iOS 18: new features, release date, compatible iPhones, everything you need to know about the update

Like every year, Apple will distribute a major update to iOS in the fall of 2024. iOS 18 is especially anticipated because it is the version of the mobile operating system that will bring the iPhone into the age of artificial intelligence. The Android ecosystem is months ahead in this regard, thanks to Google AI on the Pixel 8 and Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S24. Although flawed, all these new AI-based features have shown very interesting potential on Android. We logically wonder how Apple will react. We know that when the Apple brand lags behind on a technology, it tends to optimize and perfect it before implementing it in its products. New features, compatibility, usability, everything you need to know about iOS 18 is here.

When will iOS 18 be released?

The official announcement of iOS 18 will take place on: June 10, 2024 During the opening conference of the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple’s major annual event dedicated to developers and the manufacturer’s new software products. Later, the schedule for the availability of iOS 18 will be communicated here. Based on the history of iOS updates, it is likely that the first beta version will be available following the presentation at WWDC. Other betas will then be gradually distributed until September. The stable version of iOS 18 will be released along with the launch of iPhone 16.

Which iPhones are compatible with iOS 18?

The new iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will of course ship directly with iOS 18. It is expected that all models that support iOS 17 will also be able to install the update; The full list of relevant devices is here:

• iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS, XS Max, XR
• iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation)

On the tablet side, not all iPads that support iPadOS 17 will necessarily be compatible with iPadOS 18. So that leaves out the 12.9-inch 2nd-gen iPad Pro and the 10.5-inch 2nd-gen iPad Pro from 2017, which leaves us with:

• iPad (2019 and newer)
• iPad mini (2019 and newer)
• iPad Air (2019 and newer)
• iPad Pro (2018 and newer)

What’s new in iOS 18?

iOS 18 is an update full of new features, interface changes, as well as all kinds of improvements and optimizations. You can find things to remember here.

Voice assistant Siri is finally up to date thanks to generative artificial intelligence

Apple is reportedly aiming to improve Siri first to provide a smarter experience on the iPhone. The voice assistant has often been criticized for its performance compared to Amazon Alexa and especially the Google Assistant powered on the Gemini. Siri will improve significantly with iOS 18, thanks to a language model (LLM) trained by Apple and running natively on iPhone.

Firstly, The answers will be of better quality. Siri, which has often been overlooked until now, will be able to better understand user requests and search for appropriate information. The fluency of conversations will be even better, whereas communicating with Siri can be frustrating at the moment. We also expect improvements in terms of voice synthesis and Siri’s voices will become more natural.

The assistant will better manage dates, calendar events, and locations. He can too create a summary of your notifications If you don’t have time to check them one by one at the end of the day. Siri will also be useful for summarizing articles. Finally, with the iOS 18.

Finally, since iOS 17, a simple “Siri” Just call the assistant “Say Siri” previously. with iOS 18 Vocal Shortcuts allows you to assign personalized emoticons (a word or phrase) to complex actions. This is a voice-based variant of the iPhone’s custom shortcuts.

Edit photos with AI in Photos

The Photos app will have advanced AI-based editing features such as: delete a specific item in a snapshot. This option, which has been available on Android for years, is quite practical for editing photos on the fly. Visual search will be optimized.

Creating images in messages

Artificial intelligence will help enrich our conversations. a tool for Image creation and editing will integrate iMessagesoffers an alternative to GIFs and other stickers for more visual communication. The app also allows you to create your own personalized emojis. Just like Siri and Mail, Messages will support smart replies with sentence suggestions and conversation summaries based on conversation context to type messages faster.

An assistant implemented in Safari

Isn’t it enough to be able to access Siri and ChatGPT on iPhone whenever you want? Like the Edge browser with Copilot, Safari will directly integrate its own AI assistant. This should make it possible to ask a chatbot a question, summarize content, respond considering a document or an open web page, and even generate text, rather than launching a traditional search engine query.

Apple revolutionizes Notes

Thanks to artificial intelligence, Apple wants to take the Notes app to a new dimension and make it a real option for students and professionals. It will be equipped with a text creation tool, audio recording, audio transcription and text summary. Each note can contain text, audio and images. Integration with Calculator will make it possible to solve equations and even create graphs from mathematical data.

AI-generated playlists in Apple Music

Putting together your own music playlists can be tedious, and others’ may not best reflect your current tastes. The Apple Music app will be able to automatically create playlists based on what you usually listen to. In addition, the artificial intelligence will behave like a DJ: Thanks to fade effects, the transition between songs will be less abrupt. This will not affect the beats per minute (bpm) of the tracks.

RCS support

Apple is finally making Messages compatible with the RCS protocol, as Google has been demanding for a long time. This aims to replace the SMS and MMS formats that are still used today for exchanges between Android mobile phone and iPhone. RCS allows you to send and receive messages over Wi-Fi instead of cellular, as well as take advantage of advanced messaging features like reactions, sending higher quality multimedia content, compatibility of more advanced emojis across systems, receipt confirmation, and even mini messages. Periods when writing a message.

RCS support in iOS 18 also allows encryption of communication with Android devices. On the other hand, Apple does not give up and continues to discriminate against Android users with a green bubble, while iPhone owners appear in a blue bubble.

More accessibility

Apple announced the arrival of the function eye tracking To control your device and navigate the interface with just your eyes. The front camera is used, no additional hardware is required except for an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18. To activate an item, simply press and hold for the equivalent of haptic support.

The update also comes with: Touch of Musicis designed for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. When this feature is enabled, iPhone’s haptic engine begins simulating sound with vibrations, allowing you to enjoy music with little or no hearing. This option will be available on Apple Music, and an API will allow third-party app developers to make their services compatible.

Apple also thinks about those who suffer from motion sickness. Vehicle Movement Tips It is a feature that displays animated dots at the edges of the screen that represent changes in vehicle movement. This technique will help reduce sensory conflicts without interfering with the content on the screen. Users who were previously unable to do so will be able to use their iPhone in the car or other means of transportation and will also be less prone to motion sickness.

Still in the car, CarPlay under iOS 18 integrates voice control, color filters (for colorblind people) and voice recognition (so deaf or hard-of-hearing drivers or passengers can receive alerts in case of horns and sirens).

A more customizable home screen than ever before

iOS, which has been lagging behind Android in this regard for a long time, offers more and more possibilities in customization. With the next major update you will finally be able to: Move your apps and widgets anywhere on the home screen. It is not possible to leave a space between two elements in iOS 17, this annoying limitation will disappear. The design of application icons can also be changed. Here too, Android has been offering this with Material You for several years.

Moreover, the overall aesthetics of iOS 18 will be closer to the VisionOS experience. Different interface elements will have more rounded and opacity effects. The idea is to streamline the Apple ecosystem and create a strong identity.

Control center is being renewed

iOS 18 overhauls the control center, an essential element of the iPhone as it provides quick access to the most used features. But there haven’t really been any significant improvements since the big update with the launch of the iPhone X in 2017. The audio player integrated into the control center will improve. It will take up more space and by default it will display the album art of the currently playing content and the playbar that only appears after a long press.

The management of linked objects has also been reviewed. The devices displayed in the control center can be manually selected by the user. Today, the iPhone automatically highlights up to six products, but those aren’t necessarily the ones we want to see most in this interface. The design of the space allocated to HomeKit will benefit from some optimizations to make it easier to control connected objects from this location.

Apple Plans are catching up

Although Apple has made efforts to improve the Maps app, it is still far less complete than Google Maps. iOS 18 will help make up for this delay with personalized journey support. Users will therefore be able to choose to follow alternative routes. Integration of topographic maps is also expected. These are already available on the brand’s connected watches as part of watchOS 10.

Settings become more intuitive

No more spending long minutes searching for the setting you need in the menus of the Settings app? iOS 18 introduces better organization and a cleaner interface to make navigation easier. And especially, Search will be much more efficient To directly find the option you want.

Reminders in Calendar

We wonder how this isn’t the case, but Reminders will be integrated into the Calendar app. It will be possible to create and consult them. Logically, Google Calendar has been doing this for a long time, but Apple is only now stepping up.