Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Discover the Uncovered Gems of Your New iOS 18 Experience: Expert-Approved Settings to Elevate Your Mobile World

This week, Apple is offering its latest software to all customers, although some of our team has had early access to it for a short period. While we’ve spent months testing iOS 18 through developer and public beta phases, our discovery of hidden methods is poised to significantly enhance your iPhone proficiency.

The latest offering from Apple introduces significant updates to the iPhone, including an additional dedicated password app and a thoroughly revamped photo gallery. 

Although that’s all that’s on the floor, still.

Apple’s penchant for emphasizing certain features while downplaying others is nothing new. Each year, we delve into the latest iOS updates to uncover obscure features that might not be immediately apparent, yet can significantly impact our daily iPhone usage. Here is the rewritten text:

If you’re running iOS 18, there are several unpublicized options and settings that Apple didn’t explicitly mention, but you should definitely be aware of. 

Here are some ways in which one can engage with and why you may wish to:

Reboot your iPhone with a fresh start in Recovery Mode.

If you’re running iOS 18 on your iPhone, you don’t need to physically interact with the device to reboot it. The redesigned Management menu includes familiar settings such as brightness, volume, orientation, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, while also introducing several new options, including the ability to restart your iPhone.

To access Control Center on your iPhone, simply swipe down from the top-right corner. Although you can’t simply tap it, you’ll need to hold the button down for a brief moment before the slider to power off your iPhone appears. 

To restart your iPhone, simply press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

control center in iOS 18

Instead of scribbling down your Wi-Fi password on a piece of paper, why not create a QR code? This clever hack allows you to easily share your password with others. All it takes is a few quick steps: generate the QR code using a tool like QRCode Monkey or GoQR.me, and then print it out or display it digitally.

Here is the rewritten text: There are several ways to share a Wi-Fi network and password with others using your iPhone, including a newly introduced method on iOS 18. By leveraging a QR code, businesses and individuals alike can bridge the gap between wanting to quickly disseminate their Wi-Fi login credentials.

  • . Instead of distributing your Wi-Fi password one by one, you can simply share a QR code from your phone and let everyone scan it to connect.
  • . Close friends and family members who are in your contact list will have priority access to share your Wi-Fi password.
  • . Although sharing files and folders via Share and AirDrop are seamless experiences on iOS devices, they unfortunately don’t support compatibility with Android smartphones?

If you don’t want to share your Wi-Fi password with someone who fits one or more of these scenarios, consider using a QR code instead. Launch the newly installed app and navigate to the Wi-Fi settings. Tap on the network you’d like to share, then select “Share” or equivalent option. When someone scans the QR code using their smartphone’s camera, they will automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network. 

QR code for Wi-Fi

Optimize the beam spread of your torch by adjusting the reflector and lens to achieve the desired illumination pattern.

The camera flash feature on iPhones is undergoing a significant enhancement. With the latest update to iOS 18, users with compatible devices can now not only adjust the depth of their flashlights but also modify the beam width of the light, offering enhanced flexibility and control over the lighting experience. You may expand broadly, using more space with a softer touch, or contract sharply, applying intense light over smaller areas, and everywhere in between. Playing with creative lighting effects is a delightful way to capture unique moments in photography.

To take advantage of the innovative feature, toggle on your flashlight from the lock screen or control center, and a sleek, redesigned user interface will materialize on the dynamic island. You can adjust the sunshine’s intensity by sliding your finger upwards or downwards. On the dynamic island, tapping anywhere enables you to toggle the flashlight on or off.

flashlight in dynamic island on iOS 18

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Unlocking Memories: Transcribing Voice Memos for Seamless Discovery

With voice memos, we capture life’s fleeting moments – a recipe from grandma, a joke to remember, or a crucial reminder. However, these ephemeral recordings can quickly become lost in the digital ether unless transcribed and organized.

The Voice Memos app is incredibly convenient for recording ideas or musical inspirations; unfortunately, they have always been shrouded in obscurity. Searching for a Memorable Memo: Uncovering the Elusive “Porcupine” Note in iOS 18

Tap on a memo within the Voice Memos app to reveal its controls, and then tap the waveform icon. Tap the three-dot button to the right of a memo and select

To generate the transcription, tap the subsequent button. Alternatively, review existing text if a transcript has already been created. Faucet .

Two iPhone screenshots of editing a recording in the Voice Memos app. At left is the waveform of the recording and a Transcribe button highlighted in red. At right is the generated text of the audio.

Upon employing the Search discipline, the app appears to organize the results by displaying transcripts alongside outcome titles. Throughout the entire iOS experience, when performing a search from the home screen, Voice Memos appears alongside other relevant results that include the search term. You may need to tap “…” to reveal it.

Two iPhone screenshots of the Voice Memos app. At left is a search for the term "porcupine" showing one result. At right is the opened result showing the transcript.

Rearrange App Icons for a Clutter-Free Home Screen?

Are your personal computer screens looking overwhelmed with digital chaos? If that’s indeed the situation, this novel trait might prove useful. With iOS 18, you can opt to hide app labels, removing the names of apps that appear beneath their icons on your home screen. What’s the point of labelling something that’s instantly recognizable?

On your private home display screen, press and maintain down on any clean house, till you enter jiggle mode, after which hit > . When you tap the home button, a menu will appear on the screen’s reverse side; from this menu, choose the option that enables your app icons to be slightly enlarged and eliminates app labels.

Removing app labels on iOS 18

Can I swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen?

Not every iOS app features a widget on your home screen, but when it does, you won’t have to rummage through the widget edit page to find it. On iOS 18, users can effortlessly convert apps into widgets directly from their Home screen for quick access.

From the home screen of a compatible application, long-press the icon to bring forth the quick actions menu for swift navigation. If your device features a widget, you’ll notice an app icon situated alongside a selection of widget icons, with up to three possible choices. . To backtrack to your app from the widget, simply navigate to the Fast Motion menu and select the app icon in the top-left corner.

Turning an app to a widget on iOS 18

Can you create songs using the Motion Button in secret?

The satisfaction of effortlessly identifying a song that’s been stuck in someone’s head – “With the iPhone’s Music Recognition feature, I can quickly satisfy curiosity by answering the question ‘What music is that?'”. However, to get a response that’s extremely noticeable, you would ask Siri to run Shazam or identify the song playing in the background? Isn’t it delightful to let your friends think you’ve got a comprehensive grasp on pop music’s vast expanse?

In iOS 14, you can quickly close an app by tapping the Motion Button (⌴). Explore online and navigate through the options until you select the desired one.

Three iPhone screenshots. At left is the Action Button setting with Recognize Music selected. The other two are the iPhone home screen showing Shazam listening and identifying a song in the dynamic island.

Simply pause for a few seconds to make it work. Within the Shazam app’s dynamic island, the technology listens attentively to what’s playing and accurately identifies the music.

Explore visually rich moments with handwritten notes and whimsical illustrations directly within the Photographs app.

A significant overhaul is underway within the iOS 18 Photographs app, with changes extending to how content is structured and the ability to employ advanced features in your photos. Within Apple’s app, you’ll discover several delightful features designed to facilitate browsing through your digital library.

Explore classes preceding the principal library itself to view those comparable to and until you reach. Tap to view the complete record; this innovative interface also allows for seamless navigation, enabling users to effortlessly swipe left to access additional panels and streamline their experience. Prior to iOS 14, the Utilities app offered options to view hidden files, recently deleted images, and duplicates.

The selection process now encompasses a wide range of options. Browse through a collection of images featuring handwritten notes. What are photographs that blur the line between illustration and photography called? Faucet, although testing suggests that this feature also captures numerous screenshots.

Two iPhone screenshots of the Photos app. At left is the list of Utilities options with Handwriting marked with a red box. At right are two images that include handwriting, including a paper bag that reads "Jeff Coleslaw".

“I think what’s fascinating about this approach is that it challenges our traditional notions of success. We’re often taught to strive for perfection, to be constantly improving and striving for more. But what if we redefined what success means? What if it’s not just about achieving some arbitrary goal, but about being happy and fulfilled in the present moment?”

I’m afraid I don’t have personal preferences or experiences, but I can help with rewriting the text in a different style if you provide me with more context. In iOS 18’s Podcasts app, sending an episode to a friend is possible, but the feature is subtly hidden, requiring some digging to discover.

To access the playback controls and pause an episode, faucet the icon located at the bottom of the screen’s home page. Progress tracking your journey? Click on the percentage to return to where you started.

Subsequently, tap the ellipsis (…). When presented with the sharing options, tap beneath the episode title, then select. Faucet .

Two iPhone screenshots showing the Podcasts app. At left is a playing podcast with the Now Playing bar highlighted with a red box. At right are the playback controls with the More menu visible and Share Episode highlighted with a red box.

Select the sharing strategy that parallels sending via Messages or emailing with Mail. When the recipient receives the shared episode and opens it within the Podcasts app, they will have the option to

Two iPhone screenshots showing the Podcasts app. At left is the share options with the From Start button highlighted by a red box. At right is the specific time to be shared, "From 32:56".

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