iOS 18 first look and impressions

iOS 18 was touted to be the biggest update ever in the run up to WWDC 2024, the event where Apple finally took the wraps off the mobile OS. And all the buzz turned out to be true, but with a catch. A large chunk of the revolution on iOS 18 is part of Apple Intelligence – a suite of AI-powered features that may just change how we use iPhones.  

Apple Intelligence, however, will only arrive later this year, and to very few iPhones. This left most iPhone users a little confused as to what they’d gain from iOS 18. To answer this, we put our spare iPhone 14 Pro to work, and ventured into the iOS 18 beta territory. Here are our iOS 18 initial impressions. 

How we got out hands on iOS 18 (before you)

If you’re wondering how we got access to iOS 18 in the first place, we have a detailed guide on how to install iOS 18 public beta on a compatible iPhone. In a nutshell, it involves signing up for Apple’s Beta Program and then downloading an update without the guarantee of stability. So, if you’re thinking of pulling this off on your main device, don’t. It’s better to just wait for the stable update than risking data loss, having your apps crash and more. 

ALSO READ: Evolution of the iPhone: How Apple built the poster boy for smartphones 

Powerful customisations on iOS 18

The highlight of iOS 18 – AI features aside – is customisation. Not only can you move icons where you want across the home screen (and have them stay there), you can also enlarge them, remove the text underneath for a minimal look, and change the tint for some great wallpaper-pairing.  

Even the rigid iOS Control Centre is now customisable, letting you not just drag and drop specific ‘controls’ wherever you want, but also move them to separate pages. We’re talking about one page with all the controls you use at the office, another for home, and so on. The possibilities here are truly endless.

Other elements you can play around with are the two shortcuts on the lock screen that you can now change, or the intensity of the flashlight, which can now be altered too. As someone who switched to iOS last year after using Android phones for over half my life, I can’t forgive Apple for not having these elements all along, but I am happy I get these features within just months of switching sides.  

New abilities

iOS 18 also has several features added to existing apps. The messages app now supports RCS, allowing better communication with Android phones, along with the ability to schedule and send messages to yourself, which I can totally see a lot of people using as push reminders.  

ALSO READ: Why it took 14 years for the Apple iPad to get a Calculator app 

One of my favourite aspects of iOS is the built-in password manager. The new Passwords app saves me the trouble of diving into the Settings app when I can’t remember my credentials for a random website.  

Vocal shortcuts, on the other hand, let me assign specific words to specific actions for quick day-to-day tasks. I set up “snappity snap” to take screenshots and am finding a way to turn on Airplane Mode when I say “wingardium leviosa”. 

Other additions

iOS 18 also packs several other features I am yet to try out. This includes an eye-tracking mode that lets me control the iPhone like the Apple Vision Pro, the Math Notes feature that lets me solve complex, hand-drawn equations in real-time (something I totally do every day) and so much more.  

Unboxed Take: Is iOS 18 an exciting update?

Yes. The customisation is more than just moving your icons around, and iOS 18 also adds several new features which make using the iPhone more fun, and in many cases more efficient. New accessibility options also make the iPhone much more usable for the differently abled, an area that needs more attention.  

While the spare iPhone 14 Pro I’ve been using these features on has been great, I absolutely cannot wait to try the stable build of iOS 18 when it lands on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma until then, because I will totally be taking a deeper dive, especially with all the new Apple Intelligence features which should be live by then.