are released as part of Apple Intelligence later this year. Once available, Siri will prompt the user if they want to use ChatGPT to help answer a query.

If Apple goes ahead with this investment into OpenAI, we could see ChatGPT be part of Siri for the foreseeable future, potentially leading to new features in the coming years.

How will ChatGPT work in iOS 18?

Showcased at WWDC in June, Apple's yearly developer conference, ChatGPT won't require users to create an account in order to use it with Siri. Instead, OpenAI's assistant will appear when Siri needs help with answering a query.

But that's not all that this integration will offer. Apple Intelligence will include Writing Tools, enabling users to rewrite an email or a report into distinct styles, such as casual or professional. ChatGPT will help with this through an overlay that will let you choose between these styles.

Although the latest betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 come with Apple Intelligence to test, ChatGPT integration is not yet available. However, it's expected to arrive with these updates later this year.

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• Apple Intelligence can be switched on with ease in the latest iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 betas — here's how
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Apple has today announced a big new update to its Sports app, bringing improvements to app across the iPhone and Apple Watch.

The Apple Sports app has been around for a while now but while its functionality has been limited when compared to third-party apps already available in the App Store, Apple continues to add new features. Today's news includes an update that will see real-time scores, stats, and more added to the iPhone's Lock Screen when iOS 18 ships next month.

Apple confirmed that a similar feature will also be available to Apple Watch owners running watchOS 11, with Live Activities available for all teams and leagues currently available within the Sports app.

It's game time

Apple announced the upgrades via a press release, pointing out that the new features will be available for the new NFL and college football seasons.

"New updates for NFL and college football games include enhancements to play-by-play, offering quick access to scoring drives presented alongside the view of every game play," Apple explains. "Additionally, a new dynamic drive tracker lets fans visualize where the ball is on the field at any time."

A further update, coming later this year, will introduce a new drop-down navigation for the main scorecard views, "making it even faster to switch between My Leagues, My Teams, and users’ feeds for favorited leagues." A new search feature will also make it easier to find matches, too.

Finally, Apple also confirmed that more leagues will be added to the Sports app in due course including the Champions League and Europa League. Both will be added in time for the league phases of those competitions in September.

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With the latest beta releases of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 on August 29, Apple Intelligence can now be enabled with just one toggle in the Settings app.

Apple Intelligence was first introduced at WWDC in June, Apple's yearly developer conference. This is the company's endeavor to enhance its software suite with AI-powered features, such as a redesigned Siri that can also summon OpenAI's ChatGPT assistant for help, as well as tools like 'Clean Up' that can erase objects in photos.

When the betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia were made available to test in early July, Apple Intelligence was notably absent. It wasn't until the betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 were rolled out at the end of July that Apple Intelligence was made available for users to try out. However, these AI features could only be enabled by switching the language and region to the United States. With the latest betas, this has now been reduced to a single toggle.

Apple says iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 will arrive later this year. Apple Intelligence will come as part of these updates for U.S. users to start with.

How to enable Apple Intelligence

As long as you're running iOS 18.1 beta 3, iPadOS 18.1 beta 3, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta 3, you can switch on Apple Intelligence with one simple change — here's how:

• Go to Settings app > Apple Intelligence & Siri
• Press 'Language', then change this to English (United States)
• Go back, then select 'Join Waitlist' towards the top for Apple Intelligence
• You should receive a notification soon after that you can now use Apple Intelligence

And just like that, you can now use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Apple is regularly rolling out new AI features throughout the beta process — for example, 'Clean Up' is a way of removing objects in a photo, which was made available in this very beta release.

If you're participating in the beta, give Apple Intelligence a try and let us know your thoughts in the iMore Forums.

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One of Apple Intelligence's big new features, its Siri overhaul, is still yet to arrive as of the time of writing but should hit iPhones before the end of 2024.

Thankfully, among the features available in beta right now is the ability to type to Apple's voice assistant instead, and it's infinitely better than muddling through awkward conversation with it.

Here's how to text with Siri in iOS 18, and why it's so much better than using your voice.

How to type to Siri on iOS 18

While you can trigger Siri's slick new animation by holding your iPhone's side button, that only invokes the voice commands we've been using for years (at least until the latter stages of Apple's assistant's upgrade hit iPhones).

Typing to Siri is a little less obvious, but it requires you to tap twice at the bottom of your screen - the same area where you'd drag up to go back to the home screen.

This means you can use it on any part of the iOS, letting you pull up Siri while in the middle of something. The Siri keyboard is denoted by the pinkish glow that covers it, and you can still switch to dictation with the mic button in the bottom right corner. 

1. On your iPhone, double tap the bottom 'bar'
2. Type your request to Siri in the keyboard that appears
3. Press the send button as if you were sending an iMessage

Siri's responses drop down from the top of the screen, too. While it doesn't take up the entire screen (at least on a Pro Max phone), it's pretty close. It also tends to default to a web search, and then one tap can launch you into your default browser - so you're not tied into Safari.

It's worth noting that Siri hasn't got the major upgrade that's expected with a later version of iOS 18, so it's not able to work with personal context or on-screen awareness as Apple showed off in its impressive WWDC 2024 demos. So, it's still the same Siri you've had for a while, it's just now easier to get your point across.

In the current iOS 18.1 beta I've also had Siri get "stuck" at the bottom of the screen, just showing the Siri text entry window but no keyboard. Expect that to be ironed out in the coming weeks.

Why you should try texting Siri instead

Siri's voice recognition has long been a bone of contention for Apple users, with the assistant constantly getting things wrong despite its best efforts. Worse yet, it often assumes it knows what you need and offers something completely different.

Not only does texting Siri mean it's much easier to get your request across, but it saves you from having to speak to it in public when you might really just want to keep quiet - there's nothing worse than getting into a minor argument with Siri because it's getting confused yet again.

iOS 18.1 beta 3 launched on August 29, including a new 'Clean Up' tool in Apple's Photos app, powered by Apple Intelligence.

First showcased at WWDC in June, Apple's yearly developer conference, Apple Intelligence is the company's initiative to enhance its software suite with AI-powered features. The 'Clean Up' tool allows users to remove objects from a photo's background by simply drawing a circle around the area they want to change.

This tool works on any photo stored in the Photos app, so if you want to remove something from a photo taken in 2015, you can do it. It's worth noting that you can also use 'Clean Up' in iPadOS 18.1 beta 3 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta 3.

Another feature in this latest beta release is the expansion of Notification Summaries to other apps beyond Mail and Messages. This means Apple Intelligence will now group up new notifications from any app, including third-party ones, summarise each one, and display it on your iPhone's lock screen.

Apple says iOS 18.1 will arrive later this year for compatible iPhones, with Apple Intelligence coming as part of iOS 18.1 for U.S. users to begin with.

How to use Clean Up in Photos

As long as you're running iOS 18.1 beta 3, iPadOS 18.1 beta 3, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta 3, you can use the 'Clean Up' feature in Apple's Photos app — here's how:

• Go to any photo in the Photos app, then press Edit.
• A notification will pop up, explaining that it needs to 'download the models' for the feature.
• Once it's finished, simply use your finger, or Apple Pencil when using iPadOS 18.1 to draw a circle over an object you want to remove.
• After a few seconds, the object you've highlighted will be gone!

Bang, and the object is gone! 'Clean Up' could easily become the standout feature of Apple Intelligence once it's made available to U.S. users later this year. The tool's appeal lies in its simplicity of drawing a circle around an object in a photo, and it's removed in seconds.

If you're on the beta, give it a try with a bunch of photos and share your results in the iMore Forums.

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When Apple announced Apple Intelligence as part of the iOS 18 unveiling at WWDC in June, it confirmed that one of the new features that fall under that umbrella will involve images created by generative AI. But while some of the Apple Intelligence features are already available in the iOS 18.1 developer beta, there has so far been no sign of the promised image-based generative AI magic. And Google might have just shown why Apple is right to hang fire.

Following the launch of the Google Pixel 9 series of devices, people have been putting Pixel Studio through its paces. It's an app that uses Google's AI smarts to create images, as you might imagine, based on text prompts provided by users. But while Google has of course put guardrails in place to try and prevent people from misusing the technology, some report that these guardrails aren't doing such a good job at ... guarding.

In fact, one report details how Pixel Studio was more than happy to create an image that took Spongebob and placed him in a Nazi uniform. And that's just the start.

Generative AI problems

According to a Digital Trends report, they were unable to have Pixel Studio create images of people because Google has coded it not to do such a thing. But fictional characters that aren't human seem to be fair game.

"As one example, I’ve had Pixel Studio generate an image of SpongeBob dressed as a Nazi," Digital Trends explains. "When given the prompt 'SpongeBob dressed as a German soldier from WWII with a swastika on the uniform,' Pixel Studio didn’t hesitate to provide me with an image of precisely that."

Spongebob wasn't the only one to fall foul of Pixel Studio, either.

"I’ve also gotten Pixel Studio to generate pictures of Elmo pointing a shotgun at Big Bird, Yoda doing cocaine, Mr. Krabs holding an assault rifle, and more," the report continues.

These characters are of course copyrighted so we can only imagine how the companies behind them feel about these images.

We can't imagine that they're happy. And we can't imagine Apple wanting any part of something like that, either.

The iOS 18.1 software update, with Apple Intelligence in tow, isn't expected to launch until around October time. Before that, iOS 18 will ship next month, likely just days before the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models arrive in Apple Stores around the world.

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If you've got a pair of AirPods Pro 2 and a developer account, you're going to have a new firmware update to enjoy.

Apple has released a new beta firmware update for AirPods Pro 2. Firmware version 7A5290a replaces version 7A5266c and is available for both the USB-C and Lightning versions of the wireless earbuds as long as you're running the beta as a developer.

The update likely brings with it the usual round of bug fixes and performance improvements along with a number of features that are coming with iOS 18 when it launches this fall. The betas allow developers to test out the latest and greatest with AirPods software and ensure it's working correctly before it comes to all users in a public firmware update later.

iOS 18 is expected to launch in September

The first feature now available on AirPods Pro 2 through the beta firmware is Siri Interactions, the new feature that lets you shake or nod your head to interact with Siri announcements while you're wearing your earbuds. As Apple explains, "Siri Interactions allow users to answer or dismiss calls, interact with messages, manage notifications, and so much more — all without speaking."

Voice Isolation is also available with iOS 18 which Apple is bringing directly to the earbuds after originally launching the feature on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The company says "machine learning, running on the H2 chip in AirPods Pro and the paired iPhone, iPad, or Mac, isolates and enhances voice quality while removing significant background noise — like wind around the caller — for the listener."

The last feature available now through the firmware update is Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking for games. While that is also coming to the AirPods 3 and AirPods Max, the company is reserving "improved voice quality, including 16-bit, 48kHz audio" for games with AirPods Pro 2.

All of these features are available for developers now as long as they also have an iPhone running the iOS 18 developer beta.

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Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. We're now a few months in to the beta releases, and Apple is today rolling out the seventh iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 betas to developers.

This update packs bug fixes and improvements to the early version of iOS 18, making it more stable to run on devices. It's currently unclear if any new features have been added, but that seems unlikely. Most of iOS 18's features are now available in the beta (aside from Apple Intelligence, which is in the iOS 18.1 beta). As we're so close to a final release, seeing new features seems unlikely.

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 beta 7 are available to download over the air for developers enrolled in the program. We do not recommend installing the software on your main device, as it is still unstable. A new seventh beta for macOS Sequoia is also rolling out to developers, alongside new visionOS 2, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18 betas. We'll likely see the next developer beta released in another fortnight, which is likely the last before a Release Candidate.

What's new in iOS 18?

One of the biggest software updates we've ever seen, iOS 18 brings some incredible new features and more customization options to the iPhone than ever before. Later this summer, the iOS 18 beta will add Apple Intelligence, one of the most impressive software additions to Apple devices we've ever seen.

Apple Intelligence adds new AI-fuelled features to the best iPhones and other Apple products with the ability to summarize, rewrite, and proofread anything you type on your device. As mentioned, it is available to try in the iOS 18.1 beta, which you'll need to switch to. While the beta is fairly limited, more features will be added by the time Apple Intelligence launches later this year.

Aside from Apple Intelligence, there's a redesigned Photos app, there are more customization options for your Home Screen (begone, grid!) and icons can be tinted. RCS messaging is also coming, too. The iPhone update will release in September alongside the iPhone 16 series.

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The iOS 18 update has brought a lot of changes to all the best iPhones, and one of the most interesting – and wide-ranging – is what’s happened to Control Center. Apple’s quick-access dashboard has had a total revamp, with more controls and greater ways to customize it.

Now, you can make icons larger or smaller, arrange them across multiple screens, power off your iPhone with a quick tap, and there are also new controls, from opening any app to launching Tap to Cash. As well as that, third-party apps can add their own Control Center icons. There are even a few Control Center-related changes in places you wouldn’t expect, like the Lock Screen and the Action button.

We’ve put together this guide to show you all the ways you can use Control Center's new features in iOS 18. Read on to get stuck in.

Adding and removing controls

A key component of the new Control Center is the ability to add and remove functions and controls, allowing you to customize your phone with more options than before. Got a page that’s already full of icons? Just add one and it will automatically be added to a new page for you.

1. First, swipe down from the top-right corner of either your Lock Screen or your Home Screen.
2. Now tap and hold any empty space on the screen, or tap the + button in the top-left corner.
3. Your Control Center icons will now be outlined with a pulsating line, and you’ll see a minus (-) symbol in their top-left corner. This shows that you’re in editing mode.
4. Tap the - button to remove a control, or tap Add a Control to add a new one.
5. When you add a new icon, you’ll be presented with a list of popular controls. Scroll down to see icons arranged by categories, or try searching for an icon using the box at the top of the screen.
6. When you’ve picked a control you want to add, just tap it and it will join the other icons in the Control Center.

Rearranging and resizing Control Center icons and widgets

Moving icons to new positions is a good way to make the Control Center work better for you. And for the first time, you no longer need to keep these icons at the sizes Apple has picked – you can enlarge or shrink them as well.

1. To move an icon to a new position, enter Control Center’s editing mode, then tap and hold on an icon. You can now move it to a new location.
2. If you want to move an icon onto a new Control Center page, you’ll first need to drag it to the top or bottom of your Control Center screen. Wait a second or two and the page will scroll for you, letting you drop the icon into place in its new home.
3. You’ll notice that, in editing mode, each Control Center icon has a thicker line in its bottom-right corner. You can drag this edge to resize the icon.
4. When you drag the corner, the icon will change size. As it gets larger or smaller, its appearance may change (for instance, text might be added alongside the icon). Note that some icons have restrictions, such as not being able to go more than three tiles wide. When you’re done, let go and tap an empty space on the screen to save your alterations.

Managing multiple Control Center screens

In iOS 18, you can swipe up or down between multiple Control Center screens. This is a good way to thematically arrange your controls (by default, there are pages for the Music and Home apps, for example) and keep things organized.

1. When you first start, you’ll notice there are pages for favorites, music, home, and connectivity (each with an icon on the right-hand side of the Control Center). You can remove these pages if you like, or add new ones instead.
2. Enter the Control Center editing mode by swiping down from the top-right corner of your screen and either pressing the + button or long-pressing a blank area of the screen.
3. Swipe down through all of your existing pages until you come to a blank one. You can start adding icons to this page by pressing the Add a Control button.
4. Each time you add a control to a blank page, you will be able to add an additional page below it.
5. To remove a page, you’ll need to delete all of its controls one by one, after which the page will be automatically removed. There’s currently no way to remove an entire page that is populated with controls without first getting rid of its existing icons.

Control Center on your Lock Screen

There’s another place you can find the Control Center: on your Lock Screen. It’s not the full setup, but you might recognize the flashlight and camera icons, which have been present on the iOS Lock Screen for a few years. In iOS 18, you can swap them out for different Control Center functions.

1. On your Lock Screen, tap and hold an empty space, then go to Customise > Lock Screen.
2. In the bottom-left and bottom-right corners are two quick-access icons (the torch and camera by default). Tap the - button to remove one, then tap the + button that appears in its place.
3. You’ll now see a list of functions that you can add to your Lock Screen. It’s a very similar list to the one you get when editing your Control Center screens.
4. Once you’ve picked a replacement control and added it to your Lock Screen, tap Done, then tap your Home Screen again or swipe up from the bottom to confirm your changes.

Control Center via the Action button

If your iPhone has an Action button, you can assign Control Center features to it, letting you quickly launch your favourite features with just a press.

1. Open the Settings app and go to Action Button > Controls.
2. Tap Choose a Control, then pick an option from the list (or search for one using the box at the top). This will assign your chosen control to the Action button.
3. Note that not every Control Center feature can be activated using the Action button, so make sure to check the whole list to ensure the feature you’re looking for is present.

Apple Maps has received its biggest update in years thanks to iOS 18. Apple has crammed in a whole heap of new features for walking and hiking, as well as changes that make it easier to manage saved locations, find new places, use the app offline, and more.

You can now get a topographic view of hiking trails to help you better plan and understand the path you’ll be taking (note that it’s limited to the U.S. and Japan for now), and routes can be saved for offline viewing, which is helpful if you’ll be visiting an area with very poor cell reception. Elsewhere, locations are now better organized in the app’s library, with categories for Pinned, Places, Guides and Routes, making it easier to sort through all your saved spots.

Here, we’ll show you how to use the new features, from plotting custom walking routes to saving notes about your favorite locations on all the best iPhones.

Find popular hiking routes

We’ve mentioned a few of the new features coming to Maps in iOS 18 above, but there are more to explore.

1. If you want to quickly find new hiking ideas, navigate to an area, then type “hikes” in the search box to see a list of popular trails (make sure to select the search option that uses a green icon of a person hiking). You should see a preview of each hike’s route next to its name in the resulting list. This feature appears to be limited to the U.S. for now
2. Note that you can also search “hike”, “hike trail” or “trail” in the search box. Maps will show a list of trail starting points in the area. This is different to the “hikes” search in step 1 in that it doesn’t provide full, existing trail directions, only starting points. But it might still be useful for giving you ideas

How to plan a custom hike or walking route

You no longer have to rely on Apple’s own directions when you want to head off on a walk or hike. In iOS 18, you can plan your own routes with just a few taps. Here’s how it’s done.

1. In Maps, tap the search box and type “trailheads”. Maps will populate with trailheads in your area – each one uses a green icon with a signpost on it. Tap one, then tap Create a Custom Route
2. Alternatively, you can create a custom walking route from any starting point (not just a trailhead). To do so, tap your profile icon in Maps, then tap Library > Routes > Create Route
3. Whichever option you choose, you can now start building your custom route. Try tapping locations on the map – they will be added one-by-one to your route as it forms. As you go, Maps will show you distance, duration, and elevation details to keep you informed
4. You’ll see three options at the top of your route’s information box: Reverse, Out & Back, and Close Loop. Tap Reverse to switch the order of your path’s steps, Out & Back to create a route that goes to the end point and then retraces its steps, or Close Loop to have Maps finish creating the path by looping it back to your starting point
5. If you want to start your new route straight away, tap Directions. Otherwise, tap Save, give the route a name, enable the toggle to download it if you want to use it offline, and then tap Done. It will now be saved to your Maps library in the Routes section

Working with places and locations

The new Maps features in iOS 18 aren’t just limited to hiking. Apple has introduced new ways to interact with shops, bars, and other locations, as well as more options for the places you’ve saved to your library.

1. Open Maps and search for a type of location – “restaurants”, for example, or “vets”. Now swipe the map’s focus to a different area and tap Search here. You’ll now see the area updated with new locations that meet your search criteria
2. When you’ve found a place that you want to remember for later, tap its pin, then tap the + button in its card’s top-right corner to add it to your library of places. You can find it again by tapping your profile icon and going to Library > Places
3. Once a place is added to your library, you can add a note to it (don’t worry, no one else will see your notes). Just find the location, then tap Add a Note. You can do this to places not in your library by selecting a pin and tapping More > Add a Note. Creating a note in this way adds the location to your library automatically
4. As well as existing places, you can also save custom locations to your library. Press and hold a location to drop a pin (or Marked Location, in Apple’s terminology), then scroll down and tap Pin in the location’s information sheet. It will now be added to your library in the Pinned category
5. Alternatively, you can save a custom location by dropping a pin as usual and then tapping the + button in its information sheet. You will be prompted to give it a name; when you’re done, tap Save. This will add it to the Places category in your library

Apple proudly proclaimed that iOS 18 will see the "biggest redesign" for the Photos app on iPhone since it was introduced at WWDC 2024, but in reality, it's seemingly not been panning out well for users.

In the latest issue of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple has seemingly walked back some of the changes made to Photos.

Suggesting the redesign was "probably a little too bold and potentially confusing", Gurman said the most recent beta version of iOS 18 has removed the new carousel feature.

iOS 18's Photos app gets another redesign

"It also tweaked the photo grid to be more user-friendly and pushed albums higher up into the app to require less scrolling," Gurman said.

"Perhaps most critically, Apple moved saved content back into the main photo grid. These changes came at a key moment: Apple now considers iOS 18 to be complete and is preparing to add the software to the upcoming iPhone 16 line."

We reported last month how Apple execs had been evangelizing the app's more "personal" nature, but it appears it moved too quickly with the changes to one of the iPhone's most-used apps - and didn't want to wait until iPhone 16 to fix it.

How are you finding the new Photos app in the beta? I must admit I found it confusing at first, but it started to grow on me the more I used it.

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Apple's new Passwords app is coming as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, and in our testing we found it to be a little behind 1Password's offering.

In a cruel twist, however, 1Password has revealed its Mac app, 1Password 8, has a security vulnerability that could, if triggered, allow a bad actor to get to a user's account key.

Given that the key is the literal 1Password behind which your others are stored, it's important to update to the latest version, 8.10.36. It can also allow for items to be removed from your 1Password Vault.

In a blog post, the company said:

"An issue has been identified in 1Password for Mac that affects the app’s platform security protections. This issue enables a malicious process running locally on a machine to bypass inter-process communication protections."

"This issue was responsibly disclosed to us by Robinhood’s Red Team after they chose to conduct an independent security assessment of 1Password for Mac. 1Password has received no reports that this issue was discovered or exploited by anyone else."

How to ensure your 1Password Mac app is updated

While 1Password seems to be unaware of anyone attempting to gain access using this 'malicious process', you can make sure you're safe with relative ease using the steps below:

• Open 1Password 8 for Mac
• In the menu bar, click 1Password, then 'Check for Updates'
• In the settings screen, click 'Check for Updates' to ensure you're running the latest version

Thankfully, the fix is already there, but this arguably couldn't have landed at a worse time for the company - although its admission of the issue is certainly appreciated for users (myself included).

Still, with Apple's Passwords app on the horizon, it remains to be seen if users will drop 1Password for the baked-in (and free) option.

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iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are adding two new background sounds to their impressive accessibility features that help mask any unwanted noise, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.

Background Sounds, a fantastic feature that debuted in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 back in 2021, can be found in Settings > Accessibility > Background Sounds. Here, you can play six different ambient noises on the best iPhones and best iPads to help you concentrate or relax. Later this year, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will expand this feature to include Fire and Night sounds. Currently, the list includes:

• Balanced Noise
• Bright Noise
• Dark Noise
• Ocean
• Rain
• Stream

In our testing with iOS 18 Beta, we found the Fire sound to be very soothing, with the crackles and pops of an open fireplace. The Night sound includes the faint swooshing of brisk wind with crickets chirping on occasion. It’s worth mentioning that, thanks to the redesigned Control Center in the newest iOS update, you can change these Background Sounds at any time via a new widget.

Apple says that iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will arrive later this year for compatible iPhones and iPads.

What else is new in iOS 18?

iOS 18 introduces a collection of small but significant improvements that are scattered across the iPhone’s operating system. For example, Control Center, the menu that appears when you drag your finger from the top-right of an iPhone’s display, has been redesigned. You can now resize widgets and add multiple pages of them, as well as add third-party widgets, thanks to developers now having access to Control Center.

‘Distraction Control’ is another new feature that’s in Apple’s Safari web browser. This allows users to hide distracting objects as they browse the web, such as sites that display sign-in banners that cover the entire browser window.

Overall, iOS 18 is shaping up to be a fantastic update with plenty of useful features. If you want to try it out on your iPhone right now, we’ve got you covered with a guide on how to download iOS 18 beta.

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If you’re tired of seeing constant pop-ups on websites asking you to sign up for a newsletter or advertising a special offer, Apple has some good news for you.

Arriving as part of the new betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia today, ‘Distraction Control’ is a new feature in Apple’s Safari web browser that allows users to hide distracting objects as they browse the web, such as offer banners or content overlays on a website. Whenever you visit a site, you can go to Page Menu in the Address Bar and you’ll see a new toggle for Distraction Control. When enabled, a prompt will appear, explicitly stating that the feature will not permanently remove ads, or other areas that frequently change, such as video ads.

Once the prompt is dismissed, users will need to select each item they want to hide on a website. If a user doesn’t select a certain feature on a webpage, it won’t be hidden. Once something is selected, however, Distraction Control will hide it. If a user wants to make something re-appear, they can click the ‘hide’ icon in the address bar and select ‘Show Hidden Items.’

Users can try this feature out right now in Safari with the release of Beta 5 for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. While visionOS 2 is also available to try, Distraction Control won’t be included in its respective version of Safari. Apple says these updates will be made available to everyone later this year for compatible devices.

What else is new in Safari for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia?

It’s not just Distraction Control that’s coming to the upcoming version of Safari. First off is Highlights, which can detect the most important information on a webpage and ‘highlight’ these sections for users. Reader, Safari’s method of transforming web pages into an easy-to-read format, has been redesigned to include a table of contents, similar to a book.

But there’s one more thing coming to Reader, thanks to Apple Intelligence, the company’s set of AI features. In iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, there will be a ‘Summarize’ option. Selecting this will cause the webpage to be scanned by Apple Intelligence, and a message box will appear with a four-line summary.

Overall, Safari looks set to be packed with useful features later this year, on top of the new ‘Distraction Control’ feature. However, we do find it odd that none of these features will be coming to Apple Vision Pro, the company’s spatial computing headset that came out in February. Hopefully this changes sooner rather than later, as using something like Distraction Control in visionOS could be very useful for removing pop-ups while you read iMore in an immersive environment like the Moon.

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Apple's WWDC 2024 event was dominated by its efforts in AI, dubbed Apple Intelligence, but as we approach the start of the iPhone 16 lineup and expected iOS 18, it's looking likely to be a fairly threadbare rollout - at least for now.

While we reported last week that Apple was planning to roll out Apple Intelligence features to developers (which it has done in the iOS 18.1 beta for devs), Tim Cook discussed the process during Apple's earnings call this week. 

Here's what Cook had to say about the Apple Intelligence rollout after he was asked by Amit Daryanani of Evercore about the staggered rollout.

"The rollout, as we mentioned in June, we’ve actually started with developers this week. We started with some features of Apple Intelligence, not the complete suite," Cook explained.

"There are other features like languages beyond U.S. English that will happen over the course of the year, and there are other features that will happen over the course of the year, and ChatGPT is integrated by the end of the calendar year, and so, yes, it is a staggered launch."

ChatGPT is coming to iOS 18 this year

In many ways there's no real change in Apple's messaging there - the company was sure to mention Apple Intelligence features would arrive over time, and we've already heard that there may be a longer delay in the EU.

Still, with Apple Intelligence being such a core part of iOS 18, macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18, it seems we're set for a strange year in terms of OS updates.

Another key piece of the puzzle is the inclusion of ChatGPT, and it appears it won't be part of the Apple Intelligence launch with iOS 18.1, with Cook specifically mentioning it in the quote above.

The Apple CEO said it's coming "by the end of the calendar year", so here's hoping it'll arrive in iOS 18.2 which, judging by prior ".2" releases, could be due around December.

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It should be well-known that I am a moron. The moment something new and/or shiny comes my direction, I want to give it a try. I could be mid-way through a delicious five-star plate of steak tartare, and then someone could show me a picture of a Mcdonald's hamburger and then I’ll want that — only to see someone else’s Lobster Thermador come past which would subsequently supplant both in my admittedly very narrow pyramid of needs.

So you can imagine what I’m like with tech. I see something new, and I want, nay need it. It’s the same with software — if there’s a new version of something that I use, whether it's going to introduce new features that I actually need or not, I need to have it installed the moment it becomes available. 

So.

When the 18.1 developer beta of Apple Intelligence was released for my iPhone, you can bet your bottom dollar I was first in the queue to get that sucker installed on my 15 Pro Max.

And I don’t even like AI.

Why did I download it?

Beyond the need for everything new? Not much, to be honest. I couldn’t care less about the Apple Intelligence stuff for the most part. I don’t use Apple’s Mail app, I don’t use Pages enough to make use of the new spellchecking and writing aids, and most of the new Siri features, much like a caught fish on a warm boat, leave me completely dry.

I do like the cool colored ring around the outside of my phone screen when I hold down the Siri button, and type to Siri is a genuine iPhone revelation that feels like it should have been there from day one, but otherwise? There’s nothing.

And that’s one of the reasons why you shouldn’t download the Apple Intelligence beta as well.

Installing the beta is a bad plan, friend

I am as much a moron as I am a massive hypocrite I’m afraid, for while I have downloaded and installed the latest version of iOS with Apple Intelligence on board, I would make a profound plea to your better judgment that you really shouldn’t. In part because, as I said earlier, there isn’t all that much to get excited about unless you really, really hate reading emails, but also because your iPhone will likely not run as well on the early developer beta versions of the software.

Betas, whether early, developer, or even public, are designed for testing rather than everyday use. They’re supposed to iron out all the bugs and issues before full release, catching all the little problems that might only arise for a handful of users. That means that you will encounter bugs. Your experience will not be like that of a full-release piece of software, but of one that is still being perfected and cajoled into working properly. Battery efficiency won’t have been dialed in, features might not work, and you might even break features that already work for you in the normal release.

Yes, using new stuff and talking about how cool it is brilliant — but I’ve so far missed five different notifications since downloading the beta, and all of them were about a friend who wanted to buy me something for lunch.

So while the Siri colors on my iPhone look nicer than ever, I am a prawn baguette and a bag of cheese and onion chips down. So I’d say that so far, I’ve lost.

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Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. Weeks on, Apple has been releasing further betas to developers. And now, the first beta for iOS 18.1 is rolling out, with the update's biggest addition.

One of the biggest software updates we've ever seen, iOS 18 brings some incredible new features and more customization options to the iPhone than ever before. But the biggest addition is Apple Intelligence – Apple's set of AI features. Unavailable in the first betas, plenty of Apple Intelligence features are now featured in iOS 18.1 Beta 1.

You'll need to be in the US to use the new features, and there's a waitlist. So far, it seems that most are getting access pretty quickly. You'll also need an eligible device to use the features: an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, or any M-chip iPad.

Please note: iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 Beta 1 are available to download over the air for developers enrolled in the program. We do not recommend installing the software on your main device, as it is still unstable. New betas for tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 are also now available. We'll likely see the next developer beta released in another fortnight, which is perhaps when the first iOS 18.1 public beta will appear.

Which Apple Intelligence features are available?

Here are all the Apple Intelligence features that you'll find in iOS 18.1 Beta 1:

• Writing Tools
  • Rewrite, proofread, and summarize text in various apps (Mail, Notes, Pages, third-party apps)
• Siri Updates
  • New design with glowing edge light
  • Switch between text and voice interactions
  • Device support and how-to answers across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
  • Maintains context from one request to the next
• Mail App Enhancements
  • Urgent emails section at inbox top
  • Email summaries without opening messages
  • Smart Reply with question identification
• Reduce Interruptions
  • New Focus mode for urgent notifications only
• Photos App Improvements
  • Natural language photo search
  • Specific moment search in videos
  • Memories creation with storyline based on descriptions
  • Transcript summaries

The generative image creator Image Playground, Genmoji, Priority Notifications, the new Siri with on-screen awareness, and Apple's ChatGPT integration are not yet available.

We imagine these will make an appearance in later betas. But with reports from Gurman suggesting these features might not roll out until 2025, we may have to wait some time for the first sign of these features, even in beta updates.

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I'm worried about the iPhone 16. 

Let me rephrase that. I'm not worried about the iPhone 16 hardware — that'll be good. iPhones are always good. But as any long-term iPhone lover knows, year-on-year, the changes in hardware are getting smaller all the time. I’m worried about the software, and this year is all about software — iOS 18 could be a revolutionary moment in iPhone history thanks to its Apple Intelligence AI features, and they were all-but set to launch alongside iPhone 16. But that launch window has been thrown into jeopardy and has instead been replaced with the prospect of a dull first few weeks with Apple's next handset. And no iPhone launch should ever feel dull. So what's happening?

Apple Intelligence is the headline feature of iOS 18 and, for many, Apple’s AI features will be THE reason to purchase a new iPhone when September comes. But according to a new report from top insider Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple Intelligence won’t arrive until iOS 18.1 becomes available in October. To be clear, that’s as part of the first big update to iOS 18 — in other words, iPhone 16 won’t have AI at launch.

And that’s just the start of the problem. Not only will Apple Intelligence arrive later than expected and presumably after the release of iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max but it’ll be made available in beta without the new overhaul of Siri (expected to arrive in 2025). Even when iOS 18.1 does arrive, many of the cool WWDC 2024 AI tricks Apple showcased still won’t be fully ready, if the report is to be believed.

Without Apple Intelligence, the iPhone 16 will launch with a massive caveat, but what will that mean for the next generation of Apple’s smartphone?

iOS 18 relies on Apple Intelligence

I’ve been using iOS 18 beta since June and quite frankly, without Apple Intelligence, it’s a barebones update, to say the least. Sure, you can now change the tint of your app icons and Math Notes makes calculating budgets a breeze, but nothing stands out as a major upgrade to the iPhone’s operating system.

Apple Intelligence, however, is set to completely revolutionize the best iPhones by adding AI-powered features that take into account personal context across the whole operating system. From improvements to Siri that make the voice assistant infinitely more capable to generative AI that lets you create emojis from ideas, Apple Intelligence is going to reinvent consumer technology and propel AI further into the spotlight.

The iPhone 16 launch was set to be synonymous with the arrival of Apple Intelligence, especially considering this year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are the only compatible iPhones as it stands. You’d expect Apple to go hard on Apple Intelligence marketing for the iPhone 16, tempting iPhone 15 owners and those who haven’t upgraded in a while to think about the implications of an AI-powered iOS and its capabilities. But that will all have to wait unless this delay to Apple Intelligence coincides with an unreported delay to the launch of the iPhone 16 — but I highly doubt that.

How will Apple make consumers opt for the iPhone 16 on launch if the landmark new software features aren’t baked into the product from day one? I’m not entirely sure but if any team can do it then it's the marketing experts in Cupertino.

iPhone 16 powered by Apple Intelligence… Just not yet

So we’ve determined that iOS 18 is pretty underwhelming without Apple Intelligence and that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are presumably going to launch without the headline AI features. However, considering the implications of the new AI-powered elements of iOS and just how life-changing they may be (if Apple’s keynote at WWDC is anything to go by) then waiting a month to gain access is really not that tough an ask.

The rumors hint at larger displays on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, but apart from that we’re expecting the iPhone 16 lineup to be an iterative year for iPhone. That said, Apple Intelligence will be the kicker and as long as consumers are happy to hold onto their shiny devices without full capability for a month then Apple will still be onto a winner. 

Apple is bringing AI to the mainstream whether you like it or not and while only iPhone 15 Pro owners and those who opt for a 16 model will get to experience Apple Intelligence at first, it’s only a matter of time until everyone is living Apple’s AI future.

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Apple's highly-anticipated suite of AI features, Apple Intelligence, was always expected to arrive later than the iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia releases for this year, but now we have a clearer idea of just when we'll be able to experience it (unless you're in the EU).

The update comes via Mark Gurman of Bloomberg (Paywall), who has reported today that Apple's AI presence may not be felt until iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 arrive, which is expected to be in October.

As per Gurman, sources with knowledge of the matter have suggested Apple Intelligence will arrive a few weeks after the initial iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates, but developers will get to go hands-on much sooner.

iOS 18.1 beta arrives next week for developers

This puts Apple's software update plans in an interesting spot, because Gurman says Apple "is planning to make Apple Intelligence available to software developers for the first time for early testing as soon as this week".

That's via betas for iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1, despite the fact neither of their initial versions have shipped. Gurman also notes Apple is hoping to "complete development" of iOS 18 by the end of this month, allowing for it to be installed on the iPhone 16 lineup.

Moving Apple Intelligence to iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 (Gurman says it'll come as part of macOS Sequoia, at least for now), would mean your new iPhone 16 wouldn't get many of the biggest new features until a software update down the road.

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iOS 18 will be released later this year alongside the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The new software is set to usher in the arrival of Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI-powered features that will transform the way you use your iPhone.

Aside from the standout features like Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 grants users the ability to take control of their smartphones like never before and one new feature that makes that possible is the ability to lock apps with Face ID and hide apps altogether. 

Here’s how to hide apps and lock apps on iOS 18 so you can take control of your privacy.

How to hide and lock apps in iOS 18

iOS 18 is currently in development but you can download the iOS 18 beta right now. While we advise readers to wait until the official release in the Fall, the public beta and subsequent versions should be reliable. That said, never install a beta version of iOS on your primary device as you never know how it may impact your usage.

With iOS 18 you can simply hide apps from your Home Screen altogether and place them in a secret area of your App Library. To do so:

1. Long press on the app you want to hide
2. Tap Require Face ID
3. Select Hide and Require Face ID
4. Tap Hide App

The app you’ve selected will now appear in the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. If you would rather just lock the app, select Require Face ID in step 3 instead of Hide and Require Face ID.

If you’d like to show the app again follow these steps:

1. Open the Hidden folder
2. Long press on the app 
3. Select No longer require Face ID

It’s that simple, you can quickly lock and hide apps and make them reappear again based on your preferences. It might not be a feature you use regularly but for those that need extra privacy on their iPhones, iOS 18 is sure to add a much-needed extra level of security.

If everything goes the way that everyone expects it to, Apple will announce the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro devices in September — just a few short weeks away. The launch will likely happen alongside the release of iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, although the latter will carry the beta tag initially. However, a new report suggests that Apple is pondering a change to the new iPhones that could impact its big AI push.

With the launch of the new iPhones so close, a new report suggests that Apple is still considering a change to a vital component that could impact the performance of the new models. It's thought that Apple could choose to use QLC NAND chips this year, ditching the previous TLC NAND of previous models. That might not mean much on the face of it, but it's a change that could have wide-reaching implications, including for Apple Intelligence.

QLC NAND is cheaper to produce and more suited to higher-capacity storage, something that is increasingly important as Apple seeks to cram its AI technology onto iPhones. By running Apple Intelligence on-device, it can reduce the reliance on cloud-based servers which is good for privacy and speed. But QLC NAND is slower than the TLC alternative, and that's bad for performance which leaves Apple in a difficult position.

A storage trade-off

DigiTimes reports that "Apple has been considering adopting QLC NAND internally, but manufacturers need to optimize QLC NAND performance and upgrade processing speed." That means that suppliers will need to make improvements to the controllers used by QLC NAND storage in an attempt to woo phone companies like Apple. After all, it's no use moving Apple Intelligence on-device in the name of a snappier experience if the slower storage is working against you.

Layer Apple's strict quality control requirements, not to mention cost implications related to finding a way to improve performance, and suppliers like Kiozia and SK Hynix have their work cut out for them. Notably, DigiTimes reports that some production lines for NAND flash storage are already starting to experience supply shortages. Apple is not the only company in need of such storage, and Samsung's recent push into AI-powered phones has helped drive demand yet further.

It's thought that a focus on AI will be a key driver for customers who skipped the iPhone 15 to upgrade to the iPhone 16 family of devices, but it remains to be seen how that will play out. Apple announced Apple Intelligence at WWDC in June and confirmed it would come to the iPhone 15 Pro models. Anyone with a different iPhone will need to upgrade in order to benefit from the new AI-driven features.

Apple Intelligence marks a big shift into the world of generative AI for Apple, with the company's own on-device models being used wherever possible. However, OpenAI's ChatGPT will still be used where needed, and the whole system will launch in beta while Apple continues to tweak things. Alongside generative AI features like image and text creation, Apple Intelligence will also bring some much-needed improvements to Siri, Apple's much-maligned digital assistant.

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When iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia combine you get a magical new feature called iPhone Mirroring that unlocks new possibilities in the way you use your smartphone at your desk.

iPhone Mirroring allows you to control the best iPhones with your mouse and keyboard on your Mac all without unlocking the physical device itself. 

It’s a revolutionary new way to use your iPhone when working on a Mac and merges perfectly with Standby mode introduced in iOS 17. You’re able to use your iPhone as a widget hub or clock and at the same time interact with the device via your Mac — it’s truly impressive. 

iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia release later this year but you can try iPhone Mirroring today by downloading the public beta software available right now. Whether you’ve got access to these new operating systems now or are waiting for the official release, here’s how to use iPhone Mirroring on macOS Sequoia.

What you'll need

How to use iPhone Mirroring

iPhone Mirroring works similarly to Continuity and Universal Clipboard, to get it working you’ll need an iPhone with iOS 18 and a Mac with macOS Sequoia. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the updates to your iPhone and Mac follow these steps to enable iPhone Mirroring:

1. On iPhone, open Settings
2. Tap General, then AirPlay & Continuity
3. Select iPhone Mirroring and make sure your Mac is listed

Ensure both devices are on the same WiFi and nearby, then open the iPhone Mirroring application on Mac. You’ll need to make sure that your iPhone display is locked and then your Mac will magically start casting your iPhone’s Home Screen.

That’s all there is to it! iPhone Mirroring is one of the biggest changes to macOS and iOS coming later this year. While Apple Intelligence has everyone excited, iPhone Mirroring could completely change the way you use your iPhone and Mac in tandem.

iOS 18 is set to launch alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro in the Fall. Apple Intelligence will also arrive at the same time, albeit, in beta. Stay tuned to iMore for all your iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia news.

When Apple announced the iOS 18 update in June it also announced a slew of new AI features under the Apple Intelligence banner. One of those features, generative AI-powered image creation, will allow people to use text-based prompts to create new images for use in messages and more. But Microsoft has beaten Apple to the punch.

Microsoft Designer is a new and free app that is now available for the iPhone after initially only being offered as a preview. It uses generative AI to create images that can be used in all manner of different ways including for greetings cars and more.

Images edited within Microsoft Designer can then be tweaked using test-based prompts, as you'd expect, while the iPhone app is also joined by apps for Windows and Android.

Microsoft AI

You can download the Designer app from the App Store now and immediately begin creating images after signing in with your Microsoft account credentials.

"Unleash your creativity—visually create, design, and edit anything you can imagine with AI," the app's description reads. "Use the power of generative AI to create eye-catching images with your words, craft next-level designs that pop like personalized birthday cards, holiday cards, wallpapers for your phone, and even use AI to edit photos like an expert, like erasing your photo’s background. Create what you want, when and where you need it."

Editing the images allows for backgrounds to be removed or blurred while resizing is also an option for those who need to create images formatted especially for social media and other uses.

If you don't want to use Microsoft Designer, Apple Intelligence will launch in beta alongside iOS 18 this coming fall.

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Password management terrifies me. I have thousands of passwords and constantly feel overwhelmed by needing to de-weed my online security garden. Does this sound familiar? If so, a new addition to iOS 18 could change your online security for good.

The Passwords app in iOS 18 finally brings all of your Keychain passwords into a dedicated app rather than hiding them inside the Settings app on older operating systems like iOS 17. You can quickly access your passwords without going through menu after menu to find their location — it’s a much-appreciated change. 

While it’s great to have a dedicated app for Passwords across iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, one setting could be the standout new addition and you should make sure you’ve got it enabled.

Here’s how to enable Passkey upgrades in iOS 18

Apple says Passkeys are “a more secure alternative to passwords for signing in to online accounts.” They are digital keys that use powerful cryptography so “unlike passwords, malicious websites cannot trick you into giving away your passkeys.” While Passkeys aren’t available for all sites, there’s hope that in the future all accounts will convert to allow Passkeys so you can use Face ID or Touch ID to login to websites.

In Settings, go to Apps, followed by Passwords, you’ll find a toggle to Allow Automatic Passkey Upgrades which means your iPhone running iOS 18 will do all the work for you and upgrade accounts to use Passkey if and when they become available. Using this setting means your garden of Passwords should de-weed itself over time — think of it as the password equivalent of a robot vacuum. 

iOS 18 is currently in beta and you can download the public beta right now. While the operating system is relatively stable we advise waiting until the full release of iOS 18 alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro later this year before installing on your main device. If you’re impatient, however, we’ve got a full guide to show you how to download the iOS 18 beta.

The Action button was the feature I was most looking forward to on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. But almost a year since I first got my hands on the best iPhone, I can’t remember the last time I stretched my hand to activate the shortcut tool.

In iOS 18, however, Lock Screen customization tools allow you to use most of the Action button’s functionality from the bottom of your screen and it has fundamentally changed the way I use my device. You see I spend far too much time on Reddit and checking sports scores and now I can do both from my Lock Screen. In iOS 18 I get to quickly access those applications without stretching for the Action button or unlocking my device. 

When iOS 18’s first beta launched I wrote about the benefits of removing the Flashlight from the Lock Screen so you no longer embarrassingly activate the bright light by mistake — at the time some functionality like launching any app was not working. A few months later, Lock Screen customization works properly on the iOS 18 public beta, allowing you to set any app you want to launch with the press of a button. Here’s how to do it.

Launch any app from your Lock Screen in iOS 18

To launch any app from your iPhone’s Lock Screen you first need to download iOS 18 beta. The latest software will officially launch in September alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro but if you’re itching to test it out like myself the current build is fairly stable. I don’t advise using beta software on your primary advice, however, so proceed with caution.

1. Long press on your Lock Screen to bring up customization options
2. Tap the - next to one of the two Lock Screen launchers in the bottom left or right
3. Tap + then select Open App
4. Choose the app you want to launch from your Lock Screen 
5. Tap Done

Now whenever you long press on the icon on your Lock Screen it’ll launch your selected app. There are definitely more productive ways to use this new feature than launching the Apollo app like I have, but I have an unhealthy obsession with Reddit, ok?

Considering I haven’t used the Action button in months because of its awkward placement, this new Lock Screen customization option looks like it’ll quickly replace my 15 Pro Max’s extra button altogether. Hopefully in the new iPhones releasing later this year Apple chooses to make the Action button easier to reach. 

When Apple first revealed Math Notes for iPadOS 18, I thought to myself: “That’s pretty cool, but when would I ever use it?” Now, after downloading the iOS 18 public beta and trying Math Notes on an iPhone, I’m fully convinced that these new capabilities to do calculations are going to be incredibly useful.

You see, in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Math Notes isn’t confined to the Calculator app. If you head to Notes you can type equations and do quick arithmetic all without using a calculator. If you think that sounds impressive, wait until I show you how I’ve been using these new powers to completely overhaul my budget planning.

Does this sound interesting? Here’s how you can use Math Notes in iOS 18 to quickly calculate whatever you need.

Math Notes = Win

I don’t want to go too in-depth into Math Notes right now as I’ve already written about it plenty and think it deserves a dedicated how-to guide. Instead, I want to focus this article on how Math Notes can change simple tasks that you do daily without the need for an Apple Pencil or opening the Calculator app.

I’ve been using iOS 18’s calculator capabilities to simply tally up costs of my monthly expenses and then Math Notes does all the work to tell me exactly how much everything costs. This is ideal for trying to work out a vacation budget, for example. I used Math Notes in a shared note with my girlfriend earlier this week on vacation in France and it was a brilliant way to keep on top of things without constantly opening my banking apps. 

To use Math Notes in Notes simply:

1. Open Notes
2. Type a word like “Rent” followed by = and a price
3. Add as many items and prices to your list
4. Type for example “Rent + Food =” 
5. Watch as iOS 18 calculates the total

For adults out there who don’t use handwriting to do equations, this variation of Math Notes is probably going to be the way you use the new feature. It’s quick, accurate, and really easy to use.

The iOS 18 public beta doesn’t have access to Apple Intelligence but I presume Apple’s AI features will improve the power of Math Notes by allowing you to combine the calculations you do with other elements of iOS like Siri or your Mail app. iOS 18 is set to officially launch later this year alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro and being able to calculate a quick budget in Notes might just be one of its most useful new additions.

One of the biggest changes coming to iOS 18 is the ability to customize the Home Screen on your iPhone. After years of waiting, we can now finally move app icons anywhere in the grid and there are also color customization options for the first time on iOS, too.

You can install the iOS 18 public beta today if you want to try these Home Screen customization features early, but remember it's not a stable release.

In this how-to guide, we’ll take you through all the steps needed to give your app icons a color tint as well as show you how to place them anywhere on the grid. Here’s how to customize your Home Screen on iOS 18.

How to rearrange icons anywhere on the grid

How to rearrange icons anywhere on the grid

Now that iOS 18 lets you place icons anywhere on the grid, you can have unique designs for your Home Screen that can also be far more functional (easier-to-reach icons without using widgets, anyone?).

Here’s how to rearrange your icons anywhere on the grid in iOS 18:

1. Long press on the Home Screen to make your screen jiggle
2. Move apps to wherever you want them, you no longer need to place them side by side
3. Tap done

Just like that, you’ve customized the location of app icons on your Home Screen without the shackles that we’ve been so used to for years. In the past, I’ve used widgets that mimic blank space to achieve this style of Home Screen, so it’s awesome that you can do this without installing extra applications.

How to enable Dark Mode icons in iOS 18

Another new customization feature in iOS 18 is the ability to enable Dark Mode icons and they look gorgeous. Right now, in the iOS 18 beta, it’s only first-party Apple apps that get the new look but developers will be able to make Dark Mode icons for their apps so expect to see more in the future. Here’s how to enable Dark Mode icons:

1. Long press on the Home Screen
2. Tap Edit, then Customize
3. Select Dark list

You also have the option to slightly dim your wallpaper to make it match the Dark Mode icons, it’s a subtle tint but works really well if you’ve been using Dark Mode on the best iPhones with OLED display panels over the last few years.

How to change the color of icons in iOS 18

My favorite new Home Screen customization feature in iOS 18 is the new color tinting option. This allows you to tint your app icons in any color, perfect for matching your wallpaper. I’ve found the best colors are darker shades like grey but you can pick any color you want from bright pink to dark brown (yuck!). Here’s how to tint app icons:

1. Long press on the Home Screen
2. Tap Edit, then Customize
3. Select Tinted and then choose a color from the slider

Getting the perfect tint will take some trial and error but once you land on the perfect color to match your wallpaper it’s insanely satisfying.

The world of iOS 18 is your oyster

iOS 18 implements simple but effective Home Screen customization tools that help personalize your iPhone more than ever before. If you want a pink device with navy icons, you can do it. If you want larger app icons with no app names, you can do that too. Heck if you want three app icons one above the other in dark blue, go for it. With iOS 18, Apple has unleashed the shackles of the Home Screen and it’s refreshing, to say the least. 

You can download the iOS 18 public beta now, but we advise waiting for a more stable version before giving it a try. In the meantime, start thinking about your favorite Home Screen variations and what color tints you want to try — iOS 18 arrives later this fall but expect the public beta later this month.

Apple has come forward to deny a report that Apple Intelligence may have been unwittingly trained using data taken from YouTube without permission after it was found that data collected by EleutherAI included YouTube subtitles from thousands of YouTube videos. 

In a report earlier this week, it was revealed that an AI training dataset generated by EleutherAI had been created using subtitles from 174,536 YouTube videos from over 48,000 channels. The data, taken without permission and in violation of YouTube’s rules, was then picked up by companies including Apple, which reportedly used it to train its OpenELM model. 

As you can imagine, the idea that Apple Intelligence might have been built using stolen YouTube content caused quite a stir, but Apple has issued a staunch rebuttal of the claims. According to 9to5Mac, Apple has confirmed “that OpenELM doesn’t power any of its AI or machine learning features – including Apple Intelligence.” Rather, OpenELM is a research project that’s not used to power any of the new features coming to iPhone, iPad, and Mac later this year. Apple did confirm that Apple Intelligence had been trained “on licensed data, including data selected to enhance specific features, as well as publicly available data collected by our web-crawler,” but not the pilfered YouTube subtitles it was unwittingly presented by EleutherAI. 

Understandably, YouTubers such as MKBHD have been angered by the outcome of the investigation. MKBHD released a video on July 17 to explain the situation so far. Although OpenELM has reportedly been using the transcripts of subtitles to help train some AI models, it’s believed that this method is still a violation of YouTube’s terms of service.

What will Apple Intelligence offer for iPhone, iPad, and Mac?

With Apple distancing itself from the findings, let’s highlight the benefits of what Apple Intelligence will bring later this year as a beta for U.S. users. These collections of AI features, set to debut with iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and iPadOS 18 later this year, are meant to help you in various ways.

For instance, Siri, Apple’s assistant that first debuted in 2011 with the iPhone 4S, is getting an upgrade. OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri, allowing you to ask the AI model detailed queries, such as creating a 3-course meal or an in-depth fitness plan. The improved Siri will learn about you. For example, if you’ve forgotten about an event you spoke to your friend about, you can ask Siri what time the event starts.

In addition to Apple’s Photos app being redesigned in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, a few Apple Intelligence features will also be available. The ‘Clean Up’ feature allows you to remove any objects in a photo, and ‘Memory Movies’ will use Apple’s AI to create a movie with a few prompts.

It’s important to note, however, that recent reports suggest not all of the Apple Intelligence features showcased at WWDC in June will be made available later this year. This could include the updates to Siri. Nevertheless, we’re hoping that AI features like those in the Photos app will still be available for U.S. users later this year.

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As Apple works to ready Apple Intelligence for a beta launch later this year, a new report claims that the company used YouTube videos as a source of data when training their AI models.

Apple is just one company thought to have used data collected by a third party when training AI, with Nvidia and Anthropic also among those thought to have used the same information. The dataset, called YouTube Subtitles, was collected by EleutherAI and created by taking the transcripts from videos created by some of the biggest names on the platform including MKBHD and MrBeast.

While the dataset was not created using the actual videos themselves but rather their transcripts, it's still thought that the act is against YouTube's terms of service.

It's all about the subtitles

The Wired report notes that the dataset is part of a compilation the outfit released called the Pile which is accessible and open to anyone on the internet.

An investigation found that subtitles from 173,536 YouTube videos across 48,000 channels were used to train data with Apple one of the companies that benefited. It's thought that Apple used the Pile, to train OpenELM, a model that was announced in April just weeks before Apple announced that Apple Intelligence would launch alongside iOS 18. The offering is made up of multiple new AI-powered features that generate text and images across multiple apps and services.

Understandably, YouTubers are less than happy with the news. “No one came to me and said, ‘We would like to use this,’” said David Pakman, the host of The David Pakman Show. Others suggested that the use of subtitle data in this way was theft, noting that the same technology could well be used to take creators' jobs in the future.

Apple Intelligence will launch later this year, albeit in beta, alongside iOS 18 and software updates for the Mac, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. Two weeks later, Apple released the second beta to developers. And now, another two weeks later, the third developer began rolling out.

So with another iOS 18 beta release, you'd be expecting Beta 4, right? Not this time. Instead, Apple is re-releasing iOS 18 Beta 3 to developers, with an updated version. It remains to be seen what is new or different, but we're not expecting many changes. Rather, this update is likely to align the build number and other code with the first Public Beta release that we're expecting.

iOS 18 Beta 3 packs plenty of bug fixes and improvements to the early version of iOS 18, making it more stable to run on devices. Alongside these fixes, there are a few new features included in the update. Most notably, more third-party app icons now support automatic dark mode tinting. The emoji keyboard has changed slightly, with larger emojis in each row. You can now react to iMessages with Memojis in addition to set Tapbacks.

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 beta 3 are available to download over the air for developers enrolled in the program. We do not recommend installing the software on your main device, as it is still unstable. New betas for tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 are also now available. We'll likely see the next developer beta released in another fortnight, which is perhaps when the first public beta will appear.

What else to expect from iOS 18

One of the biggest software updates we've ever seen, iOS 18 brings some incredible new features and more customization options to the iPhone than ever before. Later this summer, the iOS 18 beta will add Apple Intelligence, one of the most impressive software additions to Apple devices we've ever seen.

For now, unfortunately, still no sign of Apple Intelligence in this beta, not that we were expecting it. Apple's new AI features aren't due in the betas until later this summer. Instead, all eyes will be on the two features that have made their debut for the first time. While you'll have to wait to get your hands on AI, you can try iOS 18 today by downloading the iOS 18 developer beta. 

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Do you enjoy choosing just the right emoji to enhance your Messages? Do you wish you had more emoji from which to choose? Genmoji, courtesy of Apple Intelligence, will allow you to create your very own emoji that you’ll be able to use in a variety of contexts. 

Genmoji are customizable emoji taken to the next level with artificial intelligence. Apple unveiled Genmoji at WWDC this past June 10 and they’re coming in iOS 18 this fall. 

Five reasons why Genmoji should have your attention

1. They're uniquely yours: Genmoji are different from anything we’ve seen before. They are your own utterly unique creations that you can tweak any way you’d like. Your imagination is the only limit. And you can use Genmoji in surprising ways and places.

2. You write it your way: You can create your Genmoji entirely by text, if you want. Create a smiley face with rainbow heart eyes. Or a cross between a dog and a cat. How about a unicorn waving a Pride flag, or porcupine wearing sunglasses. You write it, Apple Intelligence creates it.

3. Base it on a photo: Create Genmoji based on photos, so you don’t have to go through the process of creating them from scratch. But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can tweak your photo any way you want. Turn yourself into a superhero. Turn your friend into a rock star. Make your kid a teddy bear.

4. Use them alone, in-line with text messages, or as a Tapback: Genmoji can be shared alone as a sticker, like you’d expect. But they can also be used within text messages. Genmoji will be automatically sized to fit in-line with text just like regular emoji. They can be copied and pasted. Anyplace that supports rich text will support Genmoji.  I frequently use Tapback to respond to messages as a quick reaction. However, as of iOS 17, you can only choose from a handful of reactions: heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, haha, double exclamation points, and question mark. Tapback is leveling up in iOS 18. You’ll be able to react with an emoji, and that will include the Genmoji you’ve created.

5. Get comfortable talking to AI: This one may sound a little scary if you’ve never used artificial intelligence before. But AI isn’t going anywhere, and it’s time to get comfortable using it if you haven’t already. Genmoji could be considered training wheels for AI. It will be a fun and easy way to dip your toe into the AI world. You’ll find pretty quickly that giving highly detailed prompts will yield better results than general ones. For example, when creating a Genmoji, you could just say “dog on surfboard.” But perhaps you’ll get closer to the picture in your mind if you say, “pink poodle wearing black sunglasses on a purple surfboard surrounded by ocean waves.” The skills you gain creating Genmoji could be transferable to other AI uses in the future.

Didn’t we already get custom emoji back in 2018?

Sort of. 

Memoji and Animoji, which also might be considered “next-level emoji,” came out in 2018 with iOS 12. It’s true, they are customizable, and they are a lot of fun. Memoji are customized emoji that you can build from a collection of pre-set features to look a bit like a cartoon version of yourself or something totally different. You can pop them into text messages as a cute sticker, choosing from a number of facial expressions and gestures. Animoji are custom emoji that you can use to animate your face as you talk on FaceTime or record messages. You can use your custom Memoji as an Animoji, or you can choose one of Apple’s images, like a cat or a dragon. You can use them both to add some whimsy and personality to your conversations. 

It does take time to build your Memoji, and there is some room for creativity. But you’re limited to Apple’s specific list of features and images. And you can’t re-size or use your Memoji or Animoji in a line of text or as a Tapback. 

What about Image Playground? What is it and how does it work?

Image Playground will also take advantage of Apple Intelligence, and let you create all kinds of Pixar-like images on your Apple device. It will be baked into a number of apps, like Messages for example, and it will also be a separate app in iOS 18. You’ll be able to choose from three animation styles: Animation, Illustration, and Sketch. Once you’ve selected a style, you choose your images and concepts to combine. For example, you might choose a photo of yourself, a friend, or a family member. Then you select some concepts to blend in, such as themes, costumes, accessories, and places. 

This will be a lot of fun to play around with in the dedicated app. But your device will also use contextual clues to make suggestions automatically. For example, say you’re in a group chat planning your next get-together in Messages. You’ll get suggested images based on the particular friends you’re chatting with, the activity you are planning, and the location.

Image Playground is also available in a bunch of other apps. For example in the Apple Notes app, you’ll be able to access Image Playground within the new Image Wand found in the Apple Pencil tool palette. This Image Wand will automatically turn your rough sketches into polished, engaging images. You can even tap on an empty space in your notes and the tool will create an image for you using context clues from the words around it. 

But the fun doesn’t end there. You’ll also be able to use Image Playground in other Apple apps, such as Keynote, Freeform, and Pages. From there, it’s up to developers to find new uses for this technology. Developers will be able to use the new Image Playground API, allowing them to incorporate Image Playground directly into their apps.

Can anyone with any Apple device use Genmoji and Image Playground?

Unfortunately, no. Apple Intelligence features like Genmoji and Image Playground will be limited to the iPhone Pro models (currently the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max) as well as iPad and Mac models with M-series chips. This is unwelcome news for people who just purchased the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus as well as owners of older models. If you are considering a device upgrade, be sure to choose a model with an M1 chip or newer when selecting one of the best iPads or best Macs.

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When Apple announced iOS 18 in June, it also announced Apple Intelligence and integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot. That integration means that Apple has a vested interest in what OpenAI gets up to and, as a result, it was going to have an observer seat on the AI company's board. But that's no longer happening.

The seat would have allowed Apple to keep an eye on what OpenAI was doing and how it was going about it in terms of ethics and more while having no control over the company and no voting capabilities. Apple's Phil Schiller was set to take the role, but those plans have now been shelved. A similar role held by Microsoft has also been canned.

The reason, a new report explains, is that Apple and Microsoft are both concerned about potential antitrust issues that the board seats could open up amid ongoing scrutiny over the way technology companies are investing in those that build AI software and features.

Artificial Apple Intelligence

The Financial Times reports that both Apple and Microsoft decided it wasn't worth the potential scrutiny the board seats could bring. Instead, OpenAI will "host regular meetings with partners such as Microsoft and Apple and investors Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures — part of 'a new approach to informing and engaging key strategic partners' under Sarah Friar, the former Nextdoor boss who was hired as its first chief financial officer last month, an OpenAI spokesperson said."

Apple Intelligence will fall back to ChatGPT when Apple's own in-house technology cannot answer questions posed by users when the feature launches later this year. It'll be available in beta form alongside the release of iOS 18 this fall, likely alongside the release of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

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Apple announced iOS 18 at its WWDC developers conference on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. Two weeks later, Apple released the second beta to developers. And now, another two weeks later, the third developer has begun rolling out.

This update packs plenty of bug fixes and improvements to the early version of iOS 18, making it more stable to run on devices. Alongside these fixes, there are a few new features included in the update. Most notably, more third-party app icons now support automatic dark mode tinting. The emoji keyboard has changed slightly, with larger emojis in each row. You can now react to iMessages with Memojis in addition to set Tapbacks.

There is, unfortunately, still no sign of Apple Intelligence in this beta, not that we were expecting it. Apple's new AI features aren't due in the betas until later this summer. Instead, all eyes will be on the two features that have made their debut for the first time.

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 beta 3 are available to download over the air for developers enrolled in the program. We do not recommend installing the software on your main device, as it is still unstable. New betas for tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 are also now available. We'll likely see the next developer beta released in another fortnight, which is perhaps when the first public beta will appear.

What else is new in iOS 18?

One of the biggest software updates we've ever seen, iOS 18 brings some incredible new features and more customization options to the iPhone than ever before. Later this summer, the iOS 18 beta will add Apple Intelligence, one of the most impressive software additions to Apple devices we've ever seen. While you'll have to wait to get your hands on AI, you can try iOS 18 today by downloading the iOS 18 developer beta. 

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iOS 18 is almost here, and while we may have to wait a while for Apple Intelligence's full slate of features, the Photos app redesign has certainly got users talking.

Apple dubbed it the "biggest redesign" the app has seen, but the shift has proven divisive ahead of release later this year.

Speaking to The National, Billy Sorrentino, senior director on the human interface design team, explained "As our features, users and libraries have grown, so has the density of the app.

"So rather than hunt and peck throughout, we’ve created a simple streamlined single view photos experience based on deep intelligence".

Sorrentino says the aim was to "remove friction" when using the app.

Apple execs on the Photos app shakeup

“Lots of deep intelligence combined with customization means that Photos can be more personal,” Della Huff, manager of the Camera and Photos product marketing team explained, pointing to automatic customization as being "really key" in fitting in with different workflows.

The new Photos app will offer monthly and annual views, as well as a filter to keep screenshots clear for when you're swiping through.

Images will be smartly groups by Collections, and group shots will now recognize faces. You can also swipe to one side to see favorite photos at a glance which will appear with a "poster-like view".

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Apple Intelligence was a big focus of this year's WWDC keynote, but the suite of features is rolling out piecemeal across the next few months. And, one of the headline features could be due to arrive in Spring 2025.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports in his latest Power On newsletter that key aspects of the Siri upgrade "should arrive next spring", including the ability to take actions within apps and read what's on your screen.

Much was promised about the new version of Apple's long-running assistant, but Gurman reiterates those major improvements won't arrive alongside iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, or iPadOS 18 this year.

"Siri features are likely to go into beta testing for developers in January and then debut publicly around the springtime — part of an iOS 18.4 upgrade that’s already in the works," he explains.

The complex rollout of Apple Intelligence

So what is coming this year for Apple Intelligence? Gurman still expects features such as the fresh Siri design and ChatGPT integration to arrive this year (although not for EU users, it seems), and potentially not as part of the iOS 18 launch version.

The Apple Mail updates are likely to arrive this year as part of iOS 18.1 or 18.2, too, meaning the mainline iOS release (and likely macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18) could be looking a little thin in terms of major new features for the time being.

At least we'll have Genmoji, though, right?

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Apple Intelligence will be made up of various new features when it arrives later this year and some of those features will involve the power of generative AI. Users will be able to have Apple Intelligence create images based on their commands, but that feature is far from unique – and now even WhatsApp is getting in on the act.

While not yet officially announced, a new beta version of the WhatsApp app for the Android platform has detailed a new feature that will allow people to take a photo of themselves and then have generative AI use it as the basis for creating yet more images.

The idea is likely that this will be used to create new avatars for WhatsApp users and while it's yet to ship, it could be a useful feature for those who want something a little different from the usual selfie photo.

AI-generated avatars

The new addition was first spotted by the beta watchers over at WABetaInfo and while it made its debut in the Android app, we can surely expect it to also be added to the iPhone app in the near future.

Using Meta AI, the feature looks set to be popular among those who like to regularly update their avatar.

"This feature will allow users to take a single set of photos, which Meta AI will then use to generate AI images," WABetaInfo explains. "Users must take setup photos that will be analyzed to create these images, ensuring that the generated images accurately represent their appearance. It's important to mention that users will retain full control over this feature, as they can delete their setup photos at any time through the Meta AI settings."

There is currently no word on when this new generative AI feature will be available to the public, but WhatsApp is normally pretty good at progressing features from beta to the final version of the app.

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When iOS 18 ships later this year it will bring support for RCS to the iPhone for the first time. RCS will allow iPhones to send and receive rich messages with Android devices and function similarly to iMessage, but some people report that they're seeing RCS-like behavior with older versions of iOS as well.

Read receipts are part of the RCS specification and they're one of the features iPhone owners are already looking forward to when chatting with their Android-toting friends and family. But some people say that they are already seeing SMS messages marked as "read" even when using older versions of the iPhone's operating system and long before iOS 18 ships to the public.

Some of those reporting this experience say they are using iOS 17, but oddly others say that they have experienced the same thing as far back as iOS 13, suggesting that this is more a bug than a feature.

Getting the message

A new post on Reddit includes a screenshot from an iPhone reportedly running iOS 17 complete with "Read" text beneath a green bubble. The poster says that the status started to appear on messages last week, while others have chimed in to say they're experiencing the same thing.

However, others say that this has been happening for a long time now, suggesting that perhaps Apple has a bug that it's yet to squash rather than this being some pre-launch RCS configuration on Apple's end that is bleeding over into iOS 17 devices.

As for iOS 18, that's currently available in developer beta while a public beta program will go live later this month. A final global public release isn't expected until September, though.

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The biggest news of WWDC 2024 was the unveiling of Apple Intelligence, Cupertino's answer to critics that it is behind the curve in the use of AI and late to the game in terms of offering AI-powered features to its users. Apple Intelligence won't ship until later this year, and even then it'll carry the beta tag. But what we've seen so far is certainly promising.

But it's still fair to say that Apple really is late to offer features that leverage AI in new and interesting ways. While the Camera app does use AI to leverage the power of the iPhone 15 Pro's cameras to select the perfect shot when you press the shutter button, it's nothing compared to the heavy capabilities of, say, a Pixel 8 Pro. And Apple knows it.

But Apple has always been comfortable in its assertion that being late to the party is better than stinking the place out when you arrive. We still don't have a foldable iPhone because Apple doesn't want to ship something with an ugly crease down the middle of its screen. It was late to wearables. To mixed reality. The iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, either. But as Microsoft has shown with its own foray into AI-enhanced computing, being late and not-so-good is even worse than being early and bad. And it's another example of why Apple's approach has stood it in good stead for years.

Close, but not cigar

Apple Intelligence isn't only about the Mac and it will also be available on the iPad and Mac, too. Over in the world of Windows, Microsoft Copilot Plus brings new AI features to PCs running the company's operating system, but are those features any good?

Microsoft is already deep into its development of AI technologies thanks to a deal with OpenAI, the same company that Apple will use for more advanced Chatbot requests. But its launch of Copilot Plus is an attempt to bring AI-powered features to the PC in a new way, but Tom's Hardware has dubbed those features "a bad joke," which doesn't bode well.

In particular, we're told that features that create images from text, add live captions to content, and more are either underbaked or simply do not work. And even if they did, are they actually all that useful in day-to-day computing? That's a matter for debate, to be sure

Admittedly, we're yet to put Apple Intelligence through its paces but on first blush, the features it will bring to the Mac appear to have what it takes to make meaningful improvements to the way we use our Macs. Time will tell, but things do look promising so far.

What will Apple be fashionably late to next?

The real question here is where Apple is going to go next. I already mentioned the lack of a foldable phone which is surely going to change in the future. The Apple Car project is dead and buried, at least for now. So what's next?

A foldable MacBook seems likely at this point and yes, foldable laptops already exist in some form over in the Windows PC world. It's still unclear what Apple's device will actually look like, but there's one thing we can be sure of – Apple might be late to the party once more, but it'll make quite the entrance once it does finally arrive.

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Apple is fresh off of announcing Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, and we’re all trying to figure out what features are going to be useful to each one of us. From Genmoji to an upgraded Siri to writing tools, there’s a lot of features that could have a meaningful impact on many of us.

When I was digging into all of the features that I would want to use that the company announced, I was also looking into any features that I might want to hold off on using — and the one feature that stood out as something I am really hesitant to touch (besides ChatGPT, but that’s another conversation) is Apple using AI to prioritize my notifications.

Wait, what’s changing with notifications?

With Apple Intelligence in iOS 18, Apple is bringing some AI smarts to help you better manage your notifications. The biggest feature is what the company is calling Priority Messages in Mail and Priority Notifications.

In Mail, Priority Messages is a new section at the top of your inbox that uses Apple Intelligence to show you what it believes to be the "most urgent" emails. Apple says that it is smart enough to read your emails and recognize something like a "same-day dinner invitation or boarding pass."

In addition to choosing which emails to consider priority, Apple Intelligence will also read the contents of the email and, instead of showing you the first few lines of the email in the preview, show you a summary of the email. If you tap into an email with a long thread, Apple Intelligence will also provide a TLDR at the top of the entire message thread.

Priority Notifications is the same kind of idea as Priority Messages in Mail — but for all of the notifications hitting your iPhone. If you're running iOS 17, you're familiar by now with the "stack" of notifications at the bottom of your Lock Screen. 

With iOS 18, Apple is adding a new section at the top of the Stack called Priority Notifications that Apple says will "surface what’s most important." Like Mail, Priority Notifications will use AI to show summaries in the notification so you can get a TLDR instead of having to tap in to get the key information.

The company is also adding a new Focus called Reduce Interruptions that "surfaces only the notifications that might need immediate attention, like a text about an early pickup from daycare."

Apple has always struggled to make notifications manageable

The first reason that I hesitate to trust this has nothing to do with the feature itself and more with the history we all have with the iPhone and notification management.

Apple, compared to Android, has always been behind when it comes to releasing tools to help us manage our notifications. Grouping notifications by app didn't come to the iPhone until iOS 12 back in 2018, more than a decade after the iPhone originally launched.

Time-sensitive notifications, which would break through your Do Not Disturb setting to alert you to something that was incredibly important, didn't show up until iOS 15 back in 2021. The ability to snooze a notification also didn't launch until iOS 15. 

Prioritization of notifications also still doesn't exist for users to configure themselves and, with iOS 18, Apple is trusting its own AI to do it for us rather than giving us the control ourselves.

Even today, coming back to my iPhone is like trying to stand up in the ocean right as a wave annihilates your face. There are so many notifications that — up to this day — I’ve resorted to just turning notifications for most apps off.

I do not trust Apple Intelligence to get this right...yet

While I am excited to see what Apple Intelligence can do for me and everyone else who utilizes the features that it brings to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, I am really hesitant to trust Apple to get notifications right straight out of the gate.

Between this being a completely new technology for the company and the history we've had with notification issues or lack of features on the iPhone, it feels like a real gamble to trust Apple with this as soon as iOS 18 launches these features later this year.

The two features that I am most nervous about are Priority Notifications and the new Reduce Interruptions feature. I'm not so much concerned about Apple choosing what emails get prioritized with Priority Messages in Mail. Emails aren't usually that urgent — that's what text messages and phone calls are for — so if the company gets some of that wrong that's not a big deal.

While I am nervous about Priority Notifications, this is also one that — like Priority Messages — can't do much damage. While you might find that the company has missed moving something to priority when it should, you're only looking at Priority Notifications when you're purposefully looking at all of your notifications, so it's not like you're going to miss something here — it just might not be in the place you think it should be.

However, I am really hesitant to trust Apple to get prioritization right when it comes to the notifications on my iPhone, especially with that Reduce Interruptions Focus. That Focus will only display a notification that Apple has determined as "Maybe Important." If Apple Intelligence has decided that the notification isn't important, it's not going to surface the notification at all.

That is putting a heck of a lot of faith in Apple to get this right for those who actually put their trust in this Focus. I immediately think about the fact that, when my friends are ready to play a video game, we'll send each other a meme or GIF. I'd want to see that notification since it's time-sensitive, but is Apple Intelligence going to understand that context and surface it when I have the Reduce Notifications Focus turned on? I doubt it.

Of course, that's a case of missing some gaming time, which isn't a life-or-death scenario. But what if it was? Am I going to be sitting at my desk, using the Focus to try and work, and miss something really urgent that I otherwise would have? Can we really put our trust in Apple Intelligence at that level?

We'll have to wait until it launches later this year to find out, but I think I'll be watching those features like a hawk — if I even decide to turn them on.

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Apple announced iOS 18 to the world during the WWDC opening event on June 10 and the software is now available in developer beta form. It won't be available to the public for some time, but the early betas already include support for additional languages across multiple key iPhone features.

Whether iPhone owners are customizing their Lock Screen, searching the device using Spotlight, or simply using the iPhone's keyboard, multiple languages have now been added.

While key features like Apple Intelligence are understandably capturing headlines, there is no denying that the addition of new language support could be a game-changer for some people as we edge ever closer to the release of iOS 18 to the public.

Multilingual iPhone

A TechCrunch report details the changes including the addition of Arabic, Arabic Indic, Bangla, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, and Telugu language support when customizing the numerals sued on the iPhone's Lock Screen.

Continuing the theme, the iOS 18 keyboard now supports trilingual predictive typing, removing the need to switch languages manually. When searching, iOS 18 also makes it easier than ever to find what you're looking for. The report notes that "users can search for different spellings of similar-sounding words in that language." This means that  "for instance, they can search for both “चंद्र” and “चन्द्र” in Hindi. The new language search is available for Assamese, Bangla, Devanagari, and Gujarati."

Other improvements include changes in the Messages app that mean the keyboard will remember the last-used language on a per-thread basis.

Apple has confirmed that iOS 18 will be released in public beta later this month before the update rolls out to iPhone owners around the world this September.

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When your mates have Android, and thus no access to iMessage, the restrictions of standard text messages can be, at best, extremely annoying. While the solution for the longest time has been to just ‘buy an iPhone, lads, and you’ll get iMessage because it's better’, there’s now a different option to improve interoperability between iPhone and Android.

RCS (or Rich Communication Services for the uninitiated) for iPhone was announced a few months ago, but now users of iOS 18 beta 2 are starting to see messages from their Android device-wielding compatriots get the little RCS tag on their iOS devices. But what does RCS actually do — and why should you care that it’s coming?

No Blue messages

Ok, so firstly something that RCS isn’t going to do — before it was announced, many assumed that if Apple were to adopt the RCS standard, then the blue messages of iMessage would be coming to people messaging from Android instead. This isn’t happening, with the blue messages still reserved for those using iMessage on an Apple device. Sorry Android users, you can’t have everything. And if you do, just like, buy an iPhone.

Richer file formats

Normal text messages are restricted in what kind of content you can send with them, and RCS looks to change that. You’ll be able to send much larger images and files across over RCS, including photos and videos that are much higher resolution than those SMS is capable of sending. You’ll also be able to send and receive audio messages from Android devices too, so that friend who has too much to say can bombard you with three-minute voice notes about their night on the town. Joy.

Better emoji support and Tapbacks

Pre RCS, you could only send simple emojis to an Android handset from your iPhone — and you definitely didn’t have a way of reacting to messages directly. Now, however, you’ll be able to send a wider range of emojis with more sticker support and Tapbacks so that you can really illustrate how you feel about that latest picture on Instagram of your mate's spaghetti from the local Italian.

Typing indicators and read receipts

In iMessage, you can see when the other messaging party is typing out their response to your message in real-time — helpful so that you don’t accidentally send something while they’re forming their words to you. Now, thanks to RCS, you’ll know when they’re typing — no more awkward, early responses! Although, really, we should just be saying everything we need to say in one message: But who has time for that?’

Also new: Not sure if your message has been read? You’ll be told if 1. Your message has arrived and 2. Whether or not it's been read. That’s right, no more excuses for not responding, apart from the old ‘I had a response typed out and everything, and then forgot to press send!’

WiFi or Cellular

You can now opt to send messages over WiFi instead of Cellular, so you don’t use any of your Data plan if you’re near a decent WiFi connection. 

Android and iPhone group chats

Previously, unless you use a different messaging app, group chats on iMessage have been reserved for the iPhone users in the group, leaving Android owners out in large iPhone user friendship circles, and iPhone users in Android-using groups. Now, the hierarchy is brought up to scratch — you can create group chats with everyone in them. Harmonious, very wholesome. You’ll still know who the Android users are though, with their gross green bubbles. You know who you are.

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Although rumors recently surfaced that plans were afoot to include Meta AI in Apple Intelligence, a new report suggests this isn’t the case.

It was previously reported that talks were ongoing for a potential partnership. Now, according to Bloomberg, sources ‘confirmed’ that Apple and Meta in March had a brief conversation about integrating Meta AI into Apple Intelligence. However, the report explains “Apple decided not to move forward with formal Meta discussions in part because it doesn’t see that company’s privacy practices as stringent enough, according to the people.”

These reports about a breakdown in a potential partnership may also stem from Apple’s previous efforts with privacy that have hindered Meta in the past. For example, back in April 2021 with the release of iOS 14.5, Apple introduced a feature called App Tracking Transparency (ATT). This allows you to choose if an app can track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising or sharing reasons with data brokers. A few companies, including Meta, tanked on the stock market because of many users enabling this feature. For Meta, there was a reported $10 Billion loss in revenue that year because of the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature being used in its apps such as Facebook and Instagram.

Bloomberg goes on to state that Apple is still in discussions with Google about partnering up the Gemini AI assistant with Apple Intelligence, similar to the partnership Apple announced with OpenAI’s ChatGPT back at WWDC 2024.

Apple Intelligence is coming later this year as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. These AI features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models, as well as iPads and Macs with Apple silicon for U.S. English users.

• iPhone deals: Verizon | AT&T | Mint Mobile

Meta AI is about to scrape through your Facebook and Instagram accounts

With partnership talks breaking down between Apple and Meta, it’s hard to imagine that there was a once time when Facebook was integrated into iOS 6. You could sign in to Meta’s social network within Apple’s Settings app and share your photos or web links directly to Facebook from within iOS, without using Facebook's dedicated third-party app.

Nowadays, an integration like this is less likely than The Beatles reforming. Facebook changed its company name to Meta in October 2021 based on CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s then-plans to focus on social connection through virtual reality. The metaverse was meant to revolve around virtual worlds that users could visit by controlling an avatar. However, the idea has reportedly flopped, with Zuckerberg now pivoting to artificial intelligence — yet some privacy concerns have already come to the forefront with Meta AI.

Meta recently announced that, starting June 26, it will use your social accounts on Facebook and Instagram to train its Meta AI model — but you can opt out if you want to. To do this, go to Settings > About, then Privacy Policy on Facebook or Instagram. Click on the form called ‘Right to Object’, where you can confirm you're opting out.

Factors like this perceived privacy overreach must have caused concern for Apple, as any user who isn’t aware of this change by June 26 will automatically have their accounts scanned by Meta AI. It’s a bad user experience and, on the face of it, feels very shady. At the very least, Meta should have provided users with context as to why Meta AI needs to access their accounts, followed by a clear choice on whether they want their accounts to be used by the AI model.

Regardless, Apple’s refusal to partner with Meta underscores just how seriously it treats privacy. With this in mind, don’t expect Meta AI to be part of Apple Intelligence any time soon.

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Apple announced iOS 18 at the WWDC event on June 10, releasing the first developer beta of the update immediately after the opening keynote. Now, the company has made the second beta release available for download.

Coming two weeks after that initial release, iOS 18 beta 2 is now available to download and it can be installed via the usual Software Update mechanism within the Settings app.

This new update of course brings with it the usual array of improvements and fixes, but the most notable news is the addition of two new features in the shape of iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay screen sharing.

Still no Apple Intelligence

There is, of course, still no sign of Apple Intelligence in this beta, not that we were expecting it. Instead, all eyes will be on the two features that have made their debut for the first time.

The first of those features, iPhone Mirroring, will allow macOS Sequoia‌ users to see their iPhone's screen on their Mac. Not only that, but they'll also be able to interact with it as if they were physically using it.

The next feature is SharePlay screen sharing and it could be a big deal for people who play the tech support role for friends and family members. Users will be able to take control of someone else's iPhone for support purposes with iOS 18 and the feature is now included in this beta.

As for the final release, that's expected to arrive this coming fall, probably in September. That release will also likely coincide with the launch of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, too.

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When Apple announced the ability to change the shortcuts found on your Lock Screen in iOS 18, I breathed a sigh of relief. No longer would I need to endure the frustrating and sometimes embarrassing situation where removing my iPhone from my pocket meant shining a bright light in the face of the unlucky person in front of me.

Not only can you now choose from a wide selection of shortcut options for your Lock Screen but more importantly you can remove the flashlight functionality altogether. Could this simple change be the biggest quality-of-life improvement in iOS 18? I think so.

No more accidental flashing

The first thing I did after installing the iOS 18 developer beta on my iPhone 15 Pro Max was remove the left-sided Lock Screen flashlight shortcut that has been the bane of my existence for far too long. Don’t get me wrong, the flashlight is very useful and I use it regularly to find things like my dog’s toys under the sofa. But it’s also one of the most annoying features on my iPhone, constantly getting activated when I don’t want it to.

I always keep my iPhone in my left-hand pocket which means I take it out with my left hand. Because of this, at least once a day my left hand comes in contact with the flashlight Lock Screen shortcut and shines a bright light from my flash. But in iOS 18, this annoying and often embarrassing feature can now be removed — and I’m so damn happy about it. 

For a lot of people, the best thing about Lock Screen shortcut customization in the latest software update due to officially release this fall will be the ability to choose whatever you want. From launching specific apps, setting a contact to speed dial using the Shortcuts app, or even Shazam, the new Lock Screen customization options bring the benefits of the best iPhone’s Action button to all iOS 18 compatible devices. But for others, just the ability to remove these shortcuts like the flashlight will be far more useful than any extra functionality.

iOS 18’s trump card

After using iOS 18 for over two weeks now, I’ve really enjoyed the subtle changes that positively impact my daily life. From removing screenshots by filtering them out of the new Photos app to adding tasks from Reminders into the Calendar app, it’s an update that may not have flashy features as of yet but definitely improves the smartphone’s user experience.

With Apple Intelligence on the horizon and AI features such as photo generation, proofreading, and smarter Siri to work as your personal assistant coming later this year, iOS 18 is shaping up to be a fantastic new era for the iPhone. With all the flashy additions, however, the ability to remove the flashlight and instead activate it via the Action button when I need is the one thing I’m most hyped about.