You’ve got most likely seen marquee iOS 18 options akin to customizing your house display and sending formatted texts, however the newest iPhone system replace is crammed with a lot of different gems — and that is earlier than Apple Intelligence arrives subsequent month.
When you’ve simply upgraded your present iPhone to iOS 18 otherwise you received an iPhone 16 in the present day, these hidden tips will enhance your telephone expertise.
Yearly, we undergo the most recent iOS and search for any hidden options that are not solely hidden, however that can also and can have an effect on how we use our iPhones day by day. When you’re operating iOS 18, these are a number of of the options and settings that Apple did not actually discuss, however that you must undoubtedly know.
For extra, listed here are seven iOS 18 settings you need to change immediately, find out how to again up your iPhone the best method and find out how to repair these two annoying iOS 16 settings.
Restart your iPhone from the brand new management heart
You do not have to press any bodily buttons to restart your iPhone for those who’re operating iOS 18. The redesigned management heart options all of the basic controls you are used to, like brightness, quantity, orientation, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, however there are a number of new controls, together with one to restart your iPhone.
All you have to do is swipe down from the top-right of your iPhone and press and maintain down on the brand new energy button within the top-right of the management heart. You’ll be able to’t simply faucet it although, you must maintain it down for a second or so, after which the slider to energy off your iPhone will seem.
To show your iPhone again on, you will nonetheless have to press and maintain the bodily facet button.
On iOS 17 and earlier, the one option to restart your iPhone is to press and maintain both quantity button and the facet button.
Use a QR code to share your Wi-Fi password
There are a number of methods you possibly can share a Wi-Fi community and password with folks by way of your iPhone, and there is a new option to do it on iOS 18. Utilizing a QR code fills in a number of gaps for tactics to shortly share your Wi-Fi info:
- Share with a number of folks without delay. As a substitute of individually sending out your Wi-Fi password, you possibly can have everybody scan the QR code out of your telephone.
- Share with somebody not saved as your contact. Close by share for Wi-Fi would not work except that individual is in your contacts.
- Share with somebody that has Android. Close by share and AirDrop do not work with Android gadgets.
Watch this: 11 Hidden Options in iOS 18
So for those who meet any of these eventualities and you do not need to textual content the Wi-Fi password to them, you should utilize the QR code. Go to the brand new Passwords app, go to the Wi-Fi part, faucet on the community you need to share after which hit Present Community QR Code. If the opposite individual scans the QR code with their digital camera, they will be linked to the Wi-Fi community.
This solely works for Wi-Fi passwords, not common passwords.
Modify the beam width of your flashlight
The flashlight on the iPhone is getting a giant improve. Whilst you’ve lengthy been capable of change the depth of the flashlight, on iOS 18 now you can additionally modify the beam width of the sunshine, so long as you’ve got a appropriate mannequin. You’ll be able to go vast, to cowl extra space with much less gentle, or go slender, to make use of extra intense gentle over much less space, and all over the place in between. It is a enjoyable function to mess around with for lighting folks for pictures.
To make use of the brand new function, flip in your flashlight (use the lock display or management heart), and a brand new person interface will seem within the dynamic island. You’ll be able to change the sunshine depth by swiping up and down, however to alter the beam width, you will have to swipe left and proper. When you faucet anyplace within the dynamic island, you possibly can flip the flashlight on and off.
A large flashlight beam (left) and a slender beam (proper).
Observe: This function solely works on iPhone fashions with the dynamic island, together with the iPhone 14 Professional, iPhone 14 Professional Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max.
Transcribe Voice Memos and make them searchable
The Voice Memos app is extremely handy for capturing concepts or tune snippets, however they’ve all the time been obfuscated. You may give them a descriptive title, however that does not assist whenever you need to discover that one memo you recorded that accommodates the phrase “porcupine.” In iOS 18, although, the app can create transcriptions of your voice memos and seek for phrases that have been beforehand out there solely as audio waveforms.
Within the Voice Memos app, faucet one among your memos to disclose its controls after which faucet the Edit Recording button, which seems like a waveform. Or, faucet the three-dots button to the best of a memo and select Edit Recording.
Subsequent, faucet the Transcribe button to create the transcription (or view the textual content if it is already been transcribed). Faucet Finished.
Take an present voice memo (left) and create a transcript of the recording (proper).
Now, whenever you use the Search area, the app seems via the transcripts along with the titles for outcomes. The textual content can be out there all through iOS – whenever you carry out a search from the house display, you will see Voice Memos as a class with the memos that embody the search time period (it’s possible you’ll have to faucet Present Extra Outcomes to disclose it).
With transcripts made, voice memos are extra simply searchable.
Conceal app labels for a cleaner house display
Is your house display feeling a little bit too cluttered? If that’s the case, this new function might assist. Now with iOS 18, you possibly can eliminate app labels, or the names of the apps that you just see beneath every app icon on your house display. When you can acknowledge an app from simply the icon, who wants the label?
On your house display, press and maintain down on any clean area, till you enter jiggle mode, after which hit Edit > Customise. A menu will seem on the backside of the display; select the Giant possibility, which is able to make your app icons barely bigger and take away the app labels.
This will even take away the app labels from the folders within the App Library.
Change an app to a widget with out leaving the house display
Not each iOS app has a widget to your house display, but when it does, you needn’t dig via the widget edit web page to search out it. When you’re operating iOS 18, and there is an app that you just need to flip right into a widget, you are able to do so in a short time proper from your house display.
On a supported app, press and maintain down on the icon on your house display to convey up the fast actions menu. If the app has a widget, you will see an app icon subsequent to quite a lot of widget icons (as much as three). Faucet on any of the widget icons to alter the app to a widget. If you wish to return from the widget to the app, go to the fast motion menu and hit the app icon on the left.
This solely works for apps which have widgets on iOS.
Secretly establish songs utilizing the Motion Button
No lie, it is satisfying when somebody asks, “What tune is that this?” to have the ability to activate Music Recognition on the iPhone and get a solution shortly. However to get the reply means very noticeably asking Siri to run Shazam or activating Music Recognition within the management heart. Would not or not it’s enjoyable to let your folks assume you have been blessed with an encyclopedic data of pop music?
In iOS 18, you possibly can come shut utilizing the Motion Button (presently out there simply on iPhone 15 Professional fashions). Go to Settings > Motion Button and swipe via the choices till Acknowledge Music is chosen.
Assign the Acknowledge Music function to the Motion Button after which establish songs by simply holding the button.
To make it work, simply press and maintain the Motion Button for a few seconds. Shazam seems within the dynamic island to hearken to what’s taking part in and identifies the tune. When you’re sneaky about activating Shazam and peeking at your telephone, nobody must know you bought some assist from a supercomputer within the cloud.
Discover photos with handwriting and illustrations within the Photographs app
Loads is altering within the Photographs app in iOS 18, from the way in which issues are organized to the flexibility to make use of generative AI to take away objects in photos (coming subsequent month). Apple has additionally tucked a number of surprises into the app that will help you kind via your library.
Scroll down previous the primary library itself to view classes akin to Folks and Pets and Reminiscences till you attain Utilities. Faucet it to view the complete record – however observe {that a} new function of this interface is the flexibility to swipe left to view further panels. Previous to iOS 18, Utilities included choices to view hidden, not too long ago deleted and duplicate pictures.
Now, it consists of many extra choices. Faucet Handwriting to view photos with handwriting in them. In search of photos which can be illustrations and never pictures? Faucet Illustrations (although in our testing this appears to seize a number of screenshots, too).
View photos that include handwriting in your Photographs library in iOS 18.
Share a selected part of a podcast
Did the hosts of your favourite podcast say one thing particularly humorous or considerate that you just need to share with somebody? Within the Podcasts app in iOS 18, you possibly can ship an episode to a pal with the playback superior to that second — however the functionality is not simple to search out.
Faucet the Now Enjoying bar within the app on the backside of the display to view the playback controls and pause the episode. Use the progress bar to return to the beginning of the part you need to share.
Subsequent, faucet the Extra (…) button and select Share Episode. Within the sharing choices that seem, faucet From Begin under the episode title, after which choose From [the current time]. Faucet Finished.
Begin by sharing the episode itself.
Lastly, select the tactic of sharing, akin to by way of Messages or Mail. When the recipient receives the shared episode and opens it within the Podcasts app, they will see the choice to Play from [the time].
Specify that the shared episode begins on the time you selected.
