iOS 18: top 18 features and changes for iPhone [Video]

In this initial hands-on walkthrough, I discuss 18 of my favorite new changes and features from the first iOS 18 beta for iPhone. I explain why you should be excited about new long-awaited updates to the iOS Calendar app, Reminders, Notes, Messages, and more. Watch our hands-on video, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more hands-on iOS 18 coverage.

Note: For your convenience, clicking the heading of each section will jump directly to the corresponding timestamp in the embedded video below.

In iOS 18, the home screen receives several radical (for iOS) changes. For the first time, users are allowed to place app icons anywhere, as long as they adhere to the traditional grid structure. The same thing now applies to widgets on iPhone, a feature previously exclusive to iPadOS.

Speaking of widgets, in iOS 18 you can now resize widgets dynamically via a handy drag handle that surfaces while in edit mode. Widgets can also be upsized and downsized, all the way back down to a regular app icon, using a context menu option that appears when long-pressing the app.

Video: iOS 18 top features and changes

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There’s also the ability to make app icons larger, which also brings forth the ability to hide app names on the Home Screen for the first time. Hopefully, Apple will extend this feature to the smaller icons as well.

Users will also like the new option to enable a dark mode for icons. Currently, only Apple’s first-party pre-installed apps are affected by the dark mode option, but developers will be able to feature it in their apps as well. In addition, there is a new option to tint all app icons with the same color for a more cohesive theme on the Home Screen.

Up until now, the Calendar app was a big disappointment for me, because the monthly view provided almost no detail. In iOS 18, Apple has finally addressed this glaring omission by providing the month view with different colors for each calendar, and the ability to pinch out to view specific details about upcoming events.

But Apple took it a step further in iOS 18, and tightly integrated the Calendar with Reminders. You can now schedule a reminder directly in the Calendar, and add a calendar event directly from Reminders. These are both quality improvements that are sure to simplify event and task management.

In iOS 18, the Messages app gains several new features, such as being able to use emojis and stickers with tapbacks, the super-handy one-icon replies for quickly acknowledging a message that doesn’t require a full text response.

Users will also love the ability to schedule messages, a feature that I and many others have been wanting for years. Apple also included a new text effect option that allows you to apply special effects and text formatting for your messages down to an individual word or emoji character.

Notes have received some fantastic updates over the years, and that trend continues with iOS 18. One of my favorite new features is the ability to collapse headings, which is great for organizing dense text. Notes also gains the ability to record and embed audio notes and highlight text using one of five new color options.

As always, this year’s major iOS update includes quite a few noteworthy accessibility improvements. A new Vocal Shortcuts option, which lets you establish specific keywords for executing Siri commands and shortcuts provides an extremely powerful new automation tool.

There’s also a new visionOS-like eye-tracking feature that allows you to control your device using just your eyes. I can only imagine this feature becoming more powerful over time and may be a good enough reason for a significant update to the front-facing camera hardware in future iPhones.

13 additional top features

In addition to the five areas touched on above, I also cover an additional 13 sections in this initial iOS 18 walkthrough. The sections include the following:

I’ll be back with more in-depth, hands-on coverage of iOS 18 and all of Apple’s platforms in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, tell me, what’s your favorite new feature in iOS 18? Sound off in the comments below.

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