WheniOS 18launched on Monday , September 16 , 2024 it bring several new features to iPhones . Thecompatibility list for iOS 18is thesame as iOS 17 , so if you are runningiOS 17you’ll be able-bodied to enjoy the new features of iOS 18 … except for the new “ Apple intelligence service ” lineament which will only be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and thenew iPhone 16 serial publication .
In this article , we ’ll function through the features that arrived in iOS 17 and those come with iOS 18 . We ’ll excuse the difference between the two iPhone operating arrangement and what is changing to aid you decide whether or not to get unrestrained about updating .
If you are presently using an iPhone that does n’t die hard iOS 17 or iOS 18 ( that ’s the iPhone 8 , iPhone X and anything erstwhile than those French telephone ) you might be call up of updating to an iPhone that does . If you need helpchoosing a newfangled iPhoneread ourguide to the best iPhones .
You might like to show about the differences betweenmacOS Sequoia and Sonoma .
What were the new features iOS 17?
WheniOS 17launched in September 2023 , it institute with it some interesting unexampled features for the iPhone . Here ’s a look at some of the highlights , some of which you may not have discovered yet .
FaceTime upgrades
Communication was high on the tilt of Apple ’s precedence with iOS 17 . This mean that FaceTime received a few famed rise , with one of the most interesting being the power to record an audio or video message to leave for someone when they ’re not available to take the call .
Apple also introduced mitt gestures that can trigger diverting animations that signify your excitation or commendation of someone ’s point , which could pass off a bit of life into boring get together ( although you may just be see symbols appearing on screen and wondering how you trigger them ) .
Apple
Live Voicemail
With Live Voicemail a recipient could send a call to voicemail but watch a live text transcription of the audio appear on their phone . That way they would be able to jazz whether they need to get in touch with the caller immediately or not .
Read : How to use Live Voicemail .
Stickers
In iOS 17 Apple introduced the power to draw our subjects from pic and make stickers that could be used in a alike way to emoji .
Contact Posters
Another interesting feature was the power to create your own personal poster that would look on the recipient ’s iPhone if you send a message or called them . You customize your own Contacts notice in the Contacts app . pick out from backgrounds , fonts and layouts and take control of the elbow room you appear on other ’s iPhones .
Read : How to create and customize your Contact Poster in iOS 17 .
NameDrop and AirDrop
AirDrop was simplified in iOS 17 so you only want to bring two earphone close together to portion out entropy . Additionally , Apple made it simple to share impinging information with the NameDrop feature .
Interactive home screen widgets
Widgets became more utile in iOS 17 , with Apple get them interactional on the house screen and ringlet screen . Simply tap on the whatsis to fill in a todo or control your music without having to enter the app .
To total gizmo to your iPhone projection screen fall out these steps :
StandBy
Rotate your iPhone when plug in and it will display the clip and other information of your choosing . This novel iOS 17 feature turned your iPhone into an alarm clock while you slept .
Read : How to use StandBy on iPhone .
Journal app
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The new Journal app arrived after iOS 17 had launched in the iOS 17.2 update . In the app you’re able to memorialize your daily thought and activity . The aim is to help you accomplish a great signified of genial well - being . It probably came as a turn of a blow for be apps like Day One , but this subscription - free Apple offer certainly seemed like a nice fillip when iOS 17.2 dropped . Is anyone actually using it though ?
New Check-In feature to keep your friends safe
Perhaps one of the most important plus in iOS 17 was Check - In . This simple feature article provide people to partake their intended finish with protagonist so that their iPhones could monitor their progress and notify friends and category when the person in conclusion nonplus home . Elegant and potentially life sentence - saving .
What are the new features iOS 18?
So , with all these features total to iPhones in 2023 , what does Apple bring to the tabular array with iOS 18 ?
Here are the highlights of what Apple is stick in with iOS 18 :
Personalization
iOS 17 brought interactive widgets to the iPhone home plate screen , but its successor takes things to another level . For the first sentence since the iPhone launched , you will be able to localize ikon wherever you like on the screen without them forthwith snapping back to the grid . Hallelujah !
Not only that , but you will also be capable to change the ground colors of icons and widgets , either through a raw night mode or blue-pencil them with colors you choose . This intend that for the first time on an iPhone you could in truth personalize the appearance the manner it look , changing not only the wallpaper , but also the app icons and thingamabob .
Control Center updates
Control Center has been something of a unsympathetic shop class since it was introduce , but in iOS 18 Apple is loosen its grip and countenance you to add various new controls to the shortcut as well as single for third - party apps .
These can also be grouped together to contribute contextual functionality . For example , you could have a radical for place , one for euphony , productivity , whatever you desire . This will extend to the lock screen too , where you may replace the standard call and flashlight shortcuts with your preferred options instead .
Privacy enhancements
Apple plume itself on its privateness certificate , which is why , in iOS 18 , you ’ll be able to interlock apps so that they can only be open by Touch ID , Face ID , or your passcode .
Should you wish , there ’s also the option to hide apps so that people do n’t see them on your headphone . These are then stored in a hidden apps folder which can only be open up by your biometry or passcode .
More protection improvements include the ability to select which contacts apps can see , as well as which wireless accessory they can interact with .
Messages updates
Apple will bless message with a few climb in iOS 18 . Tapbacks will allow you to expend any emoji or sticker when responding to messages . you’re able to also apply the new formatting peter to emphasise or italicize your textual matter or essay out the new Text Effects that include fun animations .
If you find yourself out in the wild , then the newfangled Messages Via Satellite feature will allow you to stay in touch with friends back home . It ’s not clear if there will be a monetary value tie in with this – the Emergency SOS via satellite feature , which get in with the introduction of the iPhone 14 in 2022 , is only free for the first two years .
More organized Mail
Apple has add new on - equipment categorization for its Mail app . Admittedly this does look like Google ’s Gmail app from a few years ago , with the inbox separated out into various categories such as Primary ( the people you know and clip - sensitive substance ) , Transactions , Updates , Promotions , as well as the grouping together of messages from individual businesses .
Of naturally , if you prefer thing the sometime - fashioned way , then you may always habituate the universal inbox that just lay in things by the appointment you incur them .
Redesigned Photos
In what Apple is calling the “ biggest redesign ever ” for its Photos app , iOS 18 will bring batch of organizational bodily structure to what can be a somewhat disorderly experience now we all have so many photos .
You ’ll have improved filter to make it easygoing to explore for images , plus fresh Collections set up by topics such as multitude , trip , and other variable .
The interface has also been updated , with a unexampled carousel that can be home to favorite , photos that the app chooses to foreground to you ( called Featured ) , much of which can change on a daily foundation so that you’re able to be pleasantly surprised by photos from a favorite holiday result or just of people whose faces it ’s always pleasant to see .
Other small improvements
There will be a number of zest and tucks around the system for iOS 18 , including young insights stats for the Journal app , topographic maps that can be used offline in the Maps app , the increase of Tap to Cash in Wallet where you could quickly pay someone via Apple Pay by bringing two iPhones together , not to refer a all-encompassing range of other modest improvements that should make iOS 18 a very substantial experience .
What are the AI features coming in iOS 18?
Apple is also innovate some AI , aka AppleIntelligence featuresin iOS 18 . These will ab initio be only in beta and they will only pass on the iPhone 15 Pro , Pro Mac , and , the fresh iPhone 16 and 16 Plus , and the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max . The Apple Intelligence features will also run on M - series Macs and iPad with M - series chip , so even if your iPhone ca n’t extend them one of your other twist may be able to .
The Apple Intelligence features are center around reading , writing and image coevals . Siri will also benefit from Apple Intelligence with the ability to identify context ground on old queries , and better capable to understand normal speech ( English only at first ) .
What’s the main difference between iOS 17 and iOS 18?
The most detectable difference between iOS 17 and 18 will probably be the flexibility to individualise your iPhone , something that has been in particular limited in the past . Mail and photograph are getting updates that should shrink clutter and help you find the things you are looking for . While Messages will gain more flexibleness for TapBacks and some new Messages animations to entertain your Quaker with . While the Apple Intelligence feature will only be in genus Beta and not available on all iPhones , you could await AI to have a adult impact on iPhones running iOS 18 as Apple continues to use machine learning to meliorate the customer experience . Read aboutearlier iOS versions .
Should I upgrade to iOS 18?
It ’s very rare that we ever suggest you stay on the version of iOS you already have . Apple does an excellent chore of making even its older devices work out well with the novel software package . With so many interesting fresh feature film issue forth in iOS 18 , it ’s a bit of a no - brainer when it come to upgrading .
We do urge waiting a calendar week or so after the first rendering of iOS 18 is released though , just in case there are other adopter progeny .
