We will hear everything about iOS 18 at Apple’s WWDC 2024 fair, which will start on June 10.
This will determine many new features of the iPhone 16 and, most importantly, allow Apple to step into artificial intelligence faster than ever before.
Apple is better than most at keeping its new products under wraps, but we’ve already heard a lot about what iOS 18 will deliver. And there’s a lot of talk about upcoming AI details.
But since we know full well that AI has received its share of well-deserved criticism and haters, we’ll wrap up with six non-AI features that are likely to appear in iOS 18. Do you know? We think they can make a bigger impact on the average user than any AI gubbin and are definitely more original.
iOS 18 artificial intelligence features
AI-injected Siri
The iPhone’s software is due to undergo a major AI overhaul with iOS 18, and Siri will, let’s be honest, continue to be the forerunner of a form of AI we have today. It will be powered by a LLM (large language model) technology similar to chatbots like ChatGPT, which will help your interactions be much more natural.
Apple Photos with AI retouching
One of the most useful everyday tools implemented with an AI brush is photo retouching. Professionals have been using “healing” tools in applications like Photoshop for years, and AI retouching takes it to the next level. Apple Photos is expected to have photo editing capabilities similar to what Google announced with Magic Eraser and Magic Editor in 2023. It allows you to remove people and objects from scenes, creating a prediction of what will happen behind them. Creepy? Yes. Is it effective? Also yes.
AI-generated playlists in Apple Music
Spotify announced AI playlists in April 2024. Apple is likely to respond in iOS 18. Streamer service selection has relied on algorithmic playlist creation for ages, but this outsider “AI” approach can let you create playlists with speech-based text prompts. That’s what Spotify already does.
Voice notes with transcription
Do you hate it when your best friend or partner is obsessed with voice memos? iOS 18 will use artificial intelligence to instantly convert them into text. This is a harmonious continuation of the development of mobile transcription and translation technology over the last few years. The remarkable part is that this happens in real time.
Emojis created by artificial intelligence
This is a headline catcher. You’ve heard of AI-generated images, but what about AI-generated emojis? We’re very interested to see how this plays out, but we’re also saddened by how this plays out all over the place with the almost ritual-like addition of emojis over the years. They come from the Unicode library, which is usually updated once a year.
Emails generated by artificial intelligence
An obvious and rather uninteresting use of AI is in creating emails. iOS 18 will see this added to the Mail app using Apple’s generative AI system. A big scream. However, how it looks and feels to use will be an indicator of what Apple thinks about AI and where it’s headed for mainstream users.
AI summaries of emails, notifications and web pages
Similarly, iOS 18 will also leverage artificial intelligence to provide summaries of emails, notifications, and web pages. This will be part of the proposed new “smart search” feature, but we’d like to think you could also ask Siri to do the work as well.
iOS 18: Non-AI related stuff
Better route planning in Apple Maps
There are reports that route planning in Apple Maps will change, allowing you to create your own custom navigation routes rather than relying on Apple’s suggested routes to your chosen destinations. This will come in handy if you don’t always want to choose the fastest or most efficient route, perhaps due to some scenery or a highway you can’t stand driving on.
Animated text messages
According to Macrumors, iOS 18 will allow you to animate certain words in your messages; This is a nice way to add expression to your letters without relying on capital letters or emojis. It should be fun to play with this, but getting people to actually use these after the initial honeymoon period will require a nice-looking and seamless app.
Free(ish) app icon overlay
Apple is preparing to loosen up app icon arrangement on your home screens, at least a little. By leaving empty spaces on the screens, you will be able to place icons wherever you want within reasonable limits. App icons will still be placed in proper looking positions, but you can leave spaces. A more Android-like approach.
App icons that change color
This could be fun. iOS 18 will apparently let you change the color of app icons. If you are someone who organizes your library by color, perhaps you have wanted this for years. Does an iPhone let you color an app icon regardless of its shades? Or will developers need to ship their own tweaked versions? I have no idea, but we want to see how this plays out.
A new Settings menu
Apple plans to offer us a renewed settings menu in iOS 18. This has expanded over the years and the new version is intended to be easier and faster to navigate.
More realistic-sounding Siri voices
We could sneak this into the AI section of the iOS 18 feature roundup, but it’s also of interest to those who aren’t keen on most modern uses of AI. Siri will reportedly get a much improved language model that sounds less like a disembodied robot voice. Let’s hope this one doesn’t look suspiciously like Scarlett Johansson like OpenAI’s latest chatbot.