Table of Contents
So Apple announced the new features coming in iOS18 and it’s just over a couple of weeks since the beta version was released. So as soon as the Beta version was available to download I was there, ready to download it onto my iPhone 15 Pro to start to have a play. Now I am going to call out straight away in this article that I am not going to talk about Apple Intelligence as it’s not yet available in the beta. What I am going to cover however in this post is the following iOS18 Features:
- Control Centre
- App placement
- App customisation
- Widgets
- Calendar & Reminders
- Messages
Now this is just my first impression after using the beta for just over a week. As we get updates we will see improvement and changes, but for now, let’s jump into it.
Control Centre:
One of the new iOS Feature is a redesigned control centre which still has that familiar look but rather than 1 page we now have 3 with the option to create more. On the far right-hand side, you will see the icons for each page which you can swipe down to access. So what do we have on each of these pages:
Favourites Page:
When you pull down from the top of your screen you will come to the favourites page which is the same page as we had before but with some tweaks. You can tap into the network and media widgets, and it will take you to the pages for your network and media pages.
You can also add new favourites straight from the control centre. Not only that, but you can do this by hitting the + icon in the top corner or long-pressing the screen, and then you can select whatever you like. Not only that, you can re-arrange where you want to position the icons/widgets as well as adjust the size you can have them as a large widget style or icon.
You also get a power off option in the top-right corner which you can tap to power off your iPhone, which I really like.
Media Page:
iOS 18 gives a whole page in the control centre for our media centre. This is nice to have, although I am not 100% sure how often I will use it. I have used the others a fair bit so far, but have not really found the need to use this. I am sure those of you who listen to lots of music on your iPhone will find it useful to have.
Network Page
I am not sure if this is the right name for this page but hey ho. This makes all the network elements like Wi-Fi easy to access as it provides it in a list format. This makes it so much easier than it was before, as you can clearly see them and toggle them on and off easily.
Now, as with the media page, you can quickly access the page by tapping the widget on the favourite pages.
Homescreen Customisation:
Being able to customise your apps in many ways is a welcome addition and one of the most significant IOS18 Features. There are a few ways that you can customise your homescreen without having to use shortcuts etc.
App Placement:
This is an iOS18 feature that many people have been asking for, and that’s the ability to move your apps anywhere on your home screen. No longer will you have to use a third-party widget to create blank space to shift your apps to the bottom of your screen.
This makes it easier to access your favourite apps with them being at the bottom of the screen. I have also found that I don’t use widgets on my homescreen because I want to keep it minimal, and being able to move the apps anywhere really helps you be able to do this.
App Customisation:
Being able to move your apps is not the only thing that we can do with them with the iOS18. You can actually customise your app in a couple of ways. I have been able to choose between Light and Dark, you can have them colourful (light) or have a dark background giving the app a dark mode look.
The other option that you will see is tinted, which does what it says on the tin. You are presented with a slider, and you can change/tint the colour of the app to what you like. This is one you will need to play with to find a colour that you like and looks good with your background.
Widgets:
With iOS18 it’s a lot easier to set up your widget, you no longer need to long press the screen and add the widget (you can still do it this way). Instead, you now have the option to long-press the app that you wish to have a widget for, and it will give you an options list. In the list, you will be able to choose which size you would like your widget to be.
Calendar & Reminders:
These two apps now interact with each other, which, in my opinion, is super useful and will probably make me use these as my default. This means that when create a reminder with a date, it will also reflect in your calendar and vice versa. I like this as it means that I can see on my calendar what task I need to complete that day.
iMessage:
This is not one that I have tried because I generally use WhatsApp for messaging people, but I want to mention it because there are many of you that will use iMessage. We now can schedule messages. So you can type out a message and then schedule it for a future time and date, e.g. a Happy Birthday message.
Final Thoughts
These are just some of my initial thoughts after a couple of weeks with these iOS 18 features. There are still plenty of things that I need to spend more time getting to grips with and will share more with you all between now and the official release of iOS 18.
But my impression of iOS 18 is good and has actually drawn me back to the iPhone after flirting with the Samsung S24 UltraSamsung S24 Ultra. I am sure that there are many iPhone users that will not be bothered about the customisation option, but there are plenty who will really appreciate it. It may need to be the level of Android devices, but it does make the iPhone a bit more fun to use.