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iOS 18 official with a ton of new customization options and privacy features

Apple has revealed some exciting new features with iOS 18 (image via Apple)
Apple has revealed some exciting new features with iOS 18 (image via Apple)
Apple has officially shown off the latest version of iOS at WWDC 2024. iOS 18 lets you customize your Control Center with third-party widgets and assign custom colours to app icons. It also adds a new hidden app folder and the ability to lock individual apps.

iOS 18 is finally here and it brings forth a plethora of new updates for eligible devices. For starters, you can finally move around apps on your home screen to get a better look at your wallpaper. Then there are new themed icons that sync with your phone's dark/light modes. Furthermore, you can even customize the colours of your app icons, similar to what Google showed off with its Material You design.

iOS 18 app icons (image via Apple)
iOS 18 app icons (image via Apple)

Alongside app icons, iOS 18 also lets you customize your Control Center. You can now add widgets from third-party apps to the control center and even replace the existing flashlight/camera buttons in your lock screen with others. iPhone 15 Pro users can use the Action Button to invoke control center widgets. Developers can use a new API to create Control Center widgets for iPhones.

iOS 18 lets you replace the default buttons on the lockscreen (image via Apple)
iOS 18 lets you replace the default buttons on the lockscreen (image via Apple)
iOS 18 Control Center (image via Apple)
iOS 18 Control Center (image via Apple)

Alongside the above customization options, iOS 18 also brings forth some new privacy features. You can now prevent unauthorized access to individual apps by locking them, which can only be unlocked via Face ID/Touch ID/PIN. Additionally, individual apps can now be hidden from sight altogether via a new Hidden Apps folder. iOS 18 also lets you hide specific contacts from apps. Details from locked apps won't show up in search, notifications, Spotlight and anywhere else it can inadvertently show up.

Other iOS 18 features include the addition of "Game Mode" to your iPhone. As its name suggests, it frees up background resources, allowing your game to run more smoothly. The update also brings forth one of the most highly-anticipated features: RCS support for Messages. Other apps, such as Photos, Maps, and Wallet also get a bunch of QoL upgrades. Messages gets a bunch of new formatting options, Photos gets what Apple calls its "largest update yet" and Wallet lets you pay your friend via a single tap, similar to how iOS 17 let you exchange contacts.

Source(s)

Apple

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2024 06 > iOS 18 official with a ton of new customization options and new privacy features
Anil Ganti, 2024-06-10 (Update: 2024-06-11)