iOS 18 is now available for iPhone and these are my 5 favorite features

Just a week after the launch of the iPhone 16 series, Apple has officially unveiled its latest iOS 18 Update for eligible iPhones with some interesting features and updates. Most of you will have already received it on your iPhones as well. A key part of the update is the Apple Intelligence features that are not yet available and will be coming to the iPhone 16 series.

Apart from this, the iOS 18 The experience will be the same on new and old iPhones. I’ve been using the iPhone 14 Pro for almost two years now and recently updated it to iOS 18. After spending some time with it, here are the 5 features I found really cool.

1. Voicemail

While most tech journalists are talking about the home screen customization features in the latest iOS 18, I personally love the voicemail feature. If you are a working professional and a journalist, you receive hundreds of calls every day and it can be difficult to handle them all. Thanks to the new voicemail feature, my life has become a lot easier – after all, that’s what phones are made for!

With the latest iOS 18 update, I can now set up voicemail on my iPhone which includes default and custom options. With the custom option, I can record a voicemail with my own voice. What I liked is that if I am unable to take calls, the caller automatically gets the voicemail I have set up.

In fact, I can also listen to voicemails sent by callers. The best part is that I get a live transcription of the voicemail in Indian English. To view a transcribed voicemail, just tap on Voicemail in the Phone app.

2. Customizing the home screen

Now, let’s talk about the major changes that Apple has brought to iPhones through the latest iOS 18 update. In iOS 18, you can customize the home screen in new ways. In iOS 18, you can now move apps wherever you want, change the size of widgets, and even the font size. You can change the color of app icons. Just long press on the home screen. Tap edit in the top left corner and then customize.

What I liked the most is that you can set app icons to dark mode. You can also adjust the size of apps and the brightness of their background. To be honest, Apple has given you plenty of options to customize the home and lock screen to your liking.

3. Block or hide

Hey Android users, guess what! I can also lock apps on my iPhone. iOS 18 gives users tools to manage who can see their apps. You can now lock or hide an app by moving it to a locked and hidden apps folder. When an app is locked or hidden, content, such as messages or emails, within the app are hidden from search, notifications, and other places in the system.

I have used this feature to hide e-commerce apps like Flipkart and Myntra so that my wife cannot use my ID to place orders. All you have to do is long press on any app and move it to a hidden folder. To unlock it, you have to use your Face ID.

4. Custom control center

Additionally, iOS 18 also introduced changes to the Control Center, which is now fully customizable. I can resize the controls, making the buttons I use the most larger and easier to press.

Controls like Aa text size, dark mode, flashlight, timer, low power mode, voice memo, and remote can take up to four grid spaces. Also, a new power button has been added to the top right, which I don’t think was necessary.

5. Revamped Photos App

With iOS 18, the Photos app has been redesigned. I’m not a huge fan, but the new shortcut options are very useful and handy. Apple says it’s using AI to organize photos into trips or albums. The new Collections feature automatically filters your library into categories like Recent Days, Trips, and People.

You can customize the visibility and order of these elements. This feature helped me quickly find old photos of my wife when I made a Reel for Instagram.