Finally, Apple has made the final version of iOS 18, their most recent upgrade, available. The business claims that this is the biggest update for iPhones, as usual. I agree with that for iOS in general, but I’m not sure whether the majority of us feel the same way. Here is my review of iOS 18, running on an iPhone 15, after testing the update since it was released in the Developer Beta and then moving on to the Public beta.
As soon as you update to the most recent version of iOS 18, you’ll see that Apple’s main focus has been personalization. So let’s get started on that and then on to the others.
Customization of the Home Screen
Apple has now introduced more extensive customization choices, following Android’s lead, to help iPhone customers better customize their home screen setup. Unlike before, you can now drag & drop apps to any area of your home screen without utilizing empty icons. Those who have strange preferences for background images on their home screen could find this pleasing.
In addition, there is now a Dark setting for app icons, which changes all of the icons on the home screen, Spotlight, and App Library to a black background and dark mode. Apple’s introduction of the “Tinted” option is an improvement over this feature. Basically, it allows you to set the highlight color of your wallpaper to any desired color on icons and widgets. Similar to the “Themed icons” that Android 12 brought. Although I appreciate its presence, it still requires work because it can take a very long time to fine-tune the correct tint color for a certain background.
ย The ability to enlarge icons, which obscures app and widget names from view, is maybe my favorite feature of the current home screen. I’ve been waiting years for this function because it gives my main screen a clean, attractive appearance. Text labels beneath home screen items are useless for me because I rarely update my home screen configuration.
You may now change an app’s icon to its widget or vice versa, which is another small innovation. Simply long-press on an app or widget to bring up the overflow menu and select the desired choice. Only apps that support widgets will be able to utilize this. This technique can also be used to adjust the size of widgets on the Today View screen.
ย New Controls for the Lock Screen
Not only does the home screen gain from this customisation flexibility, but the iOS lock screen also receives a significant enhancement. Now that the Camera and Flashlight controls are gone from the lock screen, you can add other controls, shortcuts, or even apps in their stead. You can also leave the bottom corners uncontrolled if you’re a minimalist.
Finally, a “Dynamic” wallpaper has been added that functions exactly like a Mac. It switches between Light Mode and Dark Mode and cycles through various iOS 18 backgrounds at different times of the day.
ย A Completely New Control Center
Apple has maintained the Control Center’s appearance for years. Thus, the one you could be viewing on your iPhone right now isn’t all that different from what it was on iOS 11. But not any more. My experience with Control Center on iOS 18 can be completely different from yours. That’s why Apple now allows you to add as many controls as you want (without having an upper limit) and remove any controls from this page in order to customize the Control Center.
I can now replace the squircle box of network controllers with individual icons, so I don’t have to deal with it anymore. With multipage controls, Control Center now provides a more homescreen-like interface. I can add extra pages with different controls and resize them to my desired appearance if one page of controls isn’t enough.
One of my favorite new features of iOS 18 is the Control Center, which is a minimalist feature. I’ve managed to get it configured the way I want it with a little bit of here-and-there adjusting. It’s now also simple to assemble. Now that the navigation to Settings > Control Center is no longer necessary, I can access all the controls straight from the edit page, which was a major issue earlier.
The ability to hide or lock apps
We consider our phones to be personal, thus you won’t want anyone else to have access to your used apps, private messages, or images. using iOS 18, I can hide apps from my iPhone and keep others from opening them by locking them using Face ID (or Touch ID, or device passcode). To secure an app, all I have to do is long-press on it and choose Require Face ID. Apps can be hidden from the home screen by using the Hide and Require Face ID option, or you can choose to simply lock the app with Require Face ID.
The apps I hide will then only be accessible from App Library > Hidden Apps. iOS will block incoming messages from locked or hidden apps in order to protect my privacy, and Spotlight won’t be able to find any content within those apps.
T9 Dialer at Last!
A new T9 Dialer is the only significant upgrade the Phone app has received, aside from Messages. You did really read correctly! Like in the past, you can now call your pals straight from the keyboard on your iPhone. I may now offer someone’s contact information by pressing a single key on a number that corresponds to their name.
It’s the simplest method for finding contacts I wish to give a call. I can now find their name without having to manually search the Contacts tab. We’ve previously developed a guide to assist you in using iOS 18’s T9 Dialer on your iPhone.
Unable to Go Back to Your Previous Control Center
Alright, let me to explain. iOS 18’s new Control Center is fantastic, and I adore how customizable it is. When I installed the update, I did it right away. I had so much freedom that I could swap out the controls I never used for shortcuts and new ones. However, if you begin making changes, you can reach a point where you can’t go back, and your page will become unusable for your purposes.
This is where I believe there is room for improvement with the new Control Center. For starters, it lacks a โResetโ option that lets you switch to the default layout. I can easily figure out a method to manually transition to the earlier style because I’m tech smart. However, that might not apply to every individual. Resetting all of the iPhone’s settings is the only method to get the Control Center to appear as it did before.
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