The idea is that you will be able to speak more naturally with Siri. Ask and the assistant will be able to understand the context better than ever. You can say, “Play the podcast my wife sent me the other day,” and Siri will be able to play it. That kind of things.
Siri can also help explain how to perform certain functions on your phone if you’re unsure (maybe Samsung had something with Bixby). And if you make a mistake mid-sentence, you don’t have to start over. Siri will be able to understand your mistake and will also understand the context of your previous query, so you won’t need to repeat things over and over again.
Just like Google’s Gemini uses context based on what’s happening on the screen, Siri can now understand what’s on the screen when you activate it, so if someone texts you an address, you can activate Siri and ask it to add the address. to the person’s contact card. All of this is expected to work in first-party and third-party applications.
ChatGPT Integration
Photography: apple
Apparently, Apple’s intelligence still needs a boost sometimes, so Apple has turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT to boost them. The company says it is using the GPT-4o model and that you are in control of when Siri uses ChatGPT. This powers features like when you ask about the subject of a photo or document (like scanning a hundred-page PDF) and Compose, which lets you generate original images and text from a query.
All of these GPT features are free and no account is required, although if you’re already a subscriber you can link your account and access paid features.
New features in iOS 18
Ok, let’s move on to the more traditional software features. I’ve compiled the main features of iOS 18 below, but there are tons of smaller changes. You can see the full list directly from Apple.
Get rid of the app grid
For the first time, you can organize your apps and widgets however you want (just like on Android). Say goodbye to the fixed list of networks that Apple has imposed on us for almost two decades. You can also customize the app icons further, setting them to a specific color to match or complement your wallpaper, and even convert them to dark mode. You can also make these apps and widgets appear larger.
More control in Control Center
Control Center, the center that appears when you swipe down on the right edge of the iPhone, is now more customizable. There are now tabs within Control Center and you can scroll through them with a continuous swipe on the home screen. These include your favorites (the most important things you want to access in Control Center), media playback, and even smart home controls.
You can customize the size and layout of everything in Control Center, and this extends to lock screen controls: you can change the two icons at the bottom of your iPhone lock screen to something more useful. Expect new controls from third-party apps.
Lock and hide apps
Finally, you can hide apps to prevent anyone from spying, or you can block the app from asking for a passcode or biometric authentication every time it starts. The information from this app will be hidden throughout the system, even in notifications and searches. Google introduced a similar new feature called Private Space, which is coming to Android later this year.
Redesigned Photos App
Apple’s Photos app received a big redesign in iOS 18. It now has a photo grid at the top, and below it you can scroll through different collections, such as Recent Days, Travel, and People & Pets. This update is tied to several other improvements powered by Apple Intelligence, such as Clean Up, which can erase unwanted objects in the background of your photos, and the ability to find any image easily using search.
RCS and satellite messaging
Arguably one of Apple’s most anticipated announcements ended up as a small footnote in the middle of the company’s announcements. RCS is Rich Communication Services, the text messaging standard that followed SMS/MMS. Android phones have supported RCS for several years, enabling an enhanced texting experience that draws features from instant messaging apps, such as typing indicators, read receipts, and improved photo and video quality. However, none of this works when an Android user sends text messages to an iPhone (or vice versa) because Apple did not support RCS and used the older SMS standard.
That’s changing now, “RCS messages provide richer media and deliver and read receipts for those who don’t use iMessage,” according to Apple’s marketing materials. These texts will still appear in green (instead of blue when you text other iPhone owners via iMessage). , but it could finally mean the end of the interrupted texting experience that has caused so many people strife.
