iOS 18 Potentially 'Biggest' Software Update in iPhone's History

[Jim Lahey]

What does the camera icon have to do with law enforcement? It doesn’t open the phone or give you access to files or previously snapped photos. It might let the cop take a selfie with you are you are being arrested but that’s about it.

The fact that it still cannot be disabled makes me wonder if it could, potentially, be a vector of entry for law enforcement agencies who possess the correct knowledge and/or additional plug-in hardware.

Apple goes to the trouble of adding something like lost device mode, and yet absolutely anyone in possession of that lost or stolen device is able to take unsolicited images of absolutely anything without the owner's knowledge and have them automatically uploaded to their iCloud account.

The user should, at the very least, be given the option to lock this button behind login credentials - as it already is after a fresh reboot. Face ID makes this trivial for the user anyway. Apple steadfastly refuses to add this option after many years, which in my opinion is extremely suspicious behaviour. I'm not making any claims of fact, but with every passing year I become more persuaded that it's intentional.

 

[OnePieceIsReal]

Just watch when it’s a big nothing again like 15, 16, 17

 

[Tagbert]

Fixing Siri

A couple of years ago they moved a lot of the Siri processing to be local instead of everything needing to go back to a server. That improved responsiveness but it didn’t make Siri any smarter. None of the Smart Assistants are very smart. Hopefully putting an LLM AI in there will help raise the intelligence.

 

[Tagbert]

Windows seems to switch up design languages every full release and Android moved to Material You in 2022. Even among Apple OSes, macOS got a design touchup in 2020 with Big Sur. Admittedly, it wasn't as deep as the others were, but it was there.

An iOS has been getting ongoing design upgrades since the big changes in iOS 7. There is a lot more definition and less absolute flatness. Actions are generally clearer.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

An iOS has been getting ongoing design upgrades since the big changes in iOS 7. There is a lot more definition and less absolute flatness. Actions are generally clearer.


View attachment 2342263

It's still nowhere close to as good as iOS 6.

And they need to stop moving buttons around.

 

[Tagbert]

It's still nowhere close to as good as iOS 6.

And they need to stop moving buttons around.

And yet people keep saying that it’s stale and that Apple needs to change everything. I think this is an evergreen issue of balancing stability and change and there will always be people who feel the balance is off.

 

[Jon N.]

Doesn’t sound like much of an upgrade to me if those are the headlining features. How about fixing the keyboard first… when I try to edit my comment here and I tap in between words, half the time it inserts the text cursor and the other half it selects an entire word. So frustrating.

Apple's keyboard is notoriously crappy. It was the nail in the coffin for me when I tried to switch to an iPhone last year (although, admittedly, I was already unhappy with how unfriendly the device was before I realized what a terrible keyboard they made me use).

 

[Pinterra]

Well you know Apple it’s going to require you to buy a new device. Per usual.

I suppose I could deal with that on my aging Apple Watch S5. Less so on my iPhone 15 Pro Max!

 

[katbel]

Nothing new ...hopefully just an iOS working as it should

 

[Jon N.]

RCS support is huge. That’s a really big deal.

Too bad the kid’s XR won’t get it.

I agree that Apple's support for RCS is a huge deal from a corporate philosophy perspective.

But I literally had to laugh out loud when I saw the headline of this article: "Potentially 'Biggest' Software Update in iPhone's History."

HA!!

RCS has been around for a very long time, but its rollout has been rough (due in no small part to Apple's refusal to even participate in its development). However, RCS has been relatively stable since about 2016 -- that's 8 years ago. And yet, Apple *finally* deciding (after stubbornly pretending for 8 years that it doesn't exist) to support a technology that would improve the experience of its own users is some how something that we're expected to praise Apple for doing.

Realistically, this is just par for the course. I'm sure that, if Apple's RCS implementation is done well, they'll crow about how they "fixed" texting with Android devices (and just skip the fact that they ignored RCS for about a decade). If Apple's RCS implementation is not done well (and one has to worry about that, given the circumstances that led to their capitulation on this topic) then they'll undoubtedly blame Android for all their ills.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

"I'm told that the new operating system is seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company's history," he wrote.

Gurman said he plans to share more details about specific iOS 18 features and changes that are planned in the future, but we already know about two new features that are likely to be included in the update, as outlined below.

What I’m hearing from industrial chatter is that iOS 18 is complete re-write of OS.

And Apple is going to make security the biggest emphasis In addition to RCS And new Siri.

Reason: Sideloading.

Also, iOS 18 will likely allow sideloading worldwide, thanks to these security changes. (Chances are releasing sideloading to EU first on iOS 17.4 will allow Apple to refine security on iOS 18 using real world data) [EU won’t allow sideloading to EU only on iPhone. Regulators there will force Apple to make side loading available worldwide. And also make sideloading avalible to iPads as well. Apple wanted to make side loading avalible first on iOS 18, but EU won’t allow Apple to delay it anymore.][

 

[Levo317]

Just look at https://www.rabbit.tech/. It will be something like that.

 

[Jon N.]

No.

RCS support was vehemently denied by Apple and everyone until Nov 16/2023 when they suddenly announced it would come in 2024. There is speculation it may have to do with the EU, but no-one has actual evidence as to why.

Siri getting pervasive LLM support has not been a rumor for long, maybe a year? The LLMs popularity itself is relatively new.

Yeah, I picked up on that as well.

RCS has been around since 2007/2008. Its rollout was admittedly rocky (due in no small part to Apple's refusal to even participate in its development), but it's been relatively stable since 2016.

And yet, some people want to call this the "potentially biggest software update in iPhone history," conveniently skipping the part where Apple stubbornly refused to even engage with RCS for 8 years. Here's my prediction:

If Apple's RCS rollout goes well, then they'll crow about how they "fixed" texting with Android devices (but, of course, they'll ignore the fact that they're the ones that created the problem in the first place). And the iSheep will nod their empty heads in agreement.

If Apple's RCS rollout does not go well, then they'll simply claim that it's all Android's fault, and the iSheep will nod their empty heads in agreement.

Same day, different 💩

 

[Altis]

All I ever hope for is fast responsiveness -- no more input-blocking that's plagued the system pretty much since iOS 7.

Bug fixes, performance improvements... ahh who am I kidding.

 

[supergt]

Good updates, but nothing I would call “big” or the “the biggest” in iOS history.

I would like to see:
1. Theme store
2. Manual icon placement
3. RCS support
4. 2 apps - multitasking
5. Side loading across the board

What if I told you numbers 1,2,4, and 5 are already possible…with a jailbreak.

 

[Jon N.]

RCS support and smarter Siri is a biggest iOS update? Really? Android had both for many years now. Is this an admission of how far behind iOS is?

It's not just that (although I agree generally with you). It's also that Google, Samsung and Microsoft have gone in big-time on AI. And they're seeing the fruits of that labor, as evidenced in Samsung's AI-enhanced S24 flagship.

Apple, by contrast, has been building the walls of their so-called "walled garden" so high that they didn't see their competitors passing them by. Now they're behind the curve, and it's going to be a challenge for them to catch up.

Seriously, I feel like creativity left Apple's DNA with the loss of Steve Jobs.

 

[Radeon85]

Better be because it's been tiny little change here and there since iOS 7, it's about time we had a major update as Apple is falling behind in the software area, especially AI.

 

[cmrivera1112]

Apple has big plans for iOS 18, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In the subscriber-only Q&A section of his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said iOS 18 has the potential to be the "biggest" software update in the iPhone's history.

"I'm told that the new operating system is seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company's history," he wrote.

Gurman said he plans to share more details about specific iOS 18 features and changes that are planned in the future, but we already know about two new features that are likely to be included in the update, as outlined below.

iOS 18 will be released in September, and the first beta for developers will come out during Apple's annual developers conference WWDC in June.

RCS Support

In November 2023, Apple announced that it would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting "later" in 2024, so it will likely be an iOS 18 feature based on that timeframe.

RCS support should result in the following improvements to the default messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices:

• Higher-resolution photos and videos
• Audio messages
• Typing indicators
• Read receipts
• Wi-Fi messaging between iPhones and Android devices
• Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users
• Improved encryption compared to SMS

These modern features are already available for iPhone-to-iPhone conversations with blue bubbles, via iMessage, and many of the features are also available in third-party messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. RCS support on the iPhone will extend the features to green bubbles in the Messages app.

Smarter Siri

Gurman expects iOS 18 to feature generative AI technology that "should improve how both Siri and the Messages app can field questions and auto-complete sentences." He said Apple has also explored generative AI features for other apps across its platforms, including Apple Music, Pages, Keynote, and Xcode.

The Information reported that Apple plans to incorporate large language models into Siri to let users automate complex tasks, a feature that would involve deeper integration with the Shortcuts app. The report said this feature is expected to be released in an iPhone software update coming in 2024, which would likely be iOS 18.

Generative AI surged in popularity in 2022 when OpenAI released ChatGPT, a chatbot that can respond to questions and other prompts. Google and Microsoft released similar chatbots last year, as more companies race into the space. The chatbots are trained on large language models, allowing them to respond like a human.

Article Link: iOS 18 Potentially 'Biggest' Software Update in iPhone's History

We will probably get 3 new emojis

 

[Jon N.]

What if I told you numbers 1,2,4, and 5 are already possible…with a jailbreak.

It's also already possible... with an Android phone. Out of the box, no jailbreaking or rooting required.

 

[Sippincider]

Just don't call it "Copland…"

The car project should be renamed "Copland" going from the beginning.

 

[Jon N.]

Better be because it's been tiny little change here and there since iOS 7, it's about time we had a major update as Apple is falling behind in the software area, especially AI.

Apple has spent so many years building the walls of their so-called "walled garden" so high that they didn't see their competitors passing them by with AI. Now they're behind before they even start.

Creativity is no longer in Apple's DNA without Steve Jobs.

 

[Jon N.]

What I’m hearing from industrial chatter is that iOS 18 is complete re-write of OS.

And Apple is going to make security the biggest emphasis In addition to RCS And new Siri.

Reason: Sideloading.

Also, iOS 18 will likely allow sideloading worldwide, thanks to these security changes. (Chances are releasing sideloading to EU first on iOS 17.4 will allow Apple to refine security on iOS 18 using real world data) [EU won’t allow sideloading to EU only on iPhone. Regulators there will force Apple to make side loading available worldwide. And also make sideloading avalible to iPads as well. Apple wanted to make side loading avalible first on iOS 18, but EU won’t allow Apple to delay it anymore.][

That's fascinating, and very un-Apple-like.

Don't get me wrong: I'd absolutely love to see Apple allow its users to actually choose what they install on their phones, instead of making decisions for their users based on what's best for Apple's stock price.

I'm especially interested in sideloading. Do you have any sources (that you can share, of course) for any of these claims?

 

[CoMoMacUser]

please for the love of god take the camera shortcut off the lockscreen / or at very least let us disable it without having to root the phone.

And the flashlight. I constantly turn it on with the heel of my hand when picking up my phone.

 

[Reeneman]

Imagine all of that on our latest Liquid Retina disployyy

It’s the best display we’ve ever made

 

[SebCohen]

Don’t upgrade first day, don’t upgrade first day, don’t upgrade first day, don’t upgrade first day, don’t upgrade first day…. Don’t. Upgrade. First. Day.

Heck, give it a month!