Apple presented this Monday the new features that iOS 18 will have, which will arrive on iPhones during the spring of 2024. It happened during the World Developers Conference, WWDC, in which they presented a lot of new functions enhanced with artificial intelligence.
As has been rumored and leaked, the firm led by Tim Cook showed off a series of new capabilities that will allow users to try new forms of communication, as well as information consultation and individualization of their iPhone.
“It’s a great launch with incredible features, including new levels of customization and capability (…). There are so many benefits for everyone,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.
iOS 18 will allow Apple users to move their applications to the position they want, eliminating the rule that they must be from the top. With this, they could be at the bottom or in a vertical row.
Added to this is the possibility of establishing a single color for all the icons, something like establishing a theme for the entire screen. In this, the iPhone will also suggest colors.
Customization is also applied in the Control Center, which now has tabs such as “media controls” or “home controls” and allows you to move elements as you wish. Developers will be able to make new control buttons for that area, which is a world of possibilities.
As for the Lock screen, it will be possible to change the Flashlight and Camera buttons for another one that is more comfortable for the user. Let’s say, Map or Instagram, if someone wanted it that way.
With this, iOS 18 is something like the androidization of the iPhone, allowing unexpected adjustments in Apple phones that for years were quite strict in their screen display format.
The new update will bring with it a hide and lock appswhich will help certain services have an extra layer of security.
In practice, for example, a dating application or a bank application – whose personal information is quite sensitive – may have this new capacity, which will prevent outside users from accessing it. This will require that its use be prior approval with Face ID or password.
The Photos app undergoes its “largest redesign ever”, with a grid of recent photos and collections, along with the possibility of filtering the content to only photos without screenshots, search for faces, animals, among others.
The truth is that during this presentation, many elements pointed out the use of artificial intelligence, but it was mostly exposed in a single section that was made official at the end and called ““Apple Intelligence”, which is Apple’s AI and its full functions. With this, you can search photos for faces of people with glitter, or people with hats, to say the least. The truth is that they are also part of the new Photos capabilities in iOS 18.
Apple’s messaging application will release new animations, including texts that are larger, explode, dance, among others. New reactions to messages will also be supported, which can be any emoji that the user chooses, as is allowed today, for example, by WhatsApp or Instagram messages.
Something that was leaked and confirmed at WWDC is that Apple is finally supporting RCS, a messaging standard that will help multimedia content and interactivity intersect, regardless of the operating system. With this, iOS and Android users will be able to send each other material and interact, without receiving the disappointing “content not supported” message, when they simply gifs, videos, etc.
Satellite messaging is something that also arrives in iOS 18, with iMessage allowing it. Another one above is the sending of scheduled messagesvery much in the style of what services such as Gmail allow in which a date and time is established for sending content.
It should be noted that in Chile (and in countries other than the United States), all these new features in iMessage could have little impact due to the massive penetration that other services have compared to Apple’s.
Apple has created a password application, which will allow users to more quickly access their access codes to websites and apps, Wi-Fi passwords and verification codes.
The app will also include alerts to users about common weaknesses, such as passwords that are easily guessed or used multiple times, and those that appear in data breaches.
He gaming In Apple’s environment it is not something that gets much use out of, but the company tries to push it more and more in its different environments.
In this section, Apple introduced the new Game Mode, which improves the gaming experience with more consistent frame rates, especially during long gaming sessions.
In addition, it will enhance wireless accessories such as AirPods and video game controls – such as the PS5 controller –, which will have a much faster response capacity.
Apple’s pro headphones (second generation) also add new functions. The most striking thing is that now You can answer or reject a call just by nodding or shaking your head. This was called Siri Interactionssince it will be the Apple assistant that will ask whether to answer or not, and you will receive the answer with the movement.
Call quality – using the AirPods Pro – will also have an improvement by isolating the voice in noisy environments. With this, we can enjoy more fluid dialogues in environments such as the subway, where external noise bothers those on the other side of the call.
As we said at the beginning, all these functions They will arrive in the final version of iOS 18 to be released sometime in the spring of this year.
