iOS 18: A Big Leap Powered by Intelligence

Apple unveiled iOS 18 at WWDC 2024, bringing a wave of new features focused on personalization, intelligence, and deeper user control. Here’s a breakdown of the key highlights:

Intelligence Reimagined

Apple Intelligence is the core of iOS 18. This AI suite integrates seamlessly into the system, enhancing various aspects of your iPhone experience.

• Writing Tools: Spruce up your writing across apps with features like rewriting, polishing, and summarizing text. Change tone, improve conciseness, and ensure flawless grammar.
• Image Playground: Unleash your creativity! Generate unique images using prompts, themes, or even pictures of your loved ones. Create fun photos in Animation, Illustration, or Sketch styles. Image Playground integrates with Messages, Notes, and other apps.
• Genmoji: Tired of limited emoji options? Genmoji lets you design custom emojis in the Messages app. Describe what you want, and Apple will create it for you, including images of your friends!
• Smarter Siri: Siri gets a major makeover with Apple Intelligence. It’s now more contextually relevant, understands your requests better, and can even take actions within apps for the first time. Edit photos, manage files, create folders – Siri becomes your powerful on-device assistant.
• Privacy First AI: Apple emphasizes user privacy. Intensive AI processing for Apple Intelligence happens on-device for iPhones 15 Pro and newer iPads and Macs with M-series chips. Apple’s secure cloud servers are used only for specific tasks, with a “Private Cloud Compute” feature ensuring your data stays private.

iOS 18: A Big Leap Powered by Intelligence

Apple unveiled iOS 18 at WWDC 2024, bringing a wave of new features focused on personalization, intelligence, and deeper user control. Here’s a breakdown of the key highlights:

Intelligence Reimagined

Apple Intelligence is the core of iOS 18. This AI suite integrates seamlessly into the system, enhancing various aspects of your iPhone experience.

• Writing Tools: Spruce up your writing across apps with features like rewriting, polishing, and summarizing text. Change tone, improve conciseness, and ensure flawless grammar.
• Image Playground: Unleash your creativity! Generate unique images using prompts, themes, or even pictures of your loved ones. Create fun photos in Animation, Illustration, or Sketch styles. Image Playground integrates with Messages, Notes, and other apps.
• Genmoji: Tired of limited emoji options? Genmoji lets you design custom emojis in the Messages app. Describe what you want, and Apple will create it for you, including images of your friends!
• Smarter Siri: Siri gets a major makeover with Apple Intelligence. It’s now more contextually relevant, understands your requests better, and can even take actions within apps for the first time. Edit photos, manage files, create folders – Siri becomes your powerful on-device assistant.
• Privacy First AI: Apple emphasizes user privacy. Intensive AI processing for Apple Intelligence happens on-device for iPhones 15 Pro and newer iPads and Macs with M-series chips. Apple’s secure cloud servers are used only for specific tasks, with a “Private Cloud Compute” feature ensuring your data stays private.

Beyond Intelligence: A Range of New Features

iOS 18 offers a plethora of features beyond AI:

• Home Screen Customization: Rearrange apps and widgets with more freedom. Icons and widgets can be resized, darkened for dark mode, and even tinted with colors.
• Revamped Control Center: Personalize your Control Center by rearranging options, adding quick actions from third-party apps, and splitting it into dedicated sections for HomeKit, media, and more.
• Flashlight and Camera on Lock Screen: Access these controls directly from the Lock Screen, or customize them with other options.
• Photos App Overhaul: A simplified view combines the Library and For You tabs, highlighting your best photos and memories. Collections allow you to organize photos by themes and pin them for easy access. Live Photos and videos autoplay as you browse.
• Enhanced Messaging: Schedule texts for the first time, react with any emoji using the Tapback feature, and add text effects or formatting for a more expressive touch. iOS 18 transitions from SMS/MMS to RCS for green bubble texts, improving messaging with Android users. Text via satellite allows communication with friends and family even without cellular or Wi-Fi connection (iPhone 14 and later).
• Mail Upgrade: Coming later in 2024, Mail will categorize emails on-device and offer a digest view for a comprehensive look at communication from businesses.
• Safari Highlights: Key webpage information like summaries, restaurant locations, or maps are surfaced for your convenience. Reader mode gets an upgrade with a summary and table of contents.
• Notes App Enhancements: Notes now supports live audio recording and transcription, along with Math Notes that can solve equations automatically.
• Maps Gets Active: Explore with topographic maps, trail networks, detailed National Park maps, and the ability to save hikes, create custom routes, and access personalized Spatial Audio while gaming.

Additional Features:

• Game Mode: Minimize background activity and reduce latency for an optimized gaming experience.
• Tap to Cash: Send money using Apple Cash by simply tapping iPhones together.
• Apple Pay Enhancements: Pay with rewards and credit card installments. Redesigned event tickets in Wallet include maps and venue information.
• Dedicated Passwords App: Store all your logins, passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and more in one secure app accessible across Apple devices and Windows PCs.
• Enhanced Privacy: Lock apps with Face ID or Touch ID even when your iPhone is unlocked. Hide apps to remove them from the Home Screen and require authentication for access. Grant limited access to contacts instead of your entire list. Connect third-party accessories without revealing other devices on the network.
• AirPods Pro 2 Features: Respond to Siri with head gestures (shake for no, nod for yes) and experience better noise cancellation with Voice Isolation.

iOS 18 Accessibility Features

Combating Motion Sickness:

Vehicle Motion Cues: This innovative feature aims to prevent motion sickness for passengers looking at iPhones or iPads in moving vehicles. Motion sickness often stems from a sensory conflict between what we see and feel. Vehicle Motion Cues address this by displaying visual elements on the screen that represent real-time motion changes. Imagine animated dots at the screen’s edges that move as the vehicle does, reducing sensory conflict without obstructing the main content. This feature can be automatically enabled on iPhone and toggled on or off in the Control Center.

Eye Tracking: Control at a Glance

Eye Tracking Technology: This revolutionary feature empowers users to navigate their iPhone or iPad interface solely using their eyes. Leveraging AI and the front-facing camera, Eye Tracking detects where a user is looking and translates that into activating buttons, swipes, and other gestures.

Feel the Rhythm: Music Haptics

Enhanced Music Experience: When Music Haptics is activated, the iPhone’s Taptic Engine delivers “taps, textures, and refined vibrations” that correspond to the music being played. This feature works across millions of songs in the Apple Music library and can be integrated into apps by developers, opening doors for a richer and more immersive musical experience.

Speak Your Commands: Vocal Shortcuts

Simplified Automation: Vocal Shortcuts allow iPhone and iPad users to assign custom spoken commands (phrases) that Siri can understand. This enables users to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks with just their voice.

Source: Apple

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