Apple pulled back the curtain on all of its upcoming software updates during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote, showcasing what we can expect in all of its upcoming major software updates, including iOS 18.
Apple Intelligence, Apple’s brand of AI tools, will make up a large portion of all new software updates, including iOS 18. However, due to hardware constraints and the power required for AI, Not all iPhones that can run iOS 18 will be able to. to get Apple Intelligence.
Still, there’s a lot to look forward to in iOS 18 – and there are a few specific features I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on (plus one I’m a little worried about).
Although I never considered myself a professional photographer, I have loved taking photos ever since I bought my first digital camera. Smartphones have made taking photos much easier and since I’ve been using an iPhone for most of my life, I’ve accumulated a ton of photos. And once I became a parent, I took even more. In fact, on my 1TB iPhone 15 Pro, I have over 52,000 photos and 2,000 videos.
The Photos app has remained largely unchanged over the years, at least until iOS 18. We’re going to have a new, streamlined interface and the ability to pin collections and memories that are most important to us. It also benefits from Apple Intelligence superpowers, and I’m particularly excited about that.
With Apple Intelligence we will be able to perform better searches in Photos. For example, we will be able to search for photos and videos with natural language expressions. For video search results, it will be able to find specific moments in those clips and take you directly to that segment.
One of my favorite tools on Android phones lately has been the ability to remove unwanted objects and people from the background of my photos (Magic Eraser in Google Photos). Apple is finally adding a similar tool to its photo editing suite in the form of Clean Up.
This uses Apple Intelligence to identify and remove distracting objects in the background of your photos without altering the subject. For this I had to use the Google Photos app for the Magic Eraser tool, but with iOS 18 I can stick to the default Apple Photos on my iPhone.
Finally, since I have so many photos and videos of my daughter, I can’t wait to try the new Memories feature which allows you to create your own video story. All you have to do is enter a description of the memories you want to show, and Apple Intelligence selects the best photos and videos based on that prompt. This looks like a fun way to create fun little video clips of my daughter to show my family and friends, and I can’t wait to use it.
My job at Digital Trends involves a lot of writing. That’s basically all I do, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my job, but sometimes I need a little help.
I often use certain tools when writing, like Grammarly, to help me make sure my words are correct and all of you can read them. And with Apple Intelligence, I can’t wait to try out the new writing tools being implemented system-wide.
I don’t plan to use the rewrite tool, as I like writing my own words personally, but I’m curious to try the proofreading and summarizing ones. Before submitting my work, I like to take a look at it to make sure everything is spelled correctly, with no typos, the points are where they are needed, and other basic elements are in place. order. I’m curious to see how well the proofreading tool will work once it’s available.
The summary tool is probably the one I use the most. I often take notes during press briefings and come across long articles throughout the day. There are also a lot of emails coming into my inbox that are quite long. I’m hoping the summary tool will make my life a little easier by just giving me the key points from the text.
More home screen and control center customization
One feature that doesn’t use Apple Intelligence, but that I’m still excited to try is the new Home screen customization.
Although some people don’t like that iOS is more like Android with customization, I welcome it. I especially like the look of the dark mode icons since I live in dark mode 24/7, and I’m also curious about the tint of the icons. Even though Apple hasn’t shown all the good examples, I think it can look good if done well.
I’m also looking forward to tinkering with the new Control Center, which has remained the same for many years. Being able to place the orders you want anywhere, as well as get orders from third-party apps, is a big and welcome change. And the fact that you can finally change shortcuts on the lock screen? It was time !
Messages app improvements
Apple is finally making some big new changes to the Messages app.
The feature I’m most looking forward to is RCS support. However, it was rather strange that Apple barely mentioned it during the keynote, considering how big this feature is. This may have something to do with Apple being forced to play this hand due to regulations, but it still would have been nice to know more about what this is going to look like instead of just “RCS is coming.”
While Android fans will scoff at the fact that Apple is finally giving us a Send Later feature for iMessages because they already had it, it’s still a cool feature that I wasn’t expecting. Maybe my mind was only focused on RCS support, or maybe it’s because I don’t often need to schedule messages. But it’s nice that it’s a feature available to all iMessage users.
A smarter Siri, I hope
I almost never use Siri, other than setting timers for cooking or maybe changing the music in the car. But now that Siri will be infused with Apple Intelligence, I can’t wait to try the whole virtual assistant again.
With Apple Intelligence, Siri is meant to be more natural, relevant and personal. He should be able to understand you even if you stutter, mix up your words, or make multiple requests at the same time. It can even understand on-screen context, making it better than ever.
Of course, since Apple Intelligence isn’t currently in the first iOS 18 developer beta (it won’t be available until the fall), we can’t say for sure whether it’s actually better or not. But I’m very curious to see if this is actually an improvement over the current state of Siri, even if the bar is relatively low.
Image generation stuff looks awkward
While AI can certainly be useful, one of my biggest issues with it as a whole is the ethics behind it all, especially with image generation. And, unfortunately, Apple has decided to join this movement.
We know that iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, as well as iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, will have the Image Playground feature. It is a standalone app and also integrated with proprietary apps like Messages, Notes, etc. With Image Playground, users can create new and “original” images based on a series of descriptive keywords. Your image can look like an animation, an illustration, or even a sketch.
You can express yourself better in Messages or even have a better image to accompany your notes, and it’s contextual. So in Messages, for example, it will offer suggested images based on the topic of a thread, and in Notes it can even generate a new image based on the context of the surrounding area. Then there’s Genmoji, which lets you create just about any emoji you want by simply typing a description.
Personally, I’m a little uncomfortable with all of Apple’s image generation tools. For AI to generate art and images, it must learn existing art from artists and creators by scraping the Internet, then incorporate it into the art it generates from a prompt. Apple says its image generation tools were trained on high-quality, publicly licensed data. Image Playground’s three art styles were also created by Apple’s design team.
This seems like a better approach than some other image generation tools, but it still doesn’t feel right to me. This is especially true when Apple is often seen as the brand for creators and artists (e.g. drawing on the iPad with the Apple Pencil).
During the keynote, as Apple demonstrated the Image Playground feature in the Notes app by converting a hand-drawn sketch into an AI-generated image, I shook my head. Personally, I prefer seeing the hand-drawn sketch because it makes your notes look more like, well, your notes. The sketch wasn’t even that great either, better than my artistic abilities anyway.
There’s a lot to look forward to
Despite my problem with AI image generation, I’m still looking forward to many features of iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence.
Some of the biggest requests I’ve had over the past few years are finally coming true, like increased home screen customization, customizable lock screen shortcuts, a better Control Center, and methods improved search in my photographic and video memories. I’m also looking forward to receiving text summaries in multiple apps and maybe even using Siri for more than just setting a timer.
Currently, iOS 18 is in developer beta, with a public beta coming in the following weeks. The final version of iOS 18, as well as iPhone 16, are expected in the fall.
Editors’ Recommendations