At Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced the entire new options for its subsequent iPhone working system — iOS 26 (sure, iOS 26, not iOS 19). The subsequent model of iOS will add a gaming app and a complete interface redesign referred to as Liquid Glass. If you feel courageous and are skilled sufficient to check out iOS 26 now, you’ll be able to obtain the developer beta, however most iPhone house owners will need to look ahead to Apple to launch the absolutely baked model of iOS later this 12 months. Until then, there’s an entire host of cool options for the present model of iOS — 18.5 — that may make your iPhone significantly better within the meantime.From the revamped Control Center and adjustable flashlight beam to customizable battery charging, I’ve chosen just a few of my favourite hidden iOS 18.5 options it’s best to learn about now.
Your iPhone Wants These 11 Essential Accessories within the New Year
See all pictures Restart your iPhone from the brand new management middleIf you are working iOS 18, you do not have to press any bodily buttons to restart your iPhone. The redesigned management middle 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 it is advisable 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 middle. You cannot simply faucet it; you must maintain it down for a second or so, after which the slider to energy off your iPhone will seem. To flip your iPhone again on, you will nonetheless must press and maintain the bodily facet button. On iOS 17 and earlier, the one strategy to restart your iPhone is to press and maintain both quantity button and the facet button. Nelson Aguilar/CNETUse a QR code to share your Wi-Fi passwordThere are just a few methods you’ll be able to share a Wi-Fi community and password with folks by way of your iPhone, and there is a new strategy to do it on iOS 18. Using a QR code fills in just a few gaps for methods to shortly share your Wi-Fi info:Share with a number of folks without delay. Instead of individually sending out your Wi-Fi password, you’ll be able to have everybody scan the QR code out of your cellphone.Share with somebody not saved as your contact. Nearby share for Wi-Fi would not work except that particular person is in your contacts.Share with somebody who has Android. Nearby share and AirDrop do not work with Android gadgets. Watch this: Introducing iOS 26 at WWDC25
04:37 If you encounter any of these eventualities and 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 Show Network QR Code. If the opposite particular person scans the QR code with their digital camera, they will be related to the Wi-Fi community. This solely works for Wi-Fi passwords, not common passwords. Nelson Aguilar/CNETAdjust the beam width of your flashlightThe flashlight on the iPhone is getting a giant improve. You’ve lengthy been in a position to change the depth of the flashlight, however on iOS 18 now you can additionally regulate the beam width of the sunshine, so long as you might have a appropriate mannequin. You can go huge, to cowl extra space with much less mild, or go slender, to make use of extra intense mild over much less space, and in every single place in between. It’s a enjoyable characteristic to mess around with for lighting folks for pictures.To use the brand new characteristic, flip in your flashlight (use the lock display or management middle), and a brand new person interface will seem on the dynamic island. You can change the sunshine depth by swiping up and down, however to vary the beam width, you will must swipe left and proper. If you faucet anyplace within the dynamic island, you’ll be able to flip the flashlight on and off. A large flashlight beam (left) and a slender beam. Nelson Aguilar/CNETNote: This characteristic solely works on iPhone fashions with the dynamic island, together with the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 collection and iPhone 16 collection.Quickly flip off AI notification summaries for sure apps out of your lock displayIn iOS 18.1, Apple launched notification summaries — Apple Intelligence-powered notifications that summarize your notifications from a single app. If you might have a number of unread notifications from an app like Gmail or Amazon, you will see an italicized abstract seem in your lock display, condensing all of them into just a few sentences you’ll be able to shortly digest.However, notification summaries do not all the time work very effectively, particularly for textual content messages and information apps. In truth, as of iOS 18.3, notification summaries are disabled for all information apps throughout your machine, just like the Apple News and CNET app. But if you wish to disable the characteristic for different apps, you’ll be able to simply accomplish that with out even unlocking your cellphone.From your lock display, discover a notification abstract for an app you need the characteristic disabled for and swipe left on the notification. Tap on Options after which hit Turn Off “App Name” Summaries to cease notification summaries for that app. You’ll proceed to obtain notifications, they will simply be particular person, such as you’re used to. You can see that notification summaries are italicized on iOS 18.3 Nelson Aguilar/CNETShare your AirTag with different peopleAn AirTag lets you simply monitor your baggage while you’re touring or your keys after they’re misplaced, however generally you may want different folks to additionally have the ability to monitor your AirTag, particularly for those who’re on a household trip or weekend getaway along with your associate. With iOS 18, now you can share any AirTag you might have with as much as six folks.Don’t miss: 5 Clever Hiding Spots for Your Apple AirTagsTo do that, go into the Find My app and discover the AirTag you need to share. Go into the AirTag, hit Add Person beneath Share AirTag and select a contact, or a number of. Finally faucet Share within the top-right and that particular person will then have to just accept your invitation. Once they do, they will have the ability to monitor your AirTag from their Apple machine. Anyone that’s monitoring the AirTag will not be notified when it is close to them. Nelson Aguilar/CNETCustomize your iPhone’s charging restrict to enhance the battery’s lifespanYour iPhone already has a characteristic that is designed to enhance your battery’s lifespan. Optimized Battery Charging learns your day by day charging routine to cut back the time your cellphone is absolutely charged, delaying charging previous 80% whilst you sleep after which charging to 100% solely while you want it.However, if you wish to delay your iPhone’s battery lifespan much more, you’ll be able to manually change your charging choice to anyplace from 80% to 100%, in order that your iPhone by no means absolutely costs. Go to Settings > Battery > Charging and select an possibility. Optimized Battery Charging disables everytime you select an possibility beneath 100%, which simply implies that your cellphone will not routinely wait to complete charging to 100%, as a result of it might probably’t. Nelson Aguilar/CNETIf you select something decrease than 100%, that is the very best proportion your battery will cost to. The good thing about that’s that lithium-ion batteries, just like the one in your iPhone, degrade quicker when persistently charged to 100%, so holding the cost decrease reduces stress on the battery.Transcribe Voice Memos and make them searchableThe Voice Memos app is extremely handy for capturing concepts or tune snippets, however they’ve all the time been obfuscated. You can provide them a descriptive title, however that does not assist while you need to discover that one memo you recorded that accommodates the phrase “porcupine.” In iOS 18, the app can create transcriptions of your voice memos and seek for phrases that had been beforehand accessible solely as audio waveforms.In the Voice Memos app, faucet one among your memos to disclose its controls after which faucet the Edit Recording button, which appears to be like like a waveform. Or, faucet the three-dots button to the suitable of a memo and select Edit Recording.Next, faucet the Transcribe button to create the transcription (or view the textual content if it is already been transcribed). Tap Done. Take an present voice memo (left) and create a transcript of the recording (proper). Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETNow, while you use the Search discipline, the app appears to be like via the transcripts along with the titles for outcomes. The textual content can also be accessible all through iOS. When you carry out a search from the house display, you will see Voice Memos as a class with the memos that embrace the search time period (you might must faucet Show More Results to disclose it). With transcripts made, voice memos are extra simply searchable. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETHide app labels for a cleaner dwelling screenIs your own home display feeling a bit of too cluttered? If so, this new characteristic might assist. Now with iOS 18, you’ll be able to eliminate app labels or the names of the apps that you just see beneath every app icon on your own home display. If you’ll be able to acknowledge an app from simply the icon, who wants the label?On your own home display, press and maintain down on any clean area, till you enter jiggle mode, after which hit Edit > Customize. A menu will seem on the backside of the display; select the Large possibility, which is able to make your app icons barely bigger and take away the app labels. This may also take away the app labels from the folders within the App Library. Nelson Aguilar/CNETUse AI to get precedence notifications in your lock screenAs lengthy as you might have an Apple Intelligence-supported cellphone, you’ll be able to allow a brand new characteristic to get notifications that AI thinks could also be necessary in a separate part in your lock display. The prioritized notifications seem on the prime of your notification stack, glowing in coloration.To allow Priority Notifications, go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and toggle the characteristic on. Notifications like missed calls, textual content messages and necessary emails will replenish this part, in addition to notifications from third-party apps that you just use ceaselessly. You’ll see missed calls, textual content messages and notifications out of your most used apps on this new Priority Notifications part on the prime of your lock display. Nelson Aguilar/CNETChange an app to a widget with out leaving the house screenNot each iOS app has a widget on your dwelling display, but when it does, you needn’t dig via the widget edit web page to seek out it. If you are working 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 own home display.On a supported app, press and maintain down on the icon on your own home display to convey up the short 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). Tap on any of the widget icons to vary the app to a widget. If you need to return from the widget to the app, go to the short motion menu and hit the app icon on the left. This solely works for apps which have widgets on iOS. Nelson Aguilar/CNETSecretly establish songs utilizing the Action ButtonNo lie, it is satisfying when somebody asks, “What song is this?” to have the ability to activate Music Recognition on the iPhone and get a solution shortly. To get the reply means very noticeably asking Siri to run Shazam or activate Music Recognition within the management middle. Wouldn’t or not it’s enjoyable to let your mates assume you’ve got been blessed with an encyclopedic data of pop music?In iOS 18, you’ll be able to come shut utilizing the Action Button. Go to Settings > Action Button and swipe via the choices till Recognize Music is chosen. Assign the Recognize Music characteristic to the Action Button after which establish songs by simply holding the button. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETTo make it work, simply press and maintain the Action Button for a few seconds. Shazam seems on the dynamic island to take heed to what’s taking part in and establish the tune. If you are sneaky about activating Shazam and peeking at your cellphone, nobody must know you bought some assist from a supercomputer within the cloud.Find photos with handwriting and illustrations within the Photos appA lot is altering within the Photos 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. Apple has additionally tucked just a few surprises into the app that can assist you kind via your library.Scroll down previous the principle library itself to view classes equivalent to People and Pets and Memories till you attain Utilities. Tap it to view the total listing — however observe {that a} new characteristic of this interface is the flexibility to swipe left to view further panels. Prior to iOS 18, Utilities included choices to view hidden, lately deleted and duplicate pictures.Now, it contains many extra choices. Tap Handwriting to view photos with handwriting in them. Looking for photos which are illustrations and never images? Tap Illustrations (though in our testing this appears to seize quite a lot of screenshots too). View photos that include handwriting in your Photos library in iOS 18. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETShare a selected part of a podcastDid the hosts of your favourite podcast say one thing particularly humorous or considerate that you just need to share with somebody? In the Podcasts app in iOS 18, you’ll be able to ship an episode to a pal with the playback superior to that second — however the functionality is not straightforward to seek out.Tap the Now Playing 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.Next, faucet the More (…) button and select Share Episode. In the sharing choices that seem, faucet From Start beneath the episode title, after which choose From [the current time]. Tap Done. Start by sharing the episode itself. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETLastly, select the tactic of sharing, equivalent 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. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
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