iOS 18 hands-on: All about finally catching up with Android

In the weeks leading up to WWDC 2024, leaks and rumors pointed to iOS 18 being a monumental update for the best iPhones. The initial preview of iOS 18 didn't disappoint, and Apple showed off all-new features like Apple Intelligence and improved customization options throughout. Unfortunately, some of the most exciting iOS 18 features aren't included in the first iOS 18 developer beta, and might not appear for a while. Even without those crucial features, iOS 18 is the biggest visual overhaul to iOS since the turning-point iOS 7 update in 2013. I've been using iOS 18 developer beta 1 for about two days, and I'm excited about the future of the iPhone again.

That instrumental iOS 7 update years ago marked a shift in user-interface design from skeumorphism to a flat, two-dimensional design language. This is how iOS has looked ever since, but that's starting to change with iOS 18. Contrary to popular belief, iOS is not going back to skeumorphism — which is a design style where digital interface options look and feel like their real-world equivalents. Instead, iOS 18 marks a new shift to something called glassmorphism, which we originally saw in visionOS on Apple Vision Pro. Throughout the entire iOS 18 update, you'll find that formerly two-dimensional UI elements now have a glassy, three-dimensional look.

Without key features like Apple Intelligence in tow, iOS 18 developer beta 1 is all about visual overhauls and increased customization. It feels like the iPhone is finally on-par with Android in terms of customization, and in some ways, I think Apple ended up doing it better than Android. Still, we shouldn't understate how important iOS 18 is for the iPhone. Building off visionOS, it's just the start of a new look for Apple user-interface design that we'll likely see for years to come.

What I like

The customizable Home Screen is exactly how Android should've done it

If there's a theme for WWDC 2024, it's Apple adding features to software that probably should've been added a decade ago. For iOS 18, that's the customizable Home Screen. You can finally place apps or widgets anywhere on the Home Screen, and you even have the choice of a large icon that hides the app name. This is a long overdue feature for iOS, but it goes deeper than that. Apps and widgets are one and the same, so holding down an app on the Home Screen reveals an action menu that lets you turn an app into a widget without even entering Jiggle Mode. When you do go into Jiggle Mode, you can simply pull at the corner of a widget to resize it.

Of course, the other big change coming to the iOS 18 Home Screen is native app theming. You've been able to use themed icons on iOS for years through a very strange Shortcuts app workaround, but it was a poor experience. Now, this is supported natively, and ties right into the Lock Screen improvements we saw in iOS 17. There are four app customization modes: Automatic, Dark, Light, and Tinted. The first three are just ways of matching app icons with light or dark iOS themes. The fourth one, Tinted, is the most interesting one. It lets you pick any color to tint all your iOS app icons with, using black for the background. Unlike the way Material You theming works on Android, this will cover all apps in iOS 18. That's a good thing, even if it makes poorly-optimized app icons look a bit weird.

I think it's a nearly-perfect implementation of Home Screen customization, although I wish you could set the background of tinted apps to white instead of black. As a die-hard light mode user, the black background really throws off my vibe. Apart from the Home Screen, you can also change the quick toggles on the Lock Screen now. I've replaced the flashlight toggle with an Apple TV remote module, and it's been a game-changer.

The new Control Center has multiple pages once again

The overhauled Control Center might just be my favorite part of iOS 18. Most of the quick actions you'd want to take in the Control Center on iOS 17 require expanding a module with a long press. This extends the time it takes to do something in the Control Center, which is supposed to be for quick actions. Now, instead of long-pressing modules, iOS 18 makes navigation more about swiping. There are now four Control Center pages by default: Favorites, Now Playing, Home, and Connectivity. You can create more pages by filling up your Favorites page. And you can really do anything with the Control Center. Even add 16 brightness sliders to the same Control Center page.

I don't want to overexplain the new Control Center UI, but just think about the differences here. To get into the Control Center, you need to swipe down from the top right corner of the screen. After that, your finger is in the perfect place to swipe through Control Center pages without readjusting your hand. It's a lot easier to access controls at the top of the Control Center, like connectivity and media settings, without changing your grip.

The iMessage improvements are small but mighty

It's not the biggest iMessage update ever, but iOS 18 includes a few improvements that further separate green and blue bubbles. You can now tapback to messages with any emoji, and all the tapback icons are redesigned to match that glassmorphism design language I mentioned earlier. There's also new formatting options for iMessages, like bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough. Text effects are here too, and they'll dynamically move text to create a certain animation — even after you send it.

Apple confirmed that RCS is coming to iOS 18, but it's not working in the first developer beta. However, there are some hints at the existence of RCS you'll find. Instead of iOS 18 referring to texts as Text Message, it now clarifies Text Message SMS. Presumably, we'll see Text Message RCS when that option becomes available sometime before the fall.

How is it this stable?

Your mileage may vary, but after two days of running iOS 18 developer beta 1 on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I'm absolutely shocked at how stable this update is. I haven't experienced a single app crash, restart, or respring. For an update as big as iOS 18, I certainly expected a lot worse of an experience. Though some beta testers have reported overheating issues on their iPhones on social media, I can't say I have noticed that on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Battery life appears to be a bit worse, as is expected.

What I don't like

The new Photos app feels like a downgrade

This update isn't perfect, and one of my least favorite parts of the iOS 18 developer beta 1 is the Photos app. It's perhaps the most like the visionOS counterpart of any iOS 18 app, but I don't think it works as well on the iPhone. There isn't enough separation between the different pages of the Photos app now, and it's harder to do really simple things. For example, you can't select photos from the homepage anymore — you first need to scroll up to tell the Photos app that you're in the library now, and then you can select them. This endless-scroll format for the Photos app feels like a miss. I'm hoping it's something I'll get used to over time.

The all-new Settings app takes two steps forward, one step back

Overall, the new iOS 18 Settings app packs much-needed improvements, but there's one thing about it that makes it a downgrade. Let's start with the good. Apple now includes large descriptions of what you can do on each main settings page, which is a great way to help users find what they need. However, the whole organization of the Settings app has been reshuffled. Instead of everything being on the main Settings app page, some apps are hidden behind a new Apps tab. When you enter this view, it's like an App Library of sorts that shows all your apps.

This sounds like a good thing, until you realize that first party apps are hidden behind this Apps tab, too. How in the world are the Phone and Messages tabs stored in a Settings app sub-menu on a smartphone? I criticized the redesign of macOS' System Settings app for similar reasons. Apple put critical computer settings, like keyboard and display controls, below things like notifications. I said it then, and I'll say it now: the settings that pertain to the device and form factor you're using should be front-and-center in the Settings app. There's no reason you should have to tap a minimum of three times to get to your phone settings on an iPhone.

A small tweak this year rebrands Apple ID to Apple Account. Does it make more sense to call it an Apple Account? Yes. Am I still going to miss Apple ID? Also yes.

It's not worth installing the iOS 18 beta right now

I love the UI, but the features you'll really want to use just aren't ready yet

The visual and UI changes to iOS 18 are immense, and many of them already feel natural after just a few days of using the first developer beta. However, the truth of the matter is that the features you're really waiting for aren't included in iOS 18 developer beta 1 aren't here. There's no Apple Intelligence, no new Siri, no RCS, and no iPhone Mirroring. Considering the risks associated with running a developer beta this early, it's just not worth installing iOS 18 developer beta 1 for what you get now. With that said, if you want to give it a shot anyway, we'll help you out below.