Start here when setting up iOS 18 on your iPhone.
Start here when setting up iOS 18 on your iPhone.
Apple’s latest iPhone system overhaul adds a lot of customization options — from your home screen to a revamped Control Center — and that’s not even including the first round of Apple Intelligence features, which are available only on a subset of models (here’s how to get them). But with the abilities to access your iPhone remotely and be more expressive when texting with friends, there’s still plenty to explore and make the iPhone experience your own.
To help you get started, I’ve put together my list of seven features and settings you should change right now, including some of the top-tier features and a few that fly under the radar. And if you do have an iPhone that will run Apple Intelligence, be sure to check out the three features you’re going to use most (or for the daring, you can now install the iOS 8.2 public beta).
Grab Our Picks for the 11 Best iPhone Accessories
Change the default buttons on the lock screen
In real estate, location is everything, and the bottom corners of the iPhone lock screen are the prime spots, each an easy thumb press away when your device is still locked. Before iOS 18, those posts were held by the flashlight and camera buttons, with no way to change them.
In iOS 18, you can finally replace them with other buttons — or remove them entirely, a balm for folks who unknowingly activate the flashlight (believe me, there’s a better way to turn it on). You can add buttons to recognize music via Shazam, enable Dark Mode, set an alarm/timer, enable Airplane Mode, open your Wallet, send money via Tap to Cash and more.
Here’s how:
1. On the iPhone’s lock screen, touch and hold anywhere on the display until you see the Customize button. You’ll need to unlock the phone using Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If it opens the home screen, swipe down from the center-top of the screen (not the right edge, which brings up Control Center.
2. Tap Customize and then choose Lock Screen.
3. Remove one of the buttons by tapping the – (minus) button on the icon.
4. To replace the button with another function, tap its space (now with a + icon) and then choose the one you want on the next screen. (You can also opt to leave that space empty with no button.)
5. Repeat those steps for the other button if you want to change it.
6. Tap Done when you’re finished.
7. Tap the lock screen again to exit the customize mode.
Remove a lock screen button by tapping the – (minus) button, and then choose a new control to replace it.Set up some of the new tasks available on the Action button
The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro replaced the dedicated mute switch found on every earlier iPhone model with a configurable control. By default it serves the same purpose — hold it to turn Silent Mode on or off — but you can configure it for other actions like opening the Camera app, performing multiple actions at once or even ordering coffee.
In iOS 18, the Action button gets new capabilities. You can bypass Control Center and choose a control of your choice, such as opening the Remote interface for navigating Apple TV or using Shazam to identify a song.
To choose a different action for the Action button, go to Settings > Action Button. Swipe sideways to select and activate one of the available actions. For the Controls, Shortcut and Accessibility options, tap the Choose button to pick which specific action to run.
iOS 18 now lets you program the Action Button with your favorite Control Center control.Give your home screen a radical new look
You wouldn’t think that putting icons where you want is a radical new feature, but that’s because iOS has always had a locked arrangement. Apps get added from top to bottom, left to right. You could rearrange the order in which icons appear and move them to other screens, but that was about it.
In iOS 18, apps can be positioned nearly anywhere, You no longer need to deal with a wallpaper image of your kids or pets being obscured by icons. They still adhere to a grid — Apple isn’t about to sanction anarchy — but can be placed freely.
Also, Dark mode finally applies to all of the iPhone’s home screen, with options for coloring icons and affecting the brightness of the wallpaper image. Here’s how to customize the looks.
Arrange apps: Touch and hold the home screen to enter “jiggle mode”, and then drag the icons to new positions. It will still slide them around to fill spaces, but with patience, you can move them into the spots you want.
Position app icons where you want so this very good girl isn’t covered.
You can also quickly turn compatible apps into widgets that display more information. Maps, for instance, can be a map of your current location with shortcut buttons to search for places or bring up a list of nearby places (such as dinner spots).
