⬤ Four days before the release of the iPhone 16 in the market, iOS 18 was officially released for compatible iPhones.
⬤ The most prominent features of iOS 18 include new ways to customize the home screen, lock screen, and Control Center.
⬤ As for the artificial intelligence features of Apple Intelligence, they will be released exclusively for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro.
While the iPhone 16 will hit the market starting September 20, iOS 18 was officially released for compatible iPhones beginning September 16. The new update includes features primarily related to customization, while the artificial intelligence features of Apple Intelligence will be released later.
The update supports many previous iPhone models starting from the iPhone XR, through the iPhone SE (2020), and certainly including the iPhone 16. Apple is known for supporting its older devices with updates, even if they were launched six years ago. The update can be easily downloaded by going to Settings, searching for the Software Update section, and then installing it. The iOS system update is an annual tradition that brings new features to iPhones. The most prominent features of iOS 18 are as follows:
- New ways to customize the home screen, allowing for empty spaces on the screen and greater freedom in arranging icons.
- Introduction of colorable icons and theme changes to better match user preferences and the backgrounds they want to use.
- Ability to modify lock screen shortcuts and add new functionalities to them.
- A visual update to the Control Center, adding special screens for media control and quick connection options.
- Major updates to the Photos app with improved search features and better organization and grouping of images.
- New capabilities in the Messages app, such as scheduling messages, quick replies using emojis, and adding text effects.
- Support for RCS, which will allow encrypted messaging between iPhones and Android devices, though messages in conversations with Android users will remain colored green instead of blue.
- Enhancements to the smart personal assistant, Siri, with better task performance, contextual understanding, and execution of commands within apps and more.
- Addition of a voice-to-text feature in the Notes app, supporting text summarization and conversion into key points.
- Improvements in notifications, including their organization and prioritization.
As for the artificial intelligence features of Apple Intelligence, which Apple announced for the first time in June, they will be released in a beta version of a later update in English exclusively in October. However, these features will only be available for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro.
