The iOS 18 public beta is finally here, ending more than a month of developer-only availability. This means that other users can experience for the first time how iOS 18 will change the iPhone experience. While this beta will not feature all of the upgrades that will be included in iOS 18, it does mean that users will have access to beta versions of many features, including a brand new Control Center, an all-new password app, the ability to hide apps from prying eyes, and more.

Unfortunately, changes to Apple Intelligence and Apple Mail are not yet publicly available and will likely not appear until the final release of iOS 18 this fall. Also, this is beta software and will not necessarily run smoothly. Certainly not anytime soon. If you want a less problematic experience with iOS 18, you may want to wait until the stable release. If you can be satisfied with these compromises, or if you have a spare iPhone, then the iOS 18 beta is yours.

However, this is a big update and can be a bit overwhelming if you don't know where to start. Fortunately, we can help and point you in the right direction, including our first impressions of the update based on our hands-on experience with iOS 18. Here are nine iOS 18 features to try right now.

Apple has made a lot of progress in increasing home screen customization options, but iOS 18 takes it to the extreme. iPhone users will, for the first time, be able to place app icons anywhere on the home screen. In other words, you will not be forced to place apps on the home screen in a grid with no gaps, and if you want to place icons in every corner of the screen and nothing in between, you are more than welcome to do so.

But it doesn't end there. Apple is allowing users to further customize their home screen. Additional options include changing the color palette of the entire home screen and adjusting the size of the app icons. So if you really want your entire phone to be a yellow or red hue, that is absolutely possible.

In iOS 18, the Control Center has been significantly revamped, with a brand new panel, additional controls, and for the first time, the ability to customize the controls that appear in the drop-down menus. In all, there are three panels designed to control connections, media controls, and smart home devices. This makes all the controls available to you within seconds, no matter what you are doing on your phone.

Third-party apps will also be able to access the Control Center for the first time. Meanwhile, the scope of customization will go beyond simply being able to select the available controls; Apple will offer the opportunity to resize these controls and make the Quick Settings menu more personalized. Finally, it will also be possible to add Control Center compatible shortcuts to the lock screen in place of the flashlight and camera buttons that appear on the lock screen by default.

Apple Photos has never been a great looking or functional way to store photos, but it served its purpose well. So with iOS 18 comes a new look intended to provide a “frictionless” design. This includes a new single view grid with the month and year listed so that photos can be found faster.

New collections will be able to automatically curate images for common topics like pets and children. The app also looks to allow you to create custom folders based on a description you write. Finally, new security features mean that there are enhanced measures to prevent third-party apps that have access to your photos from abusing their privileges. This includes restricting access to a sub-catalog of photos, rather than unlimited access to all photos ever taken or stored.

Notes may seem like a fairly mundane app, but a lot has changed in iOS 18 and there are definitely new features that you will want to take advantage of. One of the most notable is Math Notes, which, while potentially more useful on an iPad with Apple Pencil, allows users to enter or draw mathematical formulas in the Notes app and immediately solve them.

A version of the Voice Memos app will also be added to Notes, adding the ability to transcribe and save what is spoken in real time. This is very convenient and a bit easier than copy-pasting the entire transcript from the Voice Memos app first. Other small features include collapsible sections for easier organization and the ability to color and highlight text.

Although many said it would never happen, Apple has finally added RCS messaging to the iPhone. Better file sharing, group chats, read receipts, and long character limits are all things that regular SMS and MMS cannot offer. It appears to work only if the carrier has RCS messaging turned on, but it is definitely a big step forward.

Other new iMessage features include all-new TapBacks, optional text formatting, and the ability to schedule messages to be sent in the future. Unfortunately, more exciting features like Messaging via Satellite and GenMoji with Apple Intelligence are not yet available and will not be available until later this year.

Safari has turned on some new machine learning features in iOS 18. This means that they are not limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but are available right now. It's like a hyper-focused summary tool that can identify important information on a page and push it to a pop-up window that you can read while browsing.

Another key feature is the Reader, which summarizes the page and gives you an overview of what's going on. This would be very useful in articles such as recipes, where you don't want to put everything up front, but rather dribble out useless information; the Reader also has a table of contents, so you know which sections are where, and it also has a “summary” section that gives you an overview of what's going on in the article.

Apple Maps will not receive a major update in iOS 18, but it will add features that many will appreciate. Terrain maps mean hikers and outdoor enthusiasts will no longer have to rely on Apple's existing maps to navigate.

This also means that there will be better support for trails and other minor roads, with full turn-by-turn navigation. Not only does this mean that one does not need to plan the route in detail in advance, but it also means that the chances of getting lost are much lower. This navigation can also be customized depending on whether it is a round trip, “round trip,” or “one way.”

Apple's iCloud Keychain has been storing passwords for years, but has never been particularly easy to access. iOS 18's all-new Passwords app will securely store all your passwords while also making them Apple devices for easy access. The best part is that it's not just for passwords. It is, in effect, an all-in-one security app.

The iOS 18 Passwords app monitors weak and public passwords and can warn you about data breaches that could put your account at risk if you don't change your password. The app can also store passkeys, Wi-Fi information, and even two-factor authentication codes. This is something Apple has lacked for some time, forcing users to rely on third-party options like Google.

Apple prides itself on security, but for a long time the only thing standing between intruders and your sensitive apps was the lock screen. iOS 18 offers the option to add special security to apps, locking them behind an authentication layer, storing them in a special hidden folder, or both. Everything is protected by Face ID or Touch ID, the same as the phone's lock screen.

While this feature may add a few more authentication options, it still adds a barrier that keeps people out of sensitive apps, whether banking, dating, health-related, or something else entirely. Locked and hidden apps are effectively sealed off and will not deliver notifications, appear in Spotlight or Siri suggestions, or do anything else that might expose their contents.