Here’s an awesome iOS 18 update coming to all iPhones
For all the Apple Intelligence hype coming out of WWDC 2024, there was also the undeniable negative that only an iPhone with an A17 Pro chip or higher would support it. It’s a real case of haves and have-nots. Still, in terms of pure utility, there is one promised change in iOS 18 that will come to any iPhone that supports the platform update: a Control Center makeover.
Control Center isn’t sexy or even tied to any particular deep-rooted iPhone capability in AI or Machine Learning. It is a tool that, among other things, allows you to control critical utilities by simply swiping down on the top right corner of your iPhone screen.
It is a panel so dull that it is largely colorless. Even the name “Control Panel” sounds like a home infrastructure, and not a useful mobile feature. Of course, anyone who uses Control Center (essentially anyone with an iPhone) knows its importance. It’s quick access to connectivity, media playback, brightness, audio, focus modes, silence features, camera, Shazam and, perhaps most importantly, flashlight.
There was some customization and depth for quite a few versions of iOS. A long press on most controls will reveal more detailed settings. You can also add something to Control Center â if you know where to look.
iOS 18’s Control Center is redesigned and significantly more customizable. It will also feel much more like a destination.
A real utility house
Apple gave us a sneak peek during its nearly two-hour WWDC 2024 keynote, and even then I could see how much change was coming to the crucial iOS feature. Later I took a closer look and saw the iOS 18 version of Control Center in action.
There are subtle design changes throughout Control Center and the icons within it, but they look small enough to go almost unnoticed.
Perhaps the biggest change is that you can move the Control Center icons within Control Center pages. In the demo I saw, they held down the open Control Center panel and after a moment marquees appeared around each element, with minus signs so you can delete them and an extra semicircle in the lower right corner that you can use to resize of the search function. I think they can be resized into full Control Center pages of their own.
It’s also easy to move controls on a page or even to another Control Center page. Unlike iOS 18’s new homepage, there will still be a grid and icons will shuffle around to fill empty spaces.
New gestures and Control Center friends
To access these pages, you can scroll through them slowly or use a new continuous swipe gesture to scroll through all the pages. I’m not sure how useful that will be, but it looks nice.
I especially like that Apple is finally making finding and adding new controls easy. To add screen recording in iOS 17, I open my iPhone’s settings, go to Control Center, then select Screen Recording (or another control to add).
In iOS 18, you can add new controls in the Control Center, and you can find them the same way you move them by pressing and holding the Control Center screen until a small “Add a Control” message appears near the bottom of the screen. That takes you to an extensive Controls Gallery, but also adds a search box, which is an even easier way to find the controls.
iOS 18 Control Center finally also offers the option to add third-party controls. Obviously app developers have to build these, but imagine the possibilities. Your favorite app is just a swipe away, next to the flashlight.
Apple also extends some of these options beyond Control Center. I saw how you can toggle and remove utility icons like camera and flashlight from the lock screen (you might want the QR code reader instead). You can even remove them all for a completely clean look.
Of all this, and there’s a lot of change for Control Center, perhaps the biggest news is that it’s coming to all iOS 18 supporting phones. There is no need for Apple Intelligence or a special and more powerful phone. That means all iPhones going back to the iPhone 12 will get the Control Center makeover.
It’s a little balm to ease the pain of potentially not getting in on that sweet Apple Intelligence promotion, right?