iOS 18 will feature Eye Tracking functionality for operating your iPhone; discover all the details about iOS 18 and its release date

iOS 18 Overview

We have several months until Apple will introduce the iOS 18 operating system at the June 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, but there are some exciting updates coming that we’re already hearing about.

With the growing consumer interest in generative artificial intelligence products like ChatGPT, Apple is expected to focus heavily on AI improvements in iOS 18. AI and machine learning updates may be seen for many apps and features, with Apple working on large language models to bolster in-app features.

Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman believes that iOS 18 could be a “relatively groundbreaking” software update with “major new features and designs,” but there is little in the way of specific detail. Apple executives have supposedly described iOS 18 as “ambitious and compelling,” and Gurman says that it has the potential to be the “biggest” software update in the iPhone’s history with a “slew of new AI features.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in February that Apple is investing a “tremendous amount of time and effort” on artificial intelligence, and he confirmed that Apple plans to share the details of its ongoing AI work “later this year.”

With the release of iOS 18, Apple will also introduce iPadOS 18, a variant of the iOS 18 operating system that includes features tailored for the larger displays found on Apple’s iPad lineup.

AI Features

Apple is reportedly rushing to catch up with tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and OpenAI, who have a head start in artificial intelligence. To this end, Apple is investing over $1 billion annually in AI research and the hardware infrastructure required to power large language models. It is expected that Apple will integrate AI capabilities across multiple aspects of iOS 18, enhancing features in core apps. This could include automatically generated playlists in Apple Music, as well as AI-assisted writing and presentation creation in productivity apps like Pages and Keynote.

The initial AI-powered features introduced in iOS 18 will be designed to run directly on the device, without requiring a connection to cloud-based servers. Due to the significant processing power needed to enable these AI capabilities, some functionalities may be limited to only the most recent iPhone 16 models, which are equipped with more powerful chipsets.

While Apple’s initial AI-powered features in iOS 18 are intended to run directly on the device, the company may partner with established AI providers like Google or OpenAI to offer additional cloud-based options in the future. This is likely due to Apple’s desire to leverage the large-scale hardware infrastructure of these partners to power more advanced generative AI capabilities, such as image creation and essay writing based on user prompts.

Apple is not expected to include its own generative AI chatbot in iOS 18, but may instead integrate chat features powered by technology from Google or OpenAI. Specifically, Apple is in talks with Google about incorporating the Gemini AI engine into the iPhone with iOS 18, and is also engaging with OpenAI regarding potential integration of their AI technologies into the operating system. It appears that Apple is close to finalizing a deal with OpenAI.

Additionally, the upcoming A18 chip planned for the iPhone 16 Pro models is rumored to feature a significantly upgraded Neural Engine with more cores, suggesting a focus on improving the AI and machine learning performance capabilities of the platform, further hinting at Apple’s AI ambitions for iOS 18.

Apple is also developing an updated version of its Xcode development platform that will include an AI-powered tool capable of predicting and completing blocks of code. This is intended to help developers streamline the app creation process. Additionally, Apple is exploring the use of AI-generated code for app testing purposes, with plans to integrate these AI features directly into Xcode.

However, Apple’s full generative AI vision is likely to take time to fully realize. As a result, the complete suite of AI-powered features that the company has planned may not all be available in the initial release of iOS 18. The integration of AI technologies into Apple’s software ecosystem is an ongoing effort that will likely evolve over multiple iterations.

Siri and Search

The advancements in artificial intelligence that Apple is introducing in iOS 18 are expected to benefit Siri, the company’s virtual assistant. According to a leaker, Apple is planning to leverage large language models (LLMs) to significantly overhaul Siri, with the goal of transforming it into the “ultimate virtual assistant.”

Large language models (LLMs) are the underlying technology powering chatbots like ChatGPT. These models are trained on vast amounts of data and use sophisticated algorithms to generate new content based on the information they have learned.

Siri is expected to take on a more conversational tone in iOS 18, with improvements to its “proactive intelligence” capabilities. This will enable Siri to provide users with auto-summarized notifications, offering concise overviews of articles, transcribing voice memos, and making more relevant suggestions for apps and calendar events.

Additionally, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is developing an enhanced integration between Siri and the Messages app, allowing the virtual assistant to more effectively auto-complete sentences and respond to complex queries.

Furthermore, The Information reports that Siri will gain deeper integration with the Shortcuts app, enabling users to automate more intricate multi-step tasks. For example, Siri may be able to take a series of photos, turn them into a GIF, and send the resulting file to a contact, all through a single voice command.

Siri is expected to take on a more conversational tone in iOS 18, with improvements to its “proactive intelligence” capabilities. This will enable Siri to provide users with auto-summarized notifications, offering concise overviews of articles, transcribing voice memos, and making more relevant suggestions for apps and calendar events.

Additionally, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is developing an enhanced integration between Siri and the Messages app, allowing the virtual assistant to more effectively auto-complete sentences and respond to complex queries.

Furthermore, The Information reports that Siri will gain deeper integration with the Shortcuts app, enabling users to automate more intricate multi-step tasks. For example, Siri may be able to take a series of photos, turn them into a GIF, and send the resulting file to a contact, all through a single voice command.

The Spotlight search functionality integrated into iOS may see improvements, providing users with more intelligent and better-organized search results. The iPhone’s capability to integrate data from apps such as Contacts and Calendar is expected to be enhanced, enabling Spotlight to deliver more relevant and contextualized information to users.

Design Changes

The upcoming iOS 18 update is anticipated to introduce some design changes to the operating system. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is working to update the iOS design “as early as this year.”

While iOS may incorporate certain design elements from Apple’s visionOS platform, it is not expected to undergo a complete overhaul to match the visionOS aesthetic, despite previous rumors suggesting a major iOS 18 redesign to align with the visionOS user interface.

Home Screen Revamp

The upcoming iOS 18 update is anticipated to offer a more customizable Home Screen experience, providing iPhone users with greater flexibility and control over the appearance of their device. Apple is planning to give customers more options and tools to arrange their app icons according to their preferences.

While app icons are expected to remain constrained within an invisible grid layout for organizational purposes, iOS 18 is likely to introduce new customization options. This may include the ability to create blank spaces, rows, and columns between app icons, providing users with more control over the visual presentation of their Home Screen.

In fact, the upcoming iOS 18 update is expected to bring the most substantial changes to the Home Screen experience in recent years, comparable to the significant Lock Screen enhancements introduced in iOS 16.

App Updates

The upcoming iOS 18 release is anticipated to introduce updates and improvements to multiple built-in Apple apps, including Notes, Mail, Photos, and Fitness. While the details of some of these planned refreshes are not yet fully known, there have been indications and hints regarding a few of the new features that will be included.

Safari

Safari is expected to receive a significant overhaul in iOS 18, including an updated visual design and the introduction of new tools aimed at enhancing the browsing experience. One notable feature is the “Intelligent Search” option, which will leverage on-device AI technology to analyze webpages and provide users with concise summaries of key topics and phrases.

Additionally, a new “Web Eraser” tool will enable users to remove unwanted sections of webpages. Any parts of a website that are “erased” will persist across subsequent visits, unless the user chooses to revert the changes.

The address bar will feature an updated quick-access menu, combining page tools and functions that were previously housed within the Share Sheet.

Furthermore, Apple plans to further align the user experience between the iPadOS and macOS versions of Safari.

Apple Maps

The upcoming iOS 18 update is rumored to include several new features for the Apple Maps application.

One of the new features expected in the iOS 18 Apple Maps app is support for custom routes. This would allow users to input their own preferred routes, rather than being restricted to the pre-selected options offered by Apple. With custom routes, users could choose the specific roads they want to travel, whether for scenic purposes or due to their familiarity with a particular route.

Another rumored addition to the iOS 18 Apple Maps app is the integration of the topographic map feature from watchOS 10. These topographic maps provide detailed information such as trails, contour lines, elevation data, points of interest, and other features that are particularly useful for outdoor activities like hiking. Apple is expected to bring this enhanced mapping experience from the Apple Watch to the iPhone with the upcoming iOS 18 update.

Photos

According to reports, Apple intends to introduce AI-powered photo editing features to the Photos app in the iOS 18 update. However, the well-known Apple journalist Mark Gurman has suggested that these new editing capabilities may not be as advanced or impressive as the features available in other photo editing platforms, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Notes

The upcoming iOS 18 update is expected to introduce new capabilities to the Notes app. One of these features will be the ability to record voice memos directly within the Notes app, with the option to embed those audio recordings into your notes. Additionally, Apple is rumored to be adding support for displaying mathematical notation, which will allow users to include a wider range of equations within their notes.

In the iOS 18 update, the Notes and Voice Memos apps are expected to gain new audio transcription capabilities. This will allow users to access auto-generated transcripts of their recorded audio. Additionally, the Notes app is rumored to include AI-powered features that can provide summaries of the key points from the audio recordings.

Calendar and Reminders

In the upcoming iOS 18 release, the Calendar app is expected to integrate with the Reminders app. This integration will allow users to view their reminders directly within the Calendar app and interact with them there, providing a more seamless experience between these two Apple apps.

Calculator App

As part of the iPadOS 18 update, Apple intends to introduce a native Calculator app for the iPad. This Calculator app will be designed as a “universal” app, meaning it will be able to run on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers, providing a consistent look and functionality across all three Apple device platforms.

The iPhone’s Calculator app is expected to receive design improvements, including integration with the Notes app, a better interface for unit conversions, and a feature to view recent calculations for both versions.

Freeform

The upcoming update for the Freeform app will introduce a “Scenes” feature, allowing users to easily navigate to specific sections or scenes within their boards. This new feature will include a Scenes UI for accessing and switching between saved scenes.

Apple Music

In the upcoming iOS 18 and macOS 15 updates, there will be enhanced smart song transitions that build upon the current crossfade feature. This will allow ‌Apple Music‌ users to customize the crossfade duration from 1 to 12 seconds.
Currently, crossfade works by smoothly transitioning between songs, gradually lowering the volume of the ending song while increasing the volume of the new song, ensuring a seamless transition without any interruption in the music.
Additionally, Apple Music may introduce a feature for automatically generating playlists based on user-inputted mood, time of day, and other preferences for personalized music recommendations.

Keynote, Numbers, and Pages

The upcoming iWork apps from Apple will incorporate advanced AI capabilities. Keynote will offer a feature to automatically create slides, while Pages will introduce a text generation feature.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts will be more seamlessly integrated with Siri, enabling the automation of intricate tasks with minimal effort.

Health

At present, the details of the potential new AI features for the Health app are not yet known.

CarPlay Updates

Apple is enhancing the accessibility features for CarPlay and has several updates in the works.

Voice Control: enables users to navigate CarPlay options and apps using voice commands.

Color Filters: modify the CarPlay interface to accommodate color blind individuals.

Sound Recognition: notifies drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing about sounds such as car horns and sirens through CarPlay notifications.

RCS for Better Texting With Android Users

Apple “later in 2024” will adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard as an alternative to SMS/MMS. iMessage isn’t going anywhere for iPhone to iPhone conversations, but RCS will make iPhone to Android conversations better in myriad ways. Sending photos and videos to Android users from an iPhone will no longer result in errors, and group chats will have better performance. Features like cross-platform emoji reactions, read receipts, and real-time typing indicators will also be added.

• Support for higher resolution photos and videos.
• Support for larger file sizes and file sharing.
• Audio messages.
• Cross-platform emoji reactions.
• Real-time typing indicators.
• Read receipts.
• Ability to send messages over cellular or Wi-Fi (SMS is cellular only). There is no cost to send an RCS message over Wi-Fi.
• Improved group chats.

Apple hasn’t provided specifics on when RCS will be adopted, but “later in 2024” suggests that it’s going to come following the launch of iOS 18. Everything about RCS and what it means for iPhone users can be found in our RCS guide.

Accessibility

Apple announced several new accessibility features coming to iOS 18 in May, giving us a quick preview of what to expect.

Reduce Motion Sickness

There’s a new Vehicle Motion Cues option that’s meant to prevent motion sickness when looking at an iPhone or iPad while in a moving vehicle as a passenger. Motion sickness is often caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel, which is an issue in a moving vehicle.

Motion Vehicle Cues use visual elements on the display that indicate real-time changes in motion. Basically, animated dots at the edges of the screen represent changes in vehicle motion, reducing sensory conflict without interfering with the main content. The option can be set to show automatically on the iPhone and it can be turned on and off in Control Center.

Eye Tracking

Eye Tracking allows users to navigate through the iPhone or iPad interface with only their eyes. The feature uses AI and the front-facing camera to determine where a user is looking. It can be used to activate buttons, swipes, and other gestures.

Music Haptics

When Music Haptics is enabled, the iPhone’s Taptic Engine will play “taps, textures, and refined vibrations” that correspond to the audio of the music. The feature works across millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog and developers can implement it into their apps.

Vocal Shortcuts

With Vocal Shortcuts, iPhone and iPad users can assign “custom utterances” so that Siri is able to launch shortcuts and understand complex tasks.

Other Features

• New voices for VoiceOver, a flexible Voice Rotor, and custom volume control.
• Voice Control offers support for custom vocabularies and complex words.
• A new Reader Mode for Magnifier and an option to launch Detection Mode with the Action button.
• Updates to accessing Braille Screen Input.
• Hover Typing shows larger text when typing in a text field.
• Live Speech includes categories and simultaneous compatibility with Live Captions.

AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aid Mode

With the launch of iOS 18, the AirPods Pro are expected to gain a new “hearing aid mode.” While the feature was initially rumored for the next-generation AirPods Pro, Apple is now said to be planning to introduce support through a software update. Apple already has Conversation Boost for increasing the volume and clarity of people directly in front of the wearer, so it is not clear what hearing aid mode will do differently.

Apple cannot market the AirPods Pro as offering hearing help for those who are hearing impaired, but the FDA has approved over-the-counter hearing aids designed for non-hearing impaired customers.

Accessibility Features

Apple is working on new Accessibility features for iOS 18 and macOS 15. An Adaptive Voice Shortcuts feature will let users create a custom phrase and then select an accessibility setting to link to that phrase. Speaking the phrase will then activate the accessibility option. Users will be able to toggle accessibility features like VoiceOver, Voice Control, Zoom, and more.

Live Speech will gain an option for user-created categories that can be used to organize custom phrases.

Compatibility

iOS 18 is expected to run on all iPhones that are able to run iOS 17, which includes the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone SE 2, and newer.

• All iPhone 15 models
• All iPhone 14 models
• All iPhone 13 models
• All iPhone 12 models
• All iPhone 11 models
• iPhone XS and XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd gen)

iPadOS 18 is rumored to drop support for the first-generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, both of which used the A10X Fusion chip. The update is also unlikely to run on the sixth-generation and seventh-generation iPad models.

The update should be compatible with the following iPads:

• iPad Pro: 2018 and later
• iPad Air: 2019 and later
• iPad mini: 2019 and later
• iPad: 2020 and later

iOS 18 Launch Date

iOS 18 will be previewed at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. After WWDC, iOS 18 will be made available to developers for testing purposes, with a public beta likely to come out sometime in July.

Following the beta testing period, iOS 18 will see a launch in September 2024 alongside new iPhones