While Apple Intelligence is still a month away from appearing in public beta, iOS 18's standard features include lots of fun new customization options for the Home screen and Control Center

You can read our review of the public beta in our iOS 18 review Let's take a look at how to download iOS 18 and learn about its main features

If your iPhone is ready to install iOS 18, you can find it by opening the Settings app, going to the General section, and opening Software Update in it Tap the button to start the download, and after some processing time and a quick restart, iOS 18 will be ready for use If you need more detailed instructions, check out our guide on how to update your iPhone

Just remember that iOS 18 only works with iPhones from the past six years A full list of compatible models is below, so fingers crossed yours is out there

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are not available at the time of writing, but come with iOS 18 pre-installed

If you don't know which iPhone you have, you can find it by going to Settings, then General, then About, and looking under the “Model Name” heading

Apple has made a lot of progress in offering more customization options on the home screen, and iOS 18 takes it even further iPhone users will be able to place app icons anywhere on the home screen for the first time This means that they will no longer be forced to place apps on the home screen in a grid with no gaps, but will be able to place icons in every corner of the screen and nothing in between

But it doesn't stop there Apple is allowing users to further customize their home screens 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 to make the entire phone a yellow or red hue, that is absolutely possible

The Control Center has been seriously overhauled as part of iOS 18, with a brand new panel, additional controls, and for the first time, customizable controls that appear in a drop-down menu In all, there are three panels designed to control connections, media controls, and smart home devices This allows all controls to be available in 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 Customization goes beyond just being able to choose 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 has served its purpose well the new look introduced in iOS 18 is 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 more quickly

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 It also includes restricting access to a sub-catalog of photos, rather than unfiltered access to all photos ever taken or saved

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 could become more useful on iPads equipped with the Apple Pencil, but you can type or draw a mathematical equation in the Notes app and immediately solve it

Also, a version of the Voice Memos app will be added to Notes, adding the ability to transcribe and save what is spoken in real time This is very convenient and slightly 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 That means they are not limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but are available now; Highlights is a sort of hyper-focused summary tool that can identify important information on a page and push it to a pop-up window that can be read while browsing

Another key feature is 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 does not receive a major update in iOS 18, but it does add features that many will appreciate Terrain maps mean that 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 pathways, with full turn-by-turn navigation Not only does this mean that one does not have to meticulously plan the route 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 and makes them easier than ever to 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 gives you the option to add special security to your apps, locking them behind an extra layer of authentication, storing them in a special hidden folder, or both This is all protected by Face ID or Touch ID, the same as the phone's lock screen

While this feature could have some additional authentication options, it still means that there is an additional barrier that keeps people out of sensitive apps, whether banking, dating, health-related, or something else entirely Locked and hidden apps are effectively sealed and will not deliver notifications, appear in Spotlight or Siri suggestions, or do anything else that might expose their contents