6 things I really want to see Apple add to iOS 18

Key operations

• Apple’s iOS has come a long way over the years.
• The operating system is generally mature and feature-rich.
• That said, there is still room for improvement.

It’s no secret that we’ve come a long way since that first, fateful 1.0 release of iOS (born iPhone OS) in 2007. This first version of the now ubiquitous operating system came hand in hand with the release of the original iPhone.

“Now, mobile phone software, it’s like baby software. It’s not that powerful. And today we’re going to show you a software breakthrough, software that’s at least 5 years ahead of what’s on any other phone. How are we going to do it? Well, we start with a strong foundation. iPhone runs OS X.” These were the words of Steve Jobs, spoken in front of a noisy audience at MacWorld during the presentation of the first generation of the iPhone.

Apple made a wise decision to use the foundations of its existing Mac software, giving its phone a competitive advantage over existing models on the market. Jobs highlighted the multitasking, networking, power management and security prowess inherited from the iPhone.

The same original version of software that launched the iPhone did not have an app store. It also lacked copy and paste functionality and didn’t even offer support for wallpapers.

The company quickly iterated on its new platform, increasing its capabilities each year to match the year-over-year performance improvements that came with new iPhone releases.

Today, iOS is a mature, highly polished operating system. Although the era of rapid mobile innovation is now behind us, there is always room for OS improvements. Apple’s annual WWDC developer conference is just around the corner, starting on June 10, where we expect Apple to preview iOS 18 along with other Apple software updates. With that in mind, here are 6 iPhone features, in no particular order, that I’d like to see in this year’s iOS 18 release.

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1 Customizable lock screen shortcuts

I can already access my camera in other ways, but why not my calculator?

This is a feature that has been around on different versions of Android for many years. It might seem like a small thing, but being able to customize the shortcuts on your phone’s lock screen is really handy. iPhone currently offers a flashlight shortcut in the lower left corner of the screen, as well as a camera shortcut in the lower right.

Since there are already so many different ways to launch the camera system-wide, I’d like to replace the redundant shortcut button with something else I use regularly — like a calculator. Quick access would also make other utilities available, including timers, alarms, and digital wallets.

2 Support for application icon packs

Another mainstay of Android, the ability to customize the look and feel of home screen icons would be a welcome addition to iOS. The appeal of such a feature is obvious, and there is already a growing market for the concept.

Existing, well-crafted icon packs like Leather Icons and Vision iOS App Icons are already on the market, but Apple makes it difficult to apply them to the system. It requires using the Shortcuts app, which happens to be a workaround. Apple could and should natively support the feature to allow us to customize the interface to our liking.

3 A less intrusive and more customizable action center

Why is it so much work to change my quick settings?

Apple’s Action Center is well designed. So much so, in fact, that many Android OEMs have essentially emulated the experience on their custom interfaces. However, it could absolutely be improved.

I’d love the ability to rearrange multiple different shortcuts and quick settings to my liking, and to be able to do it on demand without having to jump into the settings app.

I’d also like the action center to be less obtrusive when invoked. With most iPhone apps, multimedia is immediately paused when you swipe down to access the quick settings menu. This is quite annoying and unnecessarily frustrating when I want to adjust media volume in real time.

Speaking of which, I’d also like to be able to pin quick settings modules directly to my home screen. After all, they follow the same basic grid system that app icons are aligned with.

4 Constant notifications on the lock screen

Android figured this out years ago

The biggest growing pain I experience every time I switch from Android to iPhone is managing notifications. There’s something about the way Android handles incoming alerts that looks better to me.

I especially like that on Android, notifications remain persistent on the lock screen until they are acted upon. A simple switch to enable this behavior in iOS would satisfy me without upsetting those who prefer Apple’s way of doing things.

There are plenty of other improvements Apple could implement to bring its notification system up to speed with Android, but a simple “stay on lock screen” option would be enough for me.

5 Stage Manager, just like on the iPad

Let me take full advantage of my phone’s computing power

The biggest missed opportunity with the iPhone continues to be the inability to fully utilize its power. Apple brags about the performance of its A-series chips every year, but most of that CPU and GPU grunt gets lost in translation when you’re scrolling through TikTok and Instagram. I wish Apple would adopt its own ‘desktop mode’, in the same way as Samsung’s DeX.

This is the least likely to be adopted by Apple, in my opinion. By the same token, the iPad isn’t yet a complete replacement for the Mac — the company will lose hardware revenue if users can accomplish more with fewer devices.

In addition, all building elements are already in place. iPadOS, with the same code base as iOS, supports external monitors and on-screen windowing applications via Stage Manager. Fingers crossed that one day I can hook up my iPhone to a USB-C monitor and do some serious work.

6 Position the application icon anywhere on the home screen

Either add this feature or shrink the phones again

The latter was rumored to arrive in iOS 18 and I hope the leaks prove correct. Ever since we were able to change the layout of the icons, the system automatically aligned all apps in the upper left corner of the screen.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Apple can continue to maintain a simple and consistent design language on the home screen, allowing us to place our apps wherever we want.

This is an accessibility problem as much as a customization problem — and it’s a problem that didn’t appear until smartphones started getting really big. It’s really hard to reach the top corner of a modern screen while using the phone with one hand.

Some users have even taken to inserting blank widgets on their home screen to force apps closer to the (reachable) bottom of the screen.

With WWDC 2024 less than 2 months away, I sincerely hope Apple adds at least some of these features to iOS 18. If there’s one thing we can be sure of, it’s that we’ll have our answers soon.