100 New Changes and Features in iOS 18
iOS 18 is now officially released and it comes with tons of new changes and features. In this blog post, we’re going to consider 100 new changes and features for iOS 18. We’ll walk through them step by step, showing you why it’s practical and why it’s valuable. Folks, you don’t want to miss this!
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Home Screen Customization
The customization that comes to the home screen in iOS 18 is perhaps one of the biggest new changes and features in this huge release. First and foremost, we’re going to have some new wallpaper, and I always like to highlight this because it’s just kind of fun. You get these new wallpapers here. These are the iOS 18 official wallpapers. There are light and dark versions of each. You have purple, azure, pink, and yellow. You also get a dynamic iOS 18 wallpaper based on those four colors that we just discussed.
Dynamic Wallpaper
Here is the dynamic wallpaper that changes dynamically throughout the day, and there are light and dark versions of it. If you just want to set one wallpaper and forget it, the dynamic one is a solid choice for new iOS 18 setups.
Flexible App Placement
Here’s the biggie right here: flexible app placement. In the previous 17 versions of iOS, whenever you moved an app icon and tried to put it somewhere away from the other app icons, you couldn’t do it. It would automatically magnetically attach itself. But now, in iOS 18, you can move apps anywhere on the grid just like that. This is a huge change to the way iOS has worked for the last 18 years. Finally, right? Android users might give me a hard time saying they’ve had this for years, and it’s true. I don’t know what took Apple so long to do this, but they finally did it, and it is nice to have.
Widgets
Same thing goes for widgets. You can place widgets anywhere on the grid as well. Previously, you could only do that on iPad OS, but now on iOS, you can place those widgets anywhere. This complements the ability to move the app icons anywhere on the grid as well.
But that is not it, folks. You can now use drag handles to resize widgets when you’re in edit mode. The little drag handle on the bottom right-hand corner allows you to resize the widget. Some widgets only have two different versions, small and medium, but others like the podcast widget also have a large version. This is really cool because it saves you time; you don’t have to go into the widget gallery to drag another version of the same widget just because you wanted to resize it.
Additionally, you can resize widgets via a long press. You long press on the widget, and you’ll see these resize options. This method even allows you to convert a widget to an app icon, which you couldn’t do using the drag handle. You can also go from an icon to a widget, even a large one.
Customization Options
Let’s go into edit mode, tap edit in the upper left-hand corner, and then tap the new customize option. This brings you to the ability to customize your home screen even further. You can switch to dark icons, and you can see all the stock icons change to their dark versions. Even the widgets do as well. Some third-party apps like Instagram and Robinhood are a little behind, but other third-party apps like Target, Slack, Notion, and WhatsApp look great. Not every app will have a dark version right out of the box, so keep that in mind.
Automatic Mode and Wallpaper Tint
You can also switch to automatic mode, which switches between light and dark mode based on the time of day. If you prefer to automate it, that’s the option for you. There’s also wallpaper tint. You can switch the tint manually. For example, you can switch to light icons and tap the tint button to switch to the dark background tint, or you can switch to the light background tint if you want to do that. I like that combination; I think it looks pretty good.
Tinted App Icons and Widgets
There’s also the option for tinted app icons and widgets. This might be a little controversial. Initially, it might look a bit “Android-ish” or “jailbreak-ish,” but I think it’s growing on me, especially with some of those wild colors like the pink color. It can look good with those pink-tinted icons.
You can switch over to large icons now. Not only are the icons larger, but the widgets are larger as well. The text for the app icons is gone, so if you want a clean look, this is the way to achieve that. It looks good in dark mode. I just wish you could hide the app icon names in small mode as well.
Locking Apps
We’re still talking about customization because you can now lock apps. These apps will require Face ID or your passcode to open or show contents in other apps. App content will not appear in notification previews or Spotlight either. You can lock and hide apps as well. If the app is something you downloaded from the App Store, you can lock and hide the app. When you select hide, the app will no longer be visible; it will be obscured with no notification calls or alerts. To reveal the hidden app, you tap on hidden in the app library and authenticate with Face ID.
Control Center Redesign
The control center gets a complete redesign in iOS 18. You now have group controls by page, allowing you to quickly switch between each page. You can rearrange controls and resize controls as well. For example, you can resize the music widget or rearrange toggles by simply dragging them. There is also a new controls gallery, allowing you to customize the control center directly from the control center itself, without going into the settings app.
Lock Screen Controls
You can customize the lock screen controls. You can delete the camera shortcut and the flashlight shortcut and replace them with your own controls. For example, you can add a stopwatch or dark mode toggle to the lock screen. You can also assign controls to the action button on action button-equipped phones like the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Series. For example, you can make the calculator open up when you press the action button.
Dynamic Flashlight
There’s also a dynamic flashlight on the iPhone 16 or any iPhone with the dynamic Island. You can change the intensity and alter the beam angle by swiping left and right.
Screen Sharing and Remote Control
Do you ever have your parents or grandparents ask you for help with their iPhone or iPad? You’re going to love this feature. You can now ask the person on the other end to share their screen right in messages. This starts a FaceTime audio call and allows you to request to share the screen. The person can either accept or decline that. You can also request remote control, allowing you to control the other person’s iPhone or iPad, even if they are in another state or country.
SharePlay Enhancements
You can now SharePlay on more devices when it comes to music. Music playing on a Bluetooth speaker, HomePod, or Apple TV can be controlled by others via SharePlay. You can skip songs, play/pause, change the volume, and add more songs to the queue.
Channel Memberships
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Dedicated Passwords App
This is a major new feature in iOS 18: a dedicated passwords app. Previously, iOS had the keychain, but now there’s a dedicated app, making it easier to access your passwords. You can set up regular passwords with two-factor authentication using a verification code. You can also set up passkeys, which are more secure and linked directly to your device. Additionally, you can sign in with Apple credentials.
Family Password Sharing
You can set up family password sharing or share passwords with anyone. This allows you to share all types of authentication methods, including regular passwords, two-factor authentication, passkeys, and sign-in with Apple credentials.
Messages Enhancements
Messages get a major update in iOS 18. You now have emoji and sticker tapbacks, allowing you to send more nuanced reactions. There’s also inline sticker support, a multilingual keyboard, text effects, text formatting, and the ability to schedule messages to be sent later. You can schedule messages up to 2 weeks in advance, and they will be sent even if your phone is dead.
RCS Support
RCS (Rich Communication Services) support is now available in iOS 18. This enhances communication with Android devices, providing read receipts, typing indicators, higher quality media, and more.
Messages via Satellite
Messages via satellite is another new feature. Previously, Apple had satellite support for emergencies, but now you can send messages via satellite even if you’re just off the grid, such as on a hike.
Notes and Calendar Enhancements
The Notes app gets audio recording with live transcriptions. You can also do equations within the Notes app and access math notes created within the calculator. There’s also the ability to collapse sections, highlight text, and more.
Calendar and Reminders Integration
The Calendar app now integrates with Reminders, allowing you to view, edit, and complete reminders directly within the Calendar app. You can also create reminders within the Calendar app. The updated month view provides more context with color-coded dots and stack views for multiple events.
Photos and Camera Enhancements
The Photos app gets a major redesign. The tabs are gone, and everything is on one page. You can pin collections, hide screenshots, and share with you. The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are more secure, and there’s smart copy and paste edits, video speed control, and looped video playback.
Camera Enhancements
The camera gets a 5-second timer, the ability to continue playing music while shooting video, and the option to pause in-progress video recordings. You can also adjust flash settings via a long press and use continuity camera with Apple TV 4K.
Journal App Enhancements
The Journal app gets mindfulness, state of mind integration, insights view, search and sort, export and print options, widgets, quick actions, and audio transcription. You can now format text with more options and use shortcuts to create audio entries and messages with titles.
Calculator Enhancements
The calculator gets math notes, adjustable numbers, graphing, notes integration, editable expressions, history, unit conversions, and a portrait scientific calculator.
Conclusion
That was our hands-on look at iOS 18, covering 100 new changes and features that we think you’re going to love. Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you appreciate this post, please give it a thumbs up so others know it’s legit. Be sure to subscribe for more posts because we’ve got a lot more coming your way. This is Jeff Benjamin with 9 to 5 Mac. If you liked this post, be sure to check out these other posts. Have a good one, ladies and gents. Talk to you later!
