Prakhar Khanna / Digital Trends
A new year means raw software updates . According toBloomberg ’s Mark Gurman , iOS 18 could be the “ biggest ” update for iOS in quite some time , though this is something we tend to try every year . I ’m not sure any iOS update has been as large as the jump from iOS 6 to iOS 7 , as a lot of the features and intention changes since then could be consider reiterative .
Personally , I think the last “ biggest ” iOS update for me was iOS 14 , as it allow for rest home screen widgets and app icon customization without a prison-breaking for the first time . Since then , there have n’t been as many raw lineament in Io that have been game changer for me , but this is all subjective . What was a big deal for me may not be the same for you , and vice versa .
Prakhar Khanna / Digital Trends
Apple will likely show off the first coup d’oeil of iOS 18 during its yearly developer ’s conference ( aka WWDC ) in June , with a public release coming around September alongside the iPhone 16 . Here ’s what we require to see in iOS 18 , include some things that have already been confirmed .
RCS in iMessage
This is a characteristic thatI’ve been wanting to see for years , and it ’s eventually happening . Truth be told , I never thought I ’d see the twenty-four hour period it would come , so when it wasofficially harbinger , it was a vast surprise .
For those who are n’t conversant , RCS is a confab communications protocol that is designed to replace SMS . It ’s more secure , for one , and it has feature like read reception , typecast indicator , higher - resolution photos and video recording , audio messages , and more . Basically , it ’s like iMessage but for non - iPhones .
When Apple announced in November 2023 that RCS support would be coming , the only time frame that we got was “ later next yr . ” I think it ’s safe to assume that this will be an iOS 18 lineament and will notbe bring anytime before then . With RCS support , iPhone users will have a better experience when message non - iPhone user due to high - resolution photograph and video , read receipt , typing indicators , and more .
Though it ’s likely that the RCS support will be more basic than we ’d expect , I go for that we can have features like the ability to leave behind radical confabulation and to give gens to chemical group conversation . Really , though , even just being capable to commit and get non - pixelated photos and videos is enough .
Siri with actual smarts
Siri has been an entire part of iOSsince the iPhone 4Sand iOS 5 . However , it ’s been 12 years , and Siri has been so bad at understand basic instruction compared to other digital helper that it ’s more like a joke at this point . And with productive AI ask off in recent year and making its way into smartphones , Siri ’s just been left in the junk .
Hopefully , this changes in iOS 18 . Reports have advise thatApple is investing quite a bit into reproductive AI enquiry , and it plans to desegregate bombastic voice communication models into Siri . This would allow substance abuser to automatise complex task , suggesting more Shortcuts integrating . With productive AI , Siri would be able to better help with fielding questions and auto - completing conviction . Other apps , such as Apple Music , Pages , Keynote , and Xcode , could also do good from productive AI tool .
In general , I ’m not a huge fan of all of the AI stuff and nonsense , but I must include that it can occur in handy for certain things . For example , I care how Google Pixel phones utilize AI for call viewing , moderate for Me , and more . It would be large to see such feature of speech amount to the iPhone .
More editing capabilities in Photos
One of the ground I upgrade phones annually is because I care having the camera upgrades — I takea lotof exposure . While there are a short ton of great third - political party picture - delete apps on iOS , sometimes I just stick with the Photos app for the basics .
But after using sure Android phones , like theGoogle Pixel 8 ProandSamsung Galaxy S24 , I think Apple needs to make some boastful change to the Photos app .
Sure , I could regain a third - party solution for these things on iOS , but the problem is thata lot of apps take some form of fee or subscription these days , especially for these variety of characteristic . I ’d much rather have these peter bake into Io itself , and when the competition is basically doing just that , Apple should follow case .
Customizable lock screen shortcuts
One thing that has confused me since theiPhone 15 Proand theAction buttondebuted is the fact that Apple made no changes to the whorl projection screen shortcuts . They ’re still there to cater a unproblematic and immobile way to get to the flashlight or tv camera , both of which you may also assign to the Action release . It ’s redundant .
Samsung has like lock chamber blind shortcuts on its Galaxy phones , but you ’ve been able-bodied to interchange what they are shortcuts for . By default , the S24 shortcuts are the phone and camera , but you may change them to launch the calculator , torch , voice recorder , a Do Not touch mode , or any other app .
I just find it purposeless that the lock concealment shortcuts on iOS are still motionless and non - customizable when the Action push can also do the same shortcut . If Apple is also consider bringing the Action clit to the non - Pro models of the iPhone 16 ( after all , Dynamic Island and a 48MP camera trickled down to the infrastructure iPhone 15 manikin ) , then the lock screen door crosscut call for to be opened up to customization . Otherwise , what are we even doing ?
Camera settings in the … Camera app
Another thing about iOS that is eldritch compare to Android is the fact that Apple splits up some Camera app setting between the app itself and the options app .
For example , you could toggle Live Photo or even ProRAW ( if enabled ) from the Camera itself . But other matter , like camera grid lines and nonpayment resolution ? You have to go to setting and then scroll through many other things before see the Camera section . Make it make sensory faculty , Apple .
On most Android phones , you may access such preferences all directly in the Camera app in a separate preferences panel . It would be great if Apple could change this in iOS 18 and make all the camera options approachable flat in the Camera app itself . It ’s a very unwieldy process the way it exist today , and it ’s long overdue for some reduction .
Better notifications
This is something that I have to call for every year because Apple still has n’t get the substance . In inadequate , apprisal on iOSstill suck . Please , Apple , make them well in iOS 18 . I beg you .
What ’s the problem with iOS notifications ? If you have a lot of presentment coming in , it ’s just one giving , elephantine inclination and it looks so nonunionized the way they ’re grouped . And they also take up so much space — if an app has multiple notifications , you have to intercept on it to expand the “ stack , ” which just do the overall tilt bigger . It ’s messy , littered , and just forged .
Android , on the other hand , manage notifications so much secure . They ’re more condensed and organize by app well , you could clear out all notifications easy , and there ’s even apprisal chronicle if you really need to go back for something .
If iOS 18 is extend to be one of the “ biggest ” updates yet , then notifications really need to be one of the things that Apple fixes . It ’s embarrassing at this point .
Time to play the waiting game
It ’s still betimes on in the class , so we have a few month before we start seeing anything that Io 18 has to offer . But we do know that RCS is extremely likely , and a smarter Siri is a opening .
The other things I ’ve refer are just feature article I would personally love to see . I entail , after all this time , iOS notice are still far behind Android , and it ’s so weird how Apple has various camera preferences in two places . curl screen shortcuts are long delinquent for some exploiter customization , and the Photos app needs to get up with the rivalry in terms of aboriginal photo - editing tools .
Leaks for iOS changes are less prolific than for iPhone hardware , but hopefully we get some sneak peep in the coming months leading up to WWDC in June . I ’m definitely eager for that RCS support , at the very least .
