iOS 18: Apple reveals major update coming to iPhone with new ...

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Apple has released one of its biggest ever iPhone updates, iOS 18.

It comes with a host of new tools including what Apple said is its “biggest ever” update to the Photos app.

It will also allow people to customise the iPhone in new ways. Apps can be moved around more easily on the home screen, for instance, and their colours can be better changed.

Those apps can also be hidden entirely, and locked behind face recognition to ensure that those apps cannot be accessed by someone who is sharing the phone.

The control centre, which is used to quickly change settings on the iPhone and other accessories, has also been redesigned. Other apps can now more offer their own controls.

But perhaps the most dramatic change is likely to be the release of “Apple Intelligence”, a new branding for AI features, as well as updates to Siri. That will start with a new animation when Siri is invoked – and a host of new ways to interact with it.

Those updates will also come to iPadOS 18, the operating system for Apple’s tablets. That will also bing new designs for apps, including a new tab bar and updated animations.

Both the iPad and iPhone will have new ways of remotely controlling a device, to make it easier to help other people. They can take control of a device and draw on the screen to help them out.

The iPhone and iPad updates – along with Apple’s other new software for the Mac and Vision Pro – will available to developers from today. They will then be released as public betas in July, before a full release in autumn.