They said iOS 18 was the biggest update yet, I agree, you’ll love it so just upgrade

So, I finally got the update that’s supposed to be the biggest in iOS history—iOS 18. It started rolling out on September 16th, and I got it last night.

One thing you have to appreciate about Apple is that they support their phones for a long time, and everyone, from anywhere in the world, gets the updates within days of each other.

Customisation

I haven’t had much time to explore it yet. However, I had to try out the home screen customization first to see how it looks. I like it—it reminds me of Android and makes me feel right at home.

So, Android users, you’re allowed to scoff at how iOS users are only getting basic customisation in 2024. I’m with you—it’s ridiculous that it took this long. Anyway…

I haven’t arranged my apps the way I want yet, but so far, I’ve applied a tint (still undecided about this look) and set the app size to large (loving it, it gets rid of app titles, which is exactly what I want. I know these apps by their icons).

I think I’m leaning towards the blacked-out look rather than the tinted one, but it’s nice to have a choice.

Then there’s the feature that Android users will laugh at—the ability to set apps anywhere on the homescreen. It’s here. However, I’ve found that I probably won’t be using it.

On my Android phone, there are no apps on the top row of the screen. That’s widget territory, and apps belong at the bottom where they’re easy to reach.

However, that doesn’t work for me on iOS because the app library still sucks. It’s all the way to the right and can’t be reached via a swipe up from the home screen.

To make matters worse, the default view is the frustratingly organized one with categories I can’t be bothered to memorize. You have to swipe down again to get the list view, but by then, it’s too many swipes for my liking.

So, unfortunately, it’s still all apps cluttered on the home screen for me.

Locking and hiding apps

Locking

We used to be at the mercy of app developers when it came to requiring Face ID to open apps. That’s no longer the case in iOS 18. You can simply long press on any app and tap ‘Require Face ID,’ and you’re set. No one without your face can open that app.

The obvious apps to lock this way include private messaging, banking, shopping, etc. This ensures that even if your phone falls into the wrong hands while unlocked, no one can do any damage. The same goes for when kids ask to play games on your phone.

As you know, Face ID works almost flawlessly, so it takes just a split second to scan your face. This means you can lock even frequently used apps without ruining the user experience.

Hiding

Then there’s the ability to hide apps. Some apps you just don’t want anyone to know are on your phone.

Before you judge, it’s not what you’re thinking. We all have guilty pleasures we’d rather keep private. For example, if I had the Cosmopolitan app on my phone, I’d want to hide it. I’m not saying I have it, but if I did, you’d never know.

The app hiding process is a bit clunky, though. I don’t like how Apple implemented it. At first, I thought it wasn’t available yet.

When you long press an app, either on the homescreen or in the app library, you’ll only see the ‘Require Face ID’ option. You have to tap that, and then you get two options: ‘Require Face ID’ and ‘Hide and Require Face ID.’ Why the extra tap? Only Tim Cook knows.

Beyond that, the feature works well. The app is hidden from both the home screen and the app library. There’s a ‘Hidden Apps’ section in the app library, but you won’t see anything in it until you tap and successfully scan your face to reveal the contents.

The same goes for Settings. Apple insists on keeping app settings within the Settings app. You can still access a hidden app’s settings, but you’ll find a ‘Hidden Apps’ button to reveal it. Cool stuff.

Speaking of Settings, my favorite feature of iOS 18 so far is that apps are no longer listed under the main settings. Now, there’s a button titled ‘Apps’ that you tap to reveal the full list.

This makes the Settings app shorter and visually cleaner.

Control Centre

The Control Center got a few tweaks as well. It’s now customizable. You can resize and reorder stuff, which I love. I moved the little Connections folder and the Media Controls to the bottom because those are what I use most.

This means I don’t really need the other new pages introduced. Control Center is now paginated: the second screen houses media controls, and the third screen is for connections. You can add more if you want.

Even with these customizations, Apple remains, well, Apple with iOS 18.

The frustrating part is that turning mobile data on or off still requires an extra tap. For some reason, you can’t edit the connectivity controls folder. Airdrop and Flight Mode are prominent, but you can’t adjust cellular data or Bluetooth without opening the folder.

I deliberately chose to take the control centre screenshot when there’s a white background. It was made with dark backgrounds in mind cause it looks terrible like this. It looks good when there’s a dark background though.

In what world are people adjusting Flight Mode and Airdrop more often than Bluetooth or cellular data on a daily basis? I had to add extra buttons for Bluetooth and Cellular Data to the first Control Center page. I’d have removed the Connectivity Controls folder altogether, but Wi-Fi doesn’t have its own button and can only be adjusted through that folder. Apple, why are you like this?

There’s more

We can’t cover every little feature, as iOS 18 is packed with tweaks and new additions. For example, I love the new “Hide Disruptions” feature in Safari. Too bad I don’t use that browser.

It’s only been a few hours with the update, so I can’t speak on stability just yet. I don’t doubt iOS 18 is stable, though. Will there be a few bugs here and there? Probably, but nothing to stop you from enjoying the update.

If you decide to upgrade, you’ll need close to 6.5GB for the download. It’s a huge update, as I said. I used Econet’s SmartBiz 5, which is capped at 5Mbps, to download it. I don’t know how long it took since I fell asleep less than 10% into the download.

It initially said it would take 17 hours, but thankfully, it was still calculating at that point. I know it didn’t take more than 4 hours because I lost power at some point early in the morning.

For those who have tried out iOS 18, how are you finding it? Is it too Android-like for your taste?

Also read:

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• AirPods tunrned out to be the gamechanger at iPhone 16 launch event
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