iOS 18 Review: Off to a good start, but Apple Intelligence is absent

The time has come––iOS 18 is now here. 

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that iOS 18 is one of the biggest updates in the history of iOS. It's not simply about the number of new features or changes coming our way, but also by laying the artificial intelligence groundwork for the future of Apple's mobile OS. 

It's also a peculiar software update as far as content available right now in the public and developer betas is handled. Nearly half of the features coming with iOS 18 don't actually have a specific release date just yet. That's right, as you probably know, the spiciest and most interesting iOS 18 features are not coming out with iOS 18 this September, but later. 

To better understand what Apple is preparing for us this fall, we got hold of the latest public beta, which showcases many of the upcoming features, but also skips many of the AI goodies that we can't wait to play with!

All of those are coming with iOS 18.1, so we will have to be patient. 

Apple has been pumping iOS with customization features for the past few versions of iOS. 

iOS 13 got us a system-wide dark mode. iOS 14––home screen widgets, while iOS 15 gave us customized notifications. However, the most significant changes came with iOS 16, which gave us a customizable lock screen, while last year's iOS 17 delivered contact poster personalization. 

iOS 18 surely raises the bar as far as customization goes by giving us even more freedom in home screen customization. We are liberated from the constraints of the home screen grid… sort of. While app icons still have to adhere to the grid, you can now freely position your app icons wherever you want and leave blank spaces. The customization process feels slightly janky, but is surely a step in the right direction. 

Weirdly, Apple also lets you tint all of your app icons in whatever color you like. Although the extra customization liberties are appreciated, I can't help but feel that messing with app icons' standard design is a recipe for disaster. 

Once you click the "Tinted" option, you're always guaranteed to make your iPhone's interface gaudy and difficult to stomach. Maybe we don't really need that much customization, after all.

We also get to personalize the Control Center, which was previously a "no-go zone" for any user adjustments. The options here are pretty expansive and let you tune up many aspects of this essential part of iOS. It's great to be able to do that, though the efficiency has suffered a bit. 

By default, iOS 18's Control Center separates the main shortcut toggles from the music playback controls, which requires an extra swipe down to control those. Thankfully, you can reverse customize things the way they were pre-iOS 18 for muscle memory's sake.

Finally, you are now allowed to change the two lock screen shortcuts on your iPhone or remove them altogether. All fine and dandy, though I must admit, I definitely drew a blank as to what other shortcuts one could need more instead of the flashlight and the camera ones. 

Overall, all the new customization options are welcome, but surely feels weird to have so much freedom in iOS, weird in a pleasing way.  

Important: Apple Intelligence is currently not part of iOS 18. The first batch of features will arrive with iOS 18.1, likely coming in October 2024. Others, like the revamped and more capable Siri assistant, will arrive in early 2025.  

Read more: Apple Intelligence explained

Among the features coming this fall are the new Writing Tools features, which will use AI to help with text-related functions. You will be able to summarize, enhance, and even rewrite your text differently. Cool, but nothing we haven't seen before already; the difference is that these Writing Tools are a first-party functionality developed by Apple, so we can expect a more stable experience. 

And it's not only the Writing Tools section of Apple Intelligence that feels familiar, it's the other upcoming novelties. Genmoji, the AI-powered image creation app, as well as Image Playground, are also pretty normal functionalities in the AI era. The difference, once again, is that all features will be integrated into the operating system so that you wouldn't have to resort to third-party apps and tools to achieve the same.

What I'm most excited about is the revamped Siri, which is coming in 2025. It has all the makings of that Siri revamp that we have been waiting for so long. Aside from getting much smarter and way more capable of understanding your queries, the next-gen Siri will be able to execute actions across your apps, which could be a game changer. 

While such a capability doesn't sound like something too outlandish, we are finally delving into proper AI territory for the regular Joe and the plain Jane. For decades and largely thanks to the entertainment industry, the term "AI" has been associated with super-capable and intelligent digital assistants like the ones in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, and Jarvis inside Tony Stark's suit. The foundation will be laid for normal people to have access to a modern technology that might not be as powerful as the one in the movies just yet, but would finally make it feel like we are properly living in the 21st century.

While the Siri functionality overhaul won't arrive until early 2025, we will still be getting new features with iOS 18.1. Aside from getting redesigned, Siri gets a new Type to Siri feature, which allows you to communicate non-verbally with the assistant. That's a certain way to provide the correct input, as the voice recognition has a higher chance of failing to make out what you're saying. Here's how it looks:

Another new AI feature arriving with iOS 18.1 is Mail Summary, which uses machine intelligence to summarize your emails. This is a wildly intriguing and useful feature, which will automatically filter through all the fluff and provide you with the bare essentials of each message. It works quite well on iPhone and Mac and will likely end up as one of the more underrated features of Apple Intelligence. 

Another new feature that will make an appearance very soon is Call Recording and Summary. Quite self-explanatory, this feature will not only allow you to record a call, but will also create a transcript as well as a summary of the call in the Notes app, which could be immensely useful for longer calls that filled with important information. 

As with any major iOS update, expect some major overhauls to some essential apps.

Photos is the one to get fully redesigned with iOS 18. At first, I found it rather challenging to get accustomed to the new layout and the new workflow of the app, but one month in, muscle memory still can't agree with Apple's design approach. Surely, eventually things would click, but can't say I'm the biggest fan of the major Photos revamp.

The changes introduced to the Messages app are all great, on the other hand! More ways to express yourself? Thank you very much, and RCS? Well, finally! If Messages is still your main way of communication, then Apple has a treat incoming for you. 

Finally, the new Passwords app is surely a step in the right direction in contrast with the convoluted Keychain that was hidden in the settings app before. Can't say it will make me switch from ubiquitous Bitwarden, but if Apple continues adding new features, it just might entice me to use it exclusively. 

iOS 18 is a weird case. It's a good software update, not because of the current set of features, but due to the promise of upcoming features. 

I experienced some bugs early in the iOS 18 beta, but these were resolved in subsequent betas, so chances are you won't suffer from them like I did. The extra customization has been welcome: I find myself tinkering with the Control Center fairly often, aiming to find the most efficient and decent setup available. 

At the end of the day, there isn't that much going on for iOS 18 at the moment. Such a staggered release with so many of the intriguing features getting pushed back in time is something new for Apple, so it will be a long time before this (p)review will be considered complete.