Apple loosens its grip on interface customization with iOS 18, giving iPhone users a refreshing degree of personalization that rivals Android. In addition to the many customization options, the operating system has numerous cool features, including greatly enhanced messaging, photos, and productivity. However, Apple Intelligence (Apple's generative AI platform for Mac, iPad, and iPhone) and its related Siri enhancements aren't available at launch. Still, iOS 18 deepens the iPhone's core apps and personalization options in many impressive ways, making it a worthwhile upgrade from iOS 17.
Customization Options Galore
iOS 18 comes preinstalled on the iPhone 16 and is available for the iPhone XR, XS, SE (second generation or later), or newer. You can access the update via the Settings menu. Simply tap General, select Software Update, and download the latest version. For more details, see our iOS 18 installation guide.
The most significant change in iOS 18 is the new suite of customization features. Before this, Apple was notoriously strict about how you could tweak your iPhone's Home and Lock screens. Sure, you could reorder apps and swap wallpapers, but you were limited to Apple's rigid grid layout, default icons, and sparse widget placement. Now you have carte blanche to move and tint app icons, add new controls to the control gallery and lock screen, and resize icons and widgets as you see fit. This new customization is a big win for iPhone users.
If an app has a respective widget (like Apple’s Journal app, for example), you can swap between the icon and widget from the home screen by pressing and holding the app icon. Icons and widgets have a few preset sizes, so you should pick one that best suits your tastes. In a nice touch, you can resize widgets like Windows thanks to iOS 18's new drag functionality.
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Despite this customization freedom, the home screen still adheres to Apple's familiar grid-based presentation. The OS tries to group app icons next to one another as you drag them around the screen, so you'll occasionally fight with the system to place icons where you want them. This is especially true when resizing widgets that move app icons to new locations and alter your home screen layout. However, its a small price to pay for the home screen freedom.
Control Center has many new customization options, too. In addition to offering quick controls for Bluetooth, screen brightness, and Wi-Fi, it lets you swipe between several control pages. These include screens for media controls, smart home commands, and connectivity (airplane mode, Bluetooth, and cellular data). You can move these controls around the screen and add new pages with additional controls. This personalization extends to the Lock Screen. You can swap the traditional flashlight and camera toggle for any other quick control. For example, I replaced my camera with a QR scanner.
Apple has finally caught up to Android's rich customization. That said, Android still has the edge over iOS with its cinematic wallpapers that let you generate attractive, moving wallpapers from your photos. Likewise, Android's Material You screen personalization features also have advantages over Apple's. For example, it offers useful tint suggestions that match the color of your text and wallpaper, creating a more uniform look.
A Revamped Photos App
The Photos app receives an overhaul, too. When you view the library, a tab on the bottom of the screen lets you sort images by year, month, or all. A new arrow key lets you filter your search to display screenshots, videos, photos, edited media, and favorites. You can refine your hunt using the app's search button at the top of the screen. Apple offers suggested search terms, but you can enter whatever you like. Thankfully, this feature al launch is faster than the beta version's, which was slow and unresponsive. Now, you can enter a term like "kitchen" and receive dozens of photos and screenshots that pertain to kitchen-related images.
As you scroll down, your photos are sorted into new categories with specialized collections. These appear as panels, such as Albums, People & Pets, Pinned Collections, Recent Days, Trips, and Wallpaper Suggestions. Swiping left on these panels launches a carousel view for customizing the collection by adding people and pets to the photo group. You can reorder and customize these collections, too. This new layout looks fantastic and offers superior navigation to Photos' previous builds, which featured too many menus and submenus.
Photos is slated for even more enhancements with the release of Apple Intelligence later this year. One upcoming feature is Clean Up, which lets you remove objects from a photo like Android's impressive Magic Eraser.
RCS Finally Comes to iPhones
Rich Communication Services (RCS) makes its Apple debut in iOS 18. This means you can now send and receive media from Android users without the drop in quality that made file sharing effectively useless before. With iOS 18, high-quality photo and video files stay high quality regardless of recipient. It works well in group messages, so including an Android user in a multi-person chat won't inadvertently break the conversation. You can even see typing indicators for RCS messages. Yes, message bubbles are still green, but that's a small concession considering the radically improved compatibility.
Messages has new text formatting and effects options. The A icon above the keyboard launches the format menu, which lets you bold, italicize, underline, or slash through text. Additionally, you can select from new graphical effects to make highlighted words pop. These include big, small, nod, shake, explode, and other animated effects. Tapbacks now allow numerous different stickers or emoji reactions. Another excellent addition is the ability to schedule messages. You can schedule a message up to two weeks in advance, which is a handy feature for forgetful people who fear missing an important date.
Overall, Messages is a much-improved app, though Apple still has kinks to work out. In testing, some graphical effects didn't correctly display.
Useful Calculator Improvements
By default, the Calculator app looks like the same as it has for years. However, a new toggle lets you fire up a scientific calculator. You can also select the Math Notes option, a wholly unique spin on the classic calculator.
Math Notes is essentially a variation on the Notes app. With it, you can type or handwrite math notes. Here's how it works. If you write an equation and add an equal sign, Calculator automatically solves the problem. This is true whether you type the numbers with a keyboard or jot them with a stylus or finger. It also continually updates the solution as you continue to write or type. It's a cool app update, though scribbling with my finger felt a little cramped on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Math Notes feels much better in iPadOS 18 thanks to the iPad's more spacious display.
Big Journal Updates
The Journal app launched a few months after the release of iOS 17. While simplistic, it was a fine tool for chronicling your daily life. With iOS 18, the Journal app is much more robust. It now offers more stats and insights about your daily activities, improved categorization, and search functionality.
Upon opening the app, you're presented with a useful feed that displays your total entries for the year, the number of words written, and the number of days journaled. You can start a journal from scratch or choose recommended and recent moments to jumpstart your writing. In addition, Journal's Reflections feature returns from iOS 17. These are questions the app asks to get your creative juices flowing. For example, it could ask, "What experience had the most significant impact on you last year?"
So, how does it work in practice? Having just returned from vacation, the Journal app offered numerous recent activities to kick-start a new entry, including photo memories, visited locations, and the number of steps I walked. I selected "Night visit to Shibuya" from recent locations, which caused Journal to pull some of my photos, an Apple Maps ping of the prefecture, and a prompt to describe the outing.
Verdict: A Good iPhone Update With a Promising Future
Apple's iOS 18 improves the iPhone in many exciting ways, especially when it comes to customization, journaling, and RCS support. Some of the bigger changes involving Apple Intelligence and Siri aren't yet available, and those features can potentially turn iOS 18 into a true powerhouse. We'll update this review to reflect future changes, but even as it currently stands, iOS 18 is already a must-download operating system for iPhone owners.
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