iOS 18 will get “redesigned” Notes, Mail, Photos, and Fitness apps
According to MacRumors with a reference to Mark Gurman, Apple plans to update standard branded applications in iOS 18. In particular, we are talking about Notes, Mail, Photos, and Fitness.
All of this will be only part of a major update to the operating system. Moreover, it has been said more than once that iOS 18 is considered the largest OS update in the company.
“Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is set to kick off on Monday, June 10. That’s when the company will unveil iOS 18 and the next major versions of its iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro and Mac software. The new iPhone operating system is considered internally to be the biggest upgrade in the device’s history, and the Vision Pro is getting its first significant software update since the headset was released,” Mark Gurman writes.
Although Gurman hasn’t shared any details about the app updates yet, the publication has summarized what we can expect with future versions of the operating systems:
- Smarter Siri: in the best trends of today, Apple will introduce generative artificial intelligence functions that will help to improve the capabilities of the Siri voice assistant, as well as to get many additions to Spotlight, Shortcuts, Apple Music, Messages, Health, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and other applications. It has already been reported that Apple is in talks with Google, OpenAI, and Baidu, although it is still possible that the company will also prepare its own version of LLM;
- More Customizable Home Screen: iOS 18 will allow users to place icons and widgets not only in a sequential order, as it is now, but also in an arbitrary order. That is, the user will be able to leave several empty spaces or even lines between icons;
- RCS: earlier, the company confirmed that in the fall of 2024, the Messages app will receive RCS (Rich Communication Services) support. This will improve the experience of text communication with Android smartphone users using native messaging apps;
- Calculator Revamp: iOS 18 and macOS 15 should also receive an updated Calculator app, which will have a separate panel with preliminary calculations, value conversion, integration with Notes, and more. Moreover, iPadOS 18 should also get one (so far, the iPad OS has not had a proprietary Calculator app);
- Math in Notes App: among other updates, the Notes app will also be able to display math notation, more types of algebraic equations, formulas, and more;
- Custom Routes in Apple Maps: the proprietary navigation application will allow you to set custom routes, and will also get an option with topographic maps (trails, contour lines, elevations, interesting places for hiking and other outdoor activities), which previously appeared in Watch OS 10;
- Safari Browsing Assistant: what exactly the “browser assistant” will be able to do is currently unknown. However, other ChatGPT-enabled browsers, for example, have already learned to summarize the content of pages;
- AirPods Pro as Hearing Aid: earlier, it also became known that with iOS 18, AirPods Pro headphones will have a “hearing aid” function, but it is not yet clear how exactly it will differ from the existing Conversation Boost;
- Next-Generation CarPlay: the first cars supporting the updated CarPlay capabilities should appear this year, so it is likely that this will happen along with the presentation of iOS 18;
- Freeform Scenes: the relatively new Freeform app will feature Scenes, which will allow users to select specific sections on the virtual whiteboard to improve navigation.
WWDC 2024 is more than a month away, so this is definitely not an exhaustive list of potential updates to Apple’s operating systems. And while many features will be available to see and try with the first betas, it’s likely that some of them will also be released later. In the meantime, we just have to wait a bit for the official announcements and more details to come along with them.