2024-09-17 07:07:34
Apple is releasing iOS 18 for its iPhones this Monday. What features you can look forward to and who will get the update.
Today is the day: iPhone owners will receive a new operating system for their phones with iOS 18. The good news: All iPhones with iOS 17 are also ready for iOS 18. The bad news: The AI functions announced by Apple for the new operating system will not be coming to Europe for the time being.
The reason is the new digital law DMA. The company fears legal uncertainty and is worried that the requirements for opening up to other manufacturers and service providers could compromise the protection of user data. But even in countries like the USA, the AI functions are gradually coming with the updates for iOS 18.
With iOS 18, Apple is bringing a long-awaited feature: With the update, users can now freely arrange their apps on an invisible grid on the home screen.
In addition, the icons can be displayed in their own colors. This allows Apple users to design their home screens much more individually than before.
The control center has also been redesigned; here, too, the elements can be arranged freely. This allows iPhone owners to place the most frequently used applications further forward and push less frequently used elements to the back.
The size of the elements can also be adjusted; the elements themselves can even be grouped together. In addition, the Control Center can be split across multiple screens, so that it can be divided into areas for smart home elements and media playback, for example.
Apple has also redesigned the photo app and made it clearer. Apple calls it the “biggest redesign of all time”.
What does this mean? When users open the app, they are automatically shown the latest images. The tabs at the bottom disappear. Instead, they see a media library that is automatically organized by the application according to topics such as “Last days,” “Travel,” and “People” and “Pets.”
Users can pin photo collections to access them faster than before.
Data protection is also a high priority for Apple under iOS 18. Users can now lock applications and only release them with a fingerprint or facial recognition. They can also be hidden in a special folder.
The hidden apps cannot be found via search and iOS hides notifications. This is to prevent others from accidentally seeing sensitive information.
These are the iPhones compatible with iOS 18:
There are two ways to get the update, which is expected to be available at 7 p.m. The user can then download it manually via the Settings app and install it as soon as it is available. This can be done under “General” > “Software update”.
Users can also set their iPhone to automatically install an update as soon as it is available. This can also be done via the Settings app. Here you select “General” > “Software Update” > “Automatic Updates”.
Users can now choose whether they only want iOS updates to be downloaded automatically or whether they also want to install them automatically. Users can activate both without any concerns – the updates are only downloaded automatically when connected to Wi-Fi and before an automatic installation the user is informed of the option to prevent this.