Apple releases iOS 18

The first official version of iOS 18 was released by Apple in the early morning of September 17. The operating system supports devices released since 2018, such as iPhone XS and iPhone XR and later, similar to iOS 17.

This is one of the biggest updates to iOS in recent years, with a capacity of more than 4 GB on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. In the introduction, Apple introduced nearly 20 major changes to the devices, focusing on the ability to personalize the interface.

Users can freely position application icons on the home screen instead of having to place them horizontally as before. Icons can be increased in size by removing the name below, and the color can be changed as desired.

The Control Center does not have fixed icons like before, allowing users to customize the size of icons, add control buttons for third-party apps, and group control buttons into groups and swipe multiple times to find the desired function. There is even a search bar for users to find the desired control function.

One of the changes that attracted attention when introduced at WWDC 2024 in June was Messages and Notes. iOS 18 officially supports RCS messaging, allowing users to receive multimedia content such as photos, videos, and read receipts when messaging people without iPhones. The Notes section supports adding audio recordings and adding customizations to text colors. In addition, users can also enter expressions and have them calculated right in the application.

As for the Photos app, Apple calls it its biggest update ever, with a simplified layout and new auto-organizing features. The app will automatically organize your photo library by topics you find useful, such as pets, trips, and filter screenshots, QR codes, and document images. The app also has a built-in slow-motion feature for high-frame-rate videos.

In terms of privacy, users can lock apps to protect sensitive information, requiring Face ID, Touch ID, or a password to open; choose to share parts of their contacts with apps, and improve Bluetooth security. The Safari browser allows users to hide distracting items, such as ads on websites.

In addition, iOS 18 also brings some changes to passwords by adding a Passwords app to view all login information; syncing passwords with iCloud; changing the interface of the Wallet app; adding a route creation feature on Maps; interacting with Siri hands-free by nodding or shaking your head. Apple also supports the SharePlay screen sharing feature that allows you to manipulate someone else's screen or ask permission to control someone else's iPhone remotely.

In addition to the above changes, a feature that was introduced at WWDC but has not been implemented is Apple Intelligence. This feature, for the English language, is expected to be released later this year.

To update, users can do it right on the iPhone, by going to Settings > General Settings > Software Update.Before updating, you should create a backup for your device, plug in the charger or fully charge the battery, and connect to a stable wifi network. In addition to iOS 18, Apple also released the iOS 17.7 update for those who do not want to upgrade to 18, mainly to fix security bugs.