Apple has already released the latest Beta of iOS 18.2 so its official launch is imminent, if there are no unforeseen events. It should be available next weekWhat changes does this new update bring? We tell you all about them below.
The next update for iPhone and iPad comes with Apple Intelligence as the main protagonist. Apple's Artificial Intelligence is not yet available outside the United States, but with the arrival of iOS 18.2 it is will expand to other English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and AustraliaIt is not expected to arrive in Europe until February or March, but there are other new features that will arrive on our iPhones with this new version, so here we present the new features, on the one hand those related to Apple Intelligence and in the other section those that have nothing to do with it and therefore will be available from day one.
Apple Intelligence news
As we mentioned before, Apple's Artificial Intelligence will be coming to new countries, always in English, and they are only available for those who have an iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and for any of the recently launched iPhone 16s. They are the following:
Image Playground
- A new app that lets you use concepts, descriptions, and people from your photo library to create fun, playful images in multiple styles
- Swipe through the previews and choose as you add concepts to your playground.
- Choose between animation and illustration styles when creating your image
- Create images in Messages and Freeform, as well as third-party apps
- Images are synced to your Image Playground library across all your devices with iCloud
Genmoji
- Genmoji lets you create a custom emoji right from the keyboard
- Genmoji syncs to your sticker drawer across all your devices with iCloud
ChatGPT Support
- OpenAI's ChatGPT can be accessed directly from Siri or Writing Tools
- Writing using Writing Tools allows you to create something from scratch with ChatGPT
- Siri can leverage ChatGPT when relevant to give you an answer
- A ChatGPT account is not required and your requests will be anonymous and will not be used to train OpenAI models.
- Log in with ChatGPT to access your account benefits, and requests will be covered by OpenAI's data policies.
Image Wand
- Turn handwritten or typed sketches and notes into images in Notes
- Mail categorization classifies your messages to help you prioritize the most important messages
- Summary view groups all messages from a sender into a single package for easy navigation
Camera control
- Visual Intelligence with Camera Control helps you instantly learn about places or interact with information simply by pointing your iPhone at the object, with the option to use Google Search or GPT Chat
writing tools
- Allows you to suggest how you would like to rewrite something, for example as a poem
Other changes
camera monitoring
- Only on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
- The camera control's two-stage shutter release allows you to lock focus and exposure on the camera by lightly pressing the camera control button.
Photos
- Improvements to video display, including the ability to scrub frame by frame and a setting to disable automatic looping video playback
- Improvements to navigating Collections views, including the ability to swipe right to return to the previous view
- You can clear your recently viewed and recently shared album history
- The Favorites album appears in the Utilities collection in addition to Pinned Collections
safari
- New background images to customize your Safari home page
- Import and Export allows you to export your browsing data from Safari and import browsing data from another application into Safari
- HTTPS Priority upgrades URLs to HTTPS whenever possible
- File Download Live Activity shows the progress of a file download on the Dynamic Island and on your home screen
Air Tag
- You can now share the location of your AirTags with third parties, including airlines, to help locate lost bags while traveling.
Bug fixes
- Voice Memos support layered recording, letting you add vocals on top of an existing song idea without the need for headphones, then import your two-track projects directly into Logic Pro (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)
- Sharing item location in Find My helps you locate and recover lost items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with trusted third parties, such as airlines.
- Natural language search in Apple Music and the Apple TV app lets you describe what you're looking for using any combination of categories like genres, moods, actors, decades, and more.
- Favorite Categories in Podcasts lets you choose your favorite categories and get recommendations for relevant shows that you can easily access in your library.
- The personalized search page in Podcasts highlights the most relevant categories and editorially tailored collections for you
- Sudoku for News+ Puzzles provided in three difficulty levels and available to News+ subscribers (US only)
- Hearing Check support on AirPods Pro 2 in Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom
- AirPods Pro 2 support for headphone functionality in the UAE
- Pre-market price quotes on stocks allow you to track NASDAQ and NYSE tickers before the market opens
- Fixes an issue where recently taken photos did not immediately appear in the All Photos grid
- Fixes an issue where Night mode photos in the camera could appear degraded when capturing long exposures (iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)