The new text messaging options in iOS are great, but did you know you can change the beam of your flashlight? Check out these lesser-known iOS 18 features.
The new text messaging options in iOS are great, but did you know you can change the beam of your flashlight? Check out these lesser-known iOS 18 features.
The new formatted text messages and home screen customizations are two of the most obvious changes to your iPhone with iOS 18, but the latest update to Apple’s mobile operating system brings a bevy of other great new features. There are so many, in fact, it’s easy to miss some of the best ones.
Every year, we go through the latest iOS and look for any hidden features that aren’t only hidden, but that also can and will affect how we use our iPhones every day. If you’re running iOS 18, these are a few of the features and settings that Apple didn’t really talk about, but that you should definitely know.
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Restart your iPhone from the new control center
You don’t have to press any physical buttons to restart your iPhone if you’re running iOS 18. The redesigned control center features all the classic controls you’re used to, like brightness, volume, orientation, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but there are several new controls, including one to restart your iPhone.
All you need to do is swipe down from the top-right of your iPhone and press and hold down on the new power button in the top-right of the control center. You can’t just tap it though, you have to hold it down for a second or so, and then the slider to power off your iPhone will appear.
To turn your iPhone back on, you’ll still need to press and hold the physical side button.
On iOS 17 and earlier, the only way to restart your iPhone is to press and hold either volume button and the side button.Use a QR code to share your Wi-Fi password
There are a few ways you can share a Wi-Fi network and password with people via your iPhone, and there’s a new way to do it on iOS 18. Using a QR code fills in a few gaps for ways to quickly share your Wi-Fi information:
Share with several people at once. Instead of individually sending out your Wi-Fi password, you can have everyone scan the QR code from your phone.
Share with someone not saved as your contact. Nearby share for Wi-Fi doesn’t work unless that person is in your contacts.
Share with someone that has Android. Nearby share and AirDrop don’t work with Android devices.
So if you meet any of those scenarios and you don’t want to text the Wi-Fi password to them, you can use the QR code. Go to the new Passwords app, go to the Wi-Fi section, tap on the network you want to share and then hit Show Network QR Code. If the other person scans the QR code with their camera, they’ll be connected to the Wi-Fi network.
This only works for Wi-Fi passwords, not regular passwords.Adjust the beam width of your flashlight
The flashlight on the iPhone is getting a big upgrade. While you’ve long been able to change the intensity of the flashlight, on iOS 18 you can now also adjust the beam width of the light, as long as you have a compatible model. You can go wide, to cover more area with less light, or go narrow, to use more intense light over less area, and everywhere in between.
