Thought Leadership
At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference WWDC, Apple presented a new version of its in-house mobile operating system iOS. iOS 18 promises iPhone users significantly more flexibility when designing the home screen and AI features.
At this year’s World Developer Conference WWDC, Apple gave a first preview of the upcoming version of its mobile operating system iOS 18. The new features promise an unprecedented level of customization and numerous functional enhancements for even more individual and productive use of the iPhone.
One important aspect of iOS 18 is the completely redesigned home screen. Users will finally be able to place app icons freely on the screen – a long-cherished wish of many iOS users. In addition, a new theme editor allows uniform color schemes and designs to be implemented system-wide.
The Control Center, which is used to control many important system functions, has also been completely overhauled. In future, media, smart home and other control elements can be clearly arranged on several swipeable pages. For the first time, Apple is also integrating operating options for third-party applications.
Apple also promises significant improvements for data protection and security on the iPhone. This means that users can only launch individual apps after successful authentication. The release of contact data for third-party providers can also be controlled more precisely.
The pre-installed Apple apps such as Messages, Mail, Photos etc. have not been neglected. The Messages app, for example, has been given more design options for emojis, font formatting and scheduled messages. In the future, Apple will focus on more intelligent categorization, face recognition and carousel views for clear access to photos.
With the option of messaging communication via satellite, optimized gaming performance and a better focus on productivity, Apple wants to take iPhones to a new level beyond pure communication.
New AI features: Apple Intelligence
There was a lot of talk about possible AI features in the run-up to the event, and Apple actually presented some. In iOS 18, Apple’s AI system “Apple Intelligence” will better understand the user and their context. It can generate images in messages and prioritize notifications more intelligently to display the most important ones first. Siri will support more natural interactions and be able to answer more questions thanks to greater knowledge. The AI functions of iOS 18 are designed to make operation more intelligent and optimized overall.
Integration of ChatGPT
The latest operating systems from Apple will also offer in-depth integration of ChatGPT. Users can draw on the comprehensive capabilities of AI – from image understanding to document analysis. Siri will also be able to access ChatGPT’s wealth of knowledge if required. However, the user’s permission is obtained before questions, documents or photos are sent to ChatGPT. The digital assistant then presents the corresponding answer directly.
Apple Intelligence will launch as a beta in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia this fall, with ChatGPT integration coming “later this year”.
