Apple’s WWDC Developers conference has just got underway and your iPhone is getting a major free upgrade.
Your iPhone will get a massive free upgrade later this year with Apple confirming iOS 18 is coming to devices soon. This latest and greatest operating system, which has just been announced at the US technology firm’s Developers Conference at its Apple Park HQ in Cupertino, is packed with upgrades aimed at making your iPhone smarter.
There’s a raft of changes coming in iOS 18 including an improved way to customise your home screen, schedule Messages to be sent at specific times of the day and make your email inbox less of a mess.
Apple has even confirmed a new feature that lets you lock apps behind Face ID security and hide certain applications in a new part of the phone called the “hidden apps folder” – that means people won’t be able to see what you have downloaded.
Messages gets some big changes as well with iOS 18 making it easier to send texts across Android and iPhone platforms thanks to support for RCS. There are new ways to interact with chats thanks to more “Tap Back” actions which means you can now add any emoji to this popular feature. There are also more effects – such as Shake and Boom – which add animations to your messages once they’ve been sent. Your phone will even make suggestions depending on what you are sending.
Emails get a massive upgrade with on-device categorisation that sorts incoming emails into Primary for personal and time-sensitive emails, Transactions for confirmations and receipts.
Apple also says Mail will feature a new digest view that pulls together all of the relevant emails from a business, allowing users to quickly scan for what’s important in the moment.
The Wallet app will also be updated with a simple way to transfer money between friends by simply tapping iPhones together and when you add tickets to your phone they will include extras such as venue guides and more.
If you use Apple Maps instead of Google Maps then you’ll soon see hiking trails which can be downloaded and used offline. The Photos app is also getting a refresh which should help you track down your favourite images faster plus there is a simplified, single view that displays a familiar grid, and new collections which help users browse by themes without having to organise content into albums.
Those who love using Dark Mode will see their apps get a new darker look and there are more options to customise the Home Screen. Once installed, you will be able to arrange apps and widgets in any open space on the Home Screen, including placing them right above the dock for easy access or perfectly framing a wallpaper.
That’s a big update but things are getting even smarter later this year with Apple unveiling its new platform call Apple Intelligence.
This will be baked into iOS 18 and offer a vast array of clever updates including being able to create your own unique emojis, get help with writing emails and even being able create unique images by simply adding a description of what you want to see and send.
Other smart changes in iOS 18 include the option to instantly tidy up your photos using AI and Siri will be able to find things on the phone in a much smarter way.
“We are thrilled to introduce iOS 18. It is a huge release with incredible features, including new levels of customization and capability, a redesigned Photos app, and powerful ways to stay connected with Messages. There are so many benefits for everyone,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.
“This release also marks the beginning of a tremendously exciting new era of personal intelligence with Apple Intelligence delivering intuitive, powerful, and instantly useful experiences that will transform the iPhone experience, all with privacy at the core. We can’t wait for users to experience it.”
When will iOS 18 be available?
Apple hasn’t revealed an exact launch date but we expect iOS 18 to be made available ahead of the launch of the iPhone 16 in September.
If previous years are anything to go by, the iOS 18 download should appear on devices around September 20.
Apple will also offer a public beta for those happy to test the new features. That update will go live next month.
