Seriously, you're using a fricken Android phone. Loser!
iOS 18 Is Here: A Worthy iPhone Upgrade, No AI Necessary
Message scheduling, app icon customization, calculator tricks, improved texting with Android friends, and more. Just no Apple Intelligence…yet.
The just-released iOS 18 lets you redesign your iPhone’s home screen and customize your Control Center, plus includes hidden features like locking apps, emoji tapbacks and a new flashlight. WSJ’s Joanna Stern helps you find what’s new. Photo Illustration: Jacob Reynolds for WSJ
Joanna Stern, WSJ
Sept. 16, 2024 1:09 pm ET
Some say smartphone innovation is dead. Clearly, those people haven’t heard the news: You can now bold and italicize message text—and even do both at the same time.
Apple AAPL -2.78%decrease; red down pointing triangle Intelligence? Pffft. The breakthroughs we’ve really been waiting for are packed into Apple’s iOS 18 software update, released on Monday for iPhone models going back to XS and XR. Besides the many cool messaging tricks, you can change the colors (and size!) of your app icons, swap controls on the lock screen—even adjust the flashlight’s beam width! And don’t get me started on the amazing new calculator.
Disciples of iOS history know 2024 is a weird year. Apple Intelligence, the company’s first foray into AI tools, starts rolling out in October with iOS 18.1. But that update won’t have all the coming features. Plus, to get Apple Intelligence, you will need to have one of the latest iPhone 16 models or an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max. Stay tuned for my review of that software soon.
Still, even without a smarter Siri, iOS 18 is a great update. The improvements, though subtle, are mighty when it comes to helping with everyday tasks. I’ve been testing the beta without performance issues.
As always, my annual advice holds: If you’re concerned about bugs, wait a week before you update. When you’re feeling ready, head to Settings > General > Software Update.
Keeping with tradition, in my video, I’ve attempted another iOS tip world record, providing 18 tips for iOS 18. Watch that for a deep dive. Meanwhile, here are some of my favorites.
Home screen stuff
Bye bye, boring app grid. You can now arrange your icons like throw pillows and match them to your wallpaper. Before you rush out to hire an iPhone interior designer, try it yourself:
Move apps: Long-press on the home screen until apps and widgets jiggle. Then, move them wherever you want—surrounding a family photo, or in a vertical line off to one side.
Color apps: Long-press on the home screen again and tap the Edit button in the upper left corner. Then tap Customize. You’re now in control of the app icon colors—not just Apple apps, but all of them. Light keeps the default colors. Dark makes everything…dark. Tinted changes all the icons’ color to match your wallpaper. You can also use the color sliders for any hue or use the dropper to pick a color straight from your wallpaper.
To adjust the color and size of your app icons, long-press on the home screen, tap Edit in the upper left and then Customize. Photo: Joanna Stern/WSJ
Resize apps: In the same Customize menu, you can choose to enlarge app icons, too. Just note, when you go Large, the app names disappear.
Messaging stuff
If you rely on Apple’s Messages app, your life is about to change.
Text effects: Instead of TEXTING IN CAPITAL LETTERS to get your feelings across, tap the A icon on the upper-right of the keyboard. You can choose a formatting style like bold or italics, and you can also select from eight animation options so your words can explode, shake, nod, ripple and more. It’s fun but can be flaky when selecting the text. The catch: The person getting your text must also be running Apple’s latest software to see the action.
Schedule-send texts: Sometimes you want to send a message later because the person receiving it might be asleep, in a meeting or just not ready to hear your latest 2 a.m. epiphany. Tap the + button to the left of the message text field, then select Send Later and set the date and time.
You can now schedule messages, choose an emoji tapback and make your text come to life with new effects. Photo: Joanna Stern/WSJ
Tapbacks: Those heart, thumbs-up and thumbs-down reactions when you press on a message? They’re going full Technicolor, a la “Wizard of Oz.” And, similar to WhatsApp or Slack, the tapback menu now lets you drop in emojis, too. Your most used will stay in the menu.
RCS: iOS 18, aka The Great Green-Blue Bubble Peace Accord. With RCS messaging, when texting with an Android phone, you see typing indicators, read receipts and high-resolution photos and videos. The setting is turned on by default and when it’s working, an indicator in the text field says “Text Message • RCS.” That said, at times it hasn’t worked—even when I know the recipient has an RCS-enabled Android phone.
Control stuff
Taking cues from Android, the entire OS now offers a deep level of customization throughout.
Control Center redesign: Swipe down from the iPhone’s top-right corner to see the revamped Control Center. Long-press to rearrange controls. Tap the minus symbol to remove them, or Add a Control to choose new ones. Apple is now allowing third-party apps in on the fun. Ford, for example, is adding an unlock control, so I’ll be able to unlock my Mustang Mach-E right from the Control Center.
Customize Control Center by adding and resizing controls. Photo: Joanna Stern/WSJ
Control Center pages: There are now multiple pages in Control Center, for most-used apps, media playback, Home controls and connectivity settings. Small icons on the right indicate which page is which. I deleted some of the pages because I found them overwhelming.
Lock screen controls: Hey, you! Yes, you sir, with your flashlight accidentally turned on. This one’s for you. Long-press on the lock screen, select Customize and then Lock Screen, then swap out the circular flashlight and camera controls on the bottom. You can even set it to launch any app (WSJ is a great choice!) or remove the controls entirely.
Other stuff—and missing stuff
There are many more new tools. There is a conversion tool in the calculator to easily convert currencies, temperatures and more. You can require Face ID to access apps with sensitive information. If your Mac is running the new MacOS Sequoia, you can control your iPhone right on your computer. Watch my video to see all of that in action.
And now for the other tradition: my list of Stuff Apple Still Hasn’t Done. Screen Time? Still a buggy, unreliable mess. On the iPhone Pro Max’s massive screen, wouldn’t it be nice to open two apps side by side? And while Apple is taking a page from Android, how about that dirty-camera-lens warning?
Maybe iOS 19 will be even bolder.
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