Apple’s iOS 18 update has been available to all users since September 16. Before Apple Intelligence released, the main new features were the ability to customize icons on the Home screen, swap app shortcuts on the Lock screen, the redesigned Control Center, support for RCS, and the new Passwords app.

However, there are plenty of other small and interesting changes that might also be useful.

We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite, little-known features that you may have missed.

Settings

• Instead of listing all apps on the main page of the Settings app, which can lead to a lot of scrolling for users with many apps installed, Apple has now a separate apps menu dedicated to your apps. This cleans up the crowded Settings screen and makes it clearer where controls for individual apps are located.

Photos

• The Photos app now allows you to View your photo library without screenshots. You can tap the sort icon in the bottom left corner and under Display options, uncheck Screenshots to hide your screenshots.
• The Tools Collection in Photos app has new Content types such as documents, receipts, manuscripts, illustrations and QR codes to make it easier to find specific information in your photos. You can also view recently added, edited, and shared media items.
• The Photos app automatically suggests photos that are suitable as background images.
• You can now Copy changes from one photo to another, including aspect ratio for cropping, exposure and white balance.
• The Photos app also automatically organizes your trips in a “Travel” section And groups people and pets, For example, you can find photos that include both your partner and your cat.
• A new Video speed control function allows you to create slow motion video effects.

camera

• One of the main complaints from users was that music playback through headphones paused when they took a photo or video. iOS 18 solves this problem because When you take a photo or video, music will continue to play via Bluetooth connections.
• The Camera app also gets a new 5-second timer along with existing 3 and 10 second timers.

Control Center

• You can Customize your Control Center with widgets and buttons on iOS 18.
• One of the most important changes in the new view is that you now have a power button in the top right corner. This means that instead of having to hold down the power button and volume down to turn off the device, you can access it from the Control Center.

News

• The News app lets you finally Schedule messages for later, However, this option is hidden in the + menu and is not available as an option linked to the Send button, so it can be difficult to find.

• iMessage now you can also send iFull resolution images up to 100 MB in size.
• Text effects add animated effects to any letter, word or sentence, like exploding or ripping, which make conversations more visually interesting. You can also add text formatting like bold, underline, italics, and strikethrough.
• If you are not connected to the network, you can News via satellite if you have no other signal.
• You can now “Tapback” with any emoji or sticker and multiple tapbacks are spaced out so you can more easily see the last three that were added.

safari

• safari now has a function for Removing distracting elements from a website. While this feature won’t let you remove ads, it can help you clean up some areas of the site that you don’t need or don’t want to see. For example, if a site insists that you sign up for its email newsletter, you can hide the sign-up box. (The Browser Company’s Arc browser implemented a similar feature last year.)
• Summary highlights allows you to read a summary of an article before reading the entire article.
• Other Highlights draws your attention to helpful information about people, music, films or television programmes.

Weather

• The weather app now has a Widget with prominent display of charges such as temperature with the actual temperature in the detailed view. This allows you to easily compare the two.
• The weather app will also Show wind speeds, gusts and directions stand out more clearly.
• You can now Determine where you live and work from contacts in the weather app.

Siri

• AirPods now let yourself rRespond to Siri news announcements by shaking or nodding your headThis means you can accept or reject calls using simple gestures.

Podcast

• The new Podcast App allows you to Jump from the progress bar to a specific chapter if a podcast has defined it.
• The Podcasts app also has the option Reorder and remove episodes in the listening queue.
• You can share a specific part of a podcast use the podcast Transcript.

Cards

• Maps has new topographic maps, hikes added, and route creation, competing with popular third-party tools like AllTrails.
• The Map app will let you Save hikes in all US National Parks available offlineYou can also create and Save your own walking and hiking routes.
• Apple makes the Maps app more useful for discovering by allowing you Compare places by browsing photos, reviews and price levels.

Notes

• Notes support now fold-out sections so you can create structured documents within the app.
• The app has also added Support for audio recordingi.e. you can record an audio session directly from your note, allowing you to keep the audio along with your comments, checklists and documents. You can even edit the note while recording.
• The Notes app also supports PDF inline search and multi-colored highlighting.
• Notes and calculator Support in solving mathematical equations.
• You can also add various graphics and variables in connection with equations.

Email

• The Mail app finally has a chance Group emails by sender. You can perform quick actions on them, including marking emails as read, deleting, and archiving.
• A new category “Transactions” helps you find order confirmations, receipts, shipping and travel information more easily.
• In the meantime, a category “Updates” collects your newsletters, news and social media updates in one place, similar to Gmail.
• From transactions, updates and promotions, these Time-critical items will continue to appear in the primary section. (They are also marked with their category symbol for easy reference.)
• There are new cleanup tools available from the Mail app, as well as on iCloud.com and through iCloud Mail settings.

Utilities and Keyboard

• The Keyboard now supports multiple languages ​​on one keyboard. It also detects the last language you used in apps like Messages and switches automatically.
• Apple also has a uniform picker for emojis and stickers in the keyboard and made both searchable.
• The computer can now Evaluate expressions, assign variables, and create diagrams.
• You can ask Permission to remotely control a friend’s device in providing technical support.
• The flashlight The user interface on selected phones has been redesigned for iOS 18. You can Control of variable brightness and ability to adjust beam width.

magazine

• The magazine App you can record your mood.
• The time you spend writing your diary will logged in in mindful minutes.
• The app also supports Audio transcriptions and print your entries.
• You can add Writing reminders and prompts to your home screen via Widgets to make keeping a diary a habit.

Calendar and reminders

• With iOS 18, Calendar Show timed remindersand you can create new items or edit them directly in the app.
• The calendar also has new views for days, weeks and monthsso you can easily skim through your schedule.
• Separately Reminders app now has multilingual shopping lists And recently deleted lists.
• Apple now allows you to quickly set up new elements for family lists such as shared calendars, shopping lists and password lists.

Files

• With the Files app you can keep certain iCloud files or folders on your phone, always downloaded and synchronized.
• iPhones with iOS 18 now support more file formats, including APFS, exFAT or MS-DOS (Fat32)while formatting external drives. You can also delete these drivers from the Files app.

Apple TV App

• The Apple TV app now has Amazon Prime Video X-ray-like feature called InSight that displays information about the actors and music in a show or movie.
• A new ‘Improve Dialogue feature helps you hear what is being said better, even in scenes with loud effects and music.

Home

• With the Home app update for iOS 18 you canLock connected doors hands-free.
• You can also Add up to 29 guests to grant them time-based access.
• You can Unlock Ultra Wideband compatible smart locks (available from next year) without taking the phone out of your pocket.

accessibility

• iOS 18 has nNew accessibility features, including eye tracking to control your phone’s interface.

• Plus, Users can set custom utterances to invoke actions for example, opening the home screen, opening the camera, triggering a shortcut, or executing a Siri request.

• iOS 18 also has Vehicle movement indications in the form of dots on the edges of the screen helps you with motion sickness. These points give you an indication of the vehicle’s movement. You can switch the function on, off or into automatic detection mode.
• Music Haptics The iPhone Taptic Engine is powered by the rhythm of the songs This allows deaf and hard of hearing people to enjoy Apple Music.

Additional reporting: Sarah Perez