The Biggest iPhone Update: iOS 18 is Here!

Hey techish readers! The biggest iPhone update is finally here: iOS 18. With new home screen customization, voice commands, and even a brand new control panel, there's so much to explore. Let me show you everything new coming to your iPhone!

Mind-Blowing Eye Control

One of the most mind-blowing new features you just have to try for yourself is that you can now control your iPhone with just your eyes. Crazy, right? Here’s how you do it:

1. Head into your settings.
2. Scroll down to Accessibility.
3. Scroll down again until you see Eye Tracking.
4. Toggle this on and place your phone on a stand.

Your iPhone will ask you to follow dots with your eyes to learn their movement. Once set up, you can look at anything on your screen, and your iPhone will snap to and select it. If you prefer, you can turn off snap to item and use a cursor that follows your eye movement instead. It’s just so cool!

Feel the Beat with Music Haptics

A brand new music feature you just have to try is Music Haptics:

1. Go to Accessibility.
2. Scroll down to the Hearing section.
3. Turn on Music Haptics.

Now, whenever you play music through Apple Music, your iPhone will vibrate to the beat, letting you really feel the music. It’s such a unique feature! If you're not a fan, you can turn it off right there. For now, it only works with Apple Music, so Spotify listeners will have to wait a bit longer.

Next-Level Customization

There’s a lot of new stuff with customization. Here are some highlights:

1. Side Button Animation: Whenever you press any side button, you’ll see a little press animation. It’s the attention to these details that make the iPhone stand out.

2. Move and Customize App Icons: You can finally tap and hold down on any app and drag it anywhere on the screen. Icons no longer snap back to the top, allowing for any layout that suits your wallpaper and design. You can also customize the app icons by making them smaller or larger and changing their tint color to any color you want. There are even dark mode app icons!

3. Lock Screen Shortcuts: You can now change the corner app shortcuts to anything from a super long list. Options include "Pin My Watch," opening apps like YouTube, WhatsApp, or Spotify directly from the lock screen.

Control Center on Steroids

The new control center is kind of like it's on steroids. It now splits into different pages: a main page, a music/media page, home controls, and a connectivity page. Here’s how to customize it:

1. Tap the plus icon in the top left-hand side to add your own pages.
2. Add controls by tapping the “add control” button at the bottom of each page.
3. Resize icons by tapping and dragging the handle.
4. Change the order of pages by tapping and holding, then dragging down to where you want it to be.
5. Remove a control page by tapping the little minus icon.

You can really customize it a lot now, making your control center exactly how you want it.

Lock and Hide Your Apps

If you want to lock any of your apps:

1. Inside Settings and Face ID, make sure your passcode is turned on and Face ID is set up.
2. On the home screen, tap and hold down on any app.
3. Select “Require Face ID” to lock it. Now, anytime you open that app, it’ll use Face ID or ask for your passcode.

To hide an app:

1. Tap and hold down on the app.
2. Select “Require Face ID” again.
3. Choose “Hide and Require Face ID.”

The app will vanish from your home screen and move to the hidden app folder, accessible only with Face ID or your passcode. You can lock any app, but you can only hide apps downloaded from the App Store.

Nifty New Passwords App

The new Passwords app is so handy:

1. Find the passwords of any Wi-Fi you've ever connected to.
2. Tap on a password to copy it quickly.
3. Security codes regenerate every 30 seconds.
4. Add any password you want to save.
5. The app will tell you if any of your passwords have been compromised and need changing ASAP.

Vocal Shortcuts and More

iOS 18 introduces some total must-know features:

1. Vocal Shortcuts: Set up vocal shortcuts in Accessibility. For example, say "Snappy Snap" to take a screenshot. You can set vocal shortcuts for anything!

2. Flashlight Adjustments: Adjust the brightness and width/narrowness of your flashlight. Now, the flashlight dims down instead of just switching off.

3. Vehicle Motion Cues: If you're in a car, your phone will show dots to help with motion sickness. It works on flights and boats too!

Next-Level Texting

Texting on the updated Messages app is next-level:

1. Better Reactions: More reaction options, including any emoji you like.
2. Text Effects: Highlight part of a message and apply text effects to add pizzazz.
3. Send Later: Schedule messages to be sent at a specific time or date. Send birthday messages or fun messages to your future self.

Insane Calculator Features

The calculator app has new features:

1. Math Notes: Start a new note, give it a title, and start calculating sums. Your iPhone will solve them for you as you type.
2. Conversion Calculator: Convert units quickly, including currencies with up-to-date exchange rates.

Updated Notes App

The Notes app got a few updates:

1. Audio Recording: Record audio directly in your notes.
2. Text Recolor: Highlight text and change its color.

Redesigned Photos App

The Photos app has been completely redesigned:

1. Customize Collections: Deselect albums to reduce clutter.
2. Search Improvements: Search for specific dates or terms like “6 months ago.”
3. Utility Section: Categorize photos into specific albums automatically.
4. People and Pets Collection: Name your pets and see all their photos organized.

Action Button Customization

The action button has new customization options:

1. Inside Settings, find the Action Button section.
2. Add control shortcuts from the control panel to the action button.

iOS 18 has a ton of cool features! If you want to see my video on Apple intelligence and the new Siri, make sure you subscribe. I'll see you in the next one! Toodles!

This article is based on factual information available on third-party websites, which has been carefully confirmed and verified during the research process. It is recommended to check any required information. I do not hold any rights over the used image; all credits to the holder.