The Most Exciting IPhone Features I’m Expecting in IOS 18
All Apple updates are usually interesting, but some are much bigger than others. For example, iOS 17 introduced contact posters ; a feature that turns your iPhone into a smart display ; as well as the ability to turn any photo into a sticker . In June, Apple will officially announce iOS 18, which could very well be a game changer for the iPhone.
It’s all about AI
Look, this update is going to be all about AI. Everything in the tech world is about artificial intelligence these days, so why shouldn’t iOS updates follow suit? iOS 17 was the first update Apple released since ChatGPT , and while the company avoided using the AI phrase, they didn’t shy away from adding new AI-powered features.
However, the tech world is expecting iOS 18 to be the AI upgrade that Apple fans have been waiting for. Apple started catching up with generative AI after the surprise success of ChatGPT, and we could see the end results of those efforts in iOS 18. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman , Apple’s development team is exploring how to use its LLMs (large language models) with iOS, as well as the rest Apple software.
Siri, for example, could launch in iOS 18 with chatbot functionality similar to ChatGPT or Google Bard . You can find AI tools to help you create text in Pages, slides in Keynote, and playlists in Apple Music. It all depends on what Apple actually considers ready for prime time when WWDC rolls around in June. Additionally, it’s entirely possible that the AI features announced for iOS 18 will never make it out of beta. The company is quickly adding features that aren’t ready yet, like collaborative playlists in Apple Music, even when they announced them as part of a major update, and I’m sure that will be the case with something as complex as AI.
However, whatever stage Apple is at by June, rest assured that at least some of their AI exploits will make it into iOS 18.
Will we finally get RCS support?
It’s not a question of “if” but “when” Apple will add RCS support to iOS. Back in November, we learned that Apple was officially working to break the SMS/iMessage dichotomy by adding RCS to the mix so we iPhone users could text our Android friends without creating a hassle.
Here’s a quick rundown of the situation in case you’re not aware: Unlike Android developers like Google and Samsung, Apple has refused to adopt the more modern RCS messaging protocol for iOS. On the other hand, they also keep iMessage locked to Apple devices only. This means that unless you’re sending iMessaging to another Apple user, you’ll have to send text messages to the contact via SMS—an old, outdated, and insecure form of messaging. This is why group chats are dull, images are low quality, and texts are, oh, green.
Apple will definitely move to RCS sometime this year, meaning iPhone and Android will finally get along better with each other. (RCS will likely keep the green bubble, however.) It remains to be seen whether it will go away with iOS 18, but it would be smart for Apple to do so.
Accessibility improvements
According to MacRumors sources , Apple plans to add accessibility updates not only to iOS 18 but also to macOS 15. For example, “Adaptive Voice Shortcuts” should allow you to set a custom phrase to launch a specific accessibility shortcut. There’s not a lot of information on this, but apparently you can match a phrase like “Enable VoiceOver” to enable VoiceOver.
Next: categories for Live Speech phrases. Live Speech is a feature that lets your iPhone, iPad, or Mac read phrases out loud in a voice of your choice , including your own . Currently, the feature allows you to save frequently used phrases so you can quickly access them, and this year’s big updates will reportedly let you organize those phrases into categories. You’ll also be able to choose from 20 different icons that can be attached to each category.
Finally, macOS 15 is rumored to bring adjustable text size to the Books, News, Stocks, Tips, and Weather apps. This feature will allow you to change the text size in specific applications, rather than changing the text size for macOS in general. (This feature currently works in Calendar, Finder, Mail, Messages, Notes.)
Not all
It’s still early days, and there’s still plenty of time for the rumor mill to generate speculation and intrigue. Will Apple bring any EU-specific features, such as third-party app stores and true third-party browsers , to the rest of the world? Will iOS 18 introduce a new user interface for iPhone? Which iPhones will be excluded from the compatibility list? The closer we get to WWDC, the more we’re likely to hear about what iOS 18 could have in store for our iPhones.