Turn Off Mail Categories and Change These Other 9 Key Settings in iOS 18.4

I admire that Apple’s builders are working to make issues simpler on the iPhone, however a current addition to iOS 18.4 threw me for a loop. The new Mail classes are meant to type incoming electronic mail to assist prioritize messages, they usually’re turned on by default. For me, this strategy was too jarring, so I ended up turning off the characteristic (after giving it a good attempt).

That did make me bear in mind, nevertheless, that there are all types of iPhone settings that many individuals might by no means hit upon. I’ve collected a lot of my favorites beneath. Even if you happen to checked out them briefly when iOS 18 was launched, it is value revisiting these options to enhance your on a regular basis iPhone expertise.

Don’t neglect that iOS 18 consists of the primary Apple Intelligence options, so remember to take a look at the ones you will use most. Or when you’ve got no present curiosity or need to wait earlier than utilizing the AI options, learn to flip off Apple Intelligence.

For extra on what’s new in iOS 18, find out about enhancements to the overhauled Calculator app and the Mail app. And remember to seek the advice of our iOS 18 improve guidelines, which incorporates ensuring you might have a correct backup earlier than upgrading.

Watch this: 11 Hidden Features in iOS 18

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Turn off classes within the Mail app

When it involves one thing like electronic mail, everybody has their very own approach of coping with the inflow of messages. Traditionally, the Mail app has stored a chronological checklist, however that may get unwieldy if you happen to additionally get scores of promotions, receipts and different sorts of electronic mail. The new classes characteristic creates digital buckets for Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and guesses how your messages needs to be sorted.

If that strategy does not give you the results you want, listed here are two issues to attempt.

• In the occasion that classes are considerably helpful, however you continue to need a chronological view of your Inbox, swipe all the way in which to the best of the classes and faucet All Mail.

• To flip off classes altogether, faucet the three-dot menu (…) within the top-right nook, after which faucet List View.

Change the default buttons on the lock display screen

In actual property, location is the whole lot, and the underside corners of the iPhone lock display screen are the prime spots, every a straightforward thumb press away when your system remains to be locked. Before iOS 18, these posts have been held by the flashlight and digital camera buttons, with no solution to change them.

In iOS 18, you possibly can lastly change them with different buttons — or take away them totally, a balm for folk who unknowingly activate the flashlight (consider me, there is a higher solution to flip it on). You can add buttons to acknowledge music through Shazam, allow Dark Mode, set an alarm/timer, allow Airplane Mode, open your Wallet, ship cash through Tap to Cash and extra.

Here’s how:

1. On the iPhone’s lock display screen, contact and maintain anyplace on the show till you see the Customize button. You’ll have to unlock the telephone utilizing Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If it opens the house display screen, swipe down from the center-top of the display screen (not the best edge, which brings up Control Center.

2. Tap Customize after which select Lock Screen.

3. Remove one of many buttons by tapping the – (minus) button on the icon.

4. To change the button with one other perform, faucet its area (now with a + icon) after which select the one you need on the subsequent display screen. (You may also choose to depart that area empty with no button.)

5. Repeat these steps for the opposite button if you wish to change it.

6. Tap Done whenever you’re completed.

7. Tap the lock display screen once more to exit the customise mode.

Get vital alerts utilizing Prioritize Notifications

For iPhone fashions that may run Apple Intelligence, a brand new possibility in iOS 18.4 is quick changing into one in every of my favourite AI options. Go to Settings > Notifications, and beneath Apple Intelligence, faucet Prioritize Notifications. As new alerts are available — and a few days really feel like they arrive in floods — Apple Intelligence determines which of them usually tend to be vital to you. For instance, texts from individuals in your contacts might be flagged in favor of random rip-off messages. On that settings display screen, you possibly can allow or disable precedence notifications for particular person apps.

Set up a number of the new duties out there on the Action button

The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16E and iPhone 16 Pro changed the devoted mute change discovered on each earlier iPhone mannequin with a configurable management. By default, it serves the identical objective — maintain it to show Silent Mode on or off — however you possibly can configure it for different actions like opening the Camera app, performing a number of actions without delay and even ordering espresso. The iOS 18.4 replace provides Visual Intelligence as an possibility for the Action button. That makes the AI expertise out there on the iPhone 16E, which doesn’t embrace the novel new Camera Control, however is now an possibility for any iPhone with an Action button.

In iOS 18, the Action button will get new capabilities. You can bypass Control Center and select a management of your alternative, reminiscent of opening the Remote interface for navigating Apple TV or utilizing Shazam to establish a track.

To select a special motion for the Action button, go to Settings > Action Button. Swipe sideways to pick and activate one of many out there actions. For the Controls, Shortcut and Accessibility choices, faucet the Choose button to select which particular motion to run.

Give your own home display screen a radical new look

You would not suppose that placing icons the place you need is a radical new characteristic, however that is as a result of iOS has at all times had a locked association. Apps get added from prime to backside, left to proper. You might rearrange the order by which icons seem and transfer them to different screens, however that was about it.

In iOS 18, apps may be positioned almost anyplace. You not have to take care of a wallpaper picture of your youngsters or pets being obscured by icons. They nonetheless adhere to a grid — Apple is not about to sanction anarchy — however may be positioned freely.

Also, Dark mode lastly applies to all the iPhone’s dwelling display screen, with choices for coloring icons and affecting the brightness of the wallpaper picture. Here’s easy methods to customise the appears to be like.

Arrange apps: Touch and maintain the house display screen to enter “jiggle mode,” after which drag the icons to new positions. It will nonetheless slide them round to fill areas, however with persistence, you possibly can transfer them into the spots you need.

You may also rapidly flip appropriate apps into widgets that show extra data. Maps, as an illustration, is usually a map of your present location with shortcut buttons to seek for locations or carry up a listing of close by locations (reminiscent of dinner spots). Touch and maintain the app icon and search for a row of resize buttons within the menu that seems. Once expanded past the usual icon dimension, you possibly can drag the deal with within the bottom-right nook of the brand new icon. To get it again to its single icon dimension you want to contact and maintain once more and select the single-icon button

Set Dark mode: If you’ve got ever subjected your self to the retina blast of black textual content on a white background late at evening in a darkened room, you’ll admire the brand new Dark mode possibility for the house and lock screens. iOS has beforehand included a Dark mode, the place mild backgrounds change to black or darkish grey, textual content switches to white or mild grey and different interface components are dimmed to coexist in a darkish atmosphere. That’s by no means been utilized to the house and lock screens in any vital approach — solely the dock and a few widgets — till iOS 18.

First, contact and maintain the house display screen to enter jiggle mode. Tap the Edit button within the top-left nook and select Customize from the menu. At the underside of the display screen, select a mode for the icons and background: Automatic, Dark or Light (I’ll get to Tinted in a second). In Dark mode, the icons acquire black backgrounds, and folders and the Dock turn into darkish grey. (Developers have the choice of creating Dark mode icons for his or her apps. In the meantime, apps not but optimized get a usually darker look.)

In Dark mode, the background picture additionally adjustments. Apple’s default iOS 18 wallpaper dynamically adjustments from mild to darkish because the day progresses, or you possibly can select colours that provide each a light-weight and darkish possibility. If you utilize a photograph, its total publicity is decreased to dim the sunshine output.

If you need darkish icons however aren’t a fan of the dimmed picture remedy, faucet the solar icon within the nook of the choices sheet on the backside of the display screen to toggle again to Light mode only for the background.

Tinted icons: A brand new and totally different possibility is to tint all the app icons so that they share the identical shade. In the Customize choices on the backside of the display screen, select Tinted because the icon fashion. You can then alter the Hue (the slider with the colour spectrum) and Luminosity (the slider with the darkish to mild vary) to decide on the colour tint you favor.

What if you wish to match a shade from a background picture? Tap the eyedropper button after which drag the reticle to pinpoint the colour you need — the border signifies the chosen shade.

The tint is utilized not solely to icons however to widgets as effectively. For a widget reminiscent of Photos, the pictures it shows present up as duotones to match the theme.

Large icons: Do the labels beneath every app icon appear redundant to you? Now you possibly can take away the labels and enhance the scale of the icons with one setting. Open the Customize choices as described above and faucet the Large button.

After making any of those adjustments, faucet anyplace on the display screen to use them and exit the Customize interface.

Change up how the Control Center appears to be like

Control Center was as soon as a handy place to rapidly entry controls reminiscent of playback quantity and Airplane mode, however beneath iOS 18 it is a configurable playground. You can place controls the place you need, resize many to disclose extra data and add new controls on a number of screens.

Swipe down from the top-right nook to disclose the Control Center (or swipe up from the underside on the iPhone SE). To enter edit mode, contact and maintain or press the + button on the top-left nook.

Just as with shifting apps, drag a management to a different slot on the display screen to reposition it. Many of the controls additionally embrace a bottom-right deal with that may resize the management — normally, it reveals the title of the management and its present standing (reminiscent of Flashlight Off).

Control Center additionally now spans a number of screens. Swipe as much as view controls for media at the moment enjoying, Home controls for sensible lights and home equipment and a web page devoted to the communication choices that seem whenever you long-press the Connectivity block containing Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular and others. Look carefully and you will see that these screens are literally particular person controls expanded to occupy all the Control Center space.

You can rearrange the order of these screens by shifting their controls. Suppose you need Home controls to be the primary swipe as an alternative of Now Playing: In the enhancing mode, drag the big Home management as much as the earlier display screen (Now Playing will shift to the best to make room).

To take away controls, faucet the – (minus) button that seems. You may also add different controls: Tap Add a Control and scroll by way of the out there choices starting from beginning a Screen Recording to a bunch of accessibility choices.

Read extra: All the brand new controls you possibly can add to Control Center

Lock or disguise any of your delicate apps

Our telephones carry a few of our most delicate knowledge, and but it isn’t unusual handy a telephone to a good friend to view images or lookup one thing on-line. That does not imply they will snoop, however it does not not imply they could be extra curious than you are comfy with. For knowledge you need to guarantee stays out of sight or so as to add a layer of safety in entrance of delicate data, iOS 18 provides the flexibility to lock and conceal apps.

For instance, as an instance you retain an ongoing set of lists of reward concepts for members of the family within the Notes app. You can lock particular person notes, however that requires a separate step. Maybe a couple of concepts have been made as particular person fast notes or drawings. Instead of micromanaging entry, you possibly can lock all the Notes app by doing the next:

Touch and maintain the app icon you need to lock and select Require Face ID or Require Touch ID (or Require Passcode if Face ID or Touch ID aren’t enabled) from the menu that seems. Confirm your alternative by tapping Require Face ID (or comparable) within the subsequent dialog.

To take away the authentication step, contact and maintain the app and select Don’t Require Face ID (or comparable).

Nothing outwardly signifies that an app is locked — you will discover out whenever you attempt to open it. There’s another stage of app safety out there, which is to cover apps in a particular locked folder. Touch and maintain the app and select Require Face ID after which faucet Hide and Require Face ID within the dialog. Confirm the motion by tapping Hide App on the subsequent display screen.

The app disappears from the house display screen and will get slotted right into a Hidden folder on the backside of the App Library (swipe left past your final dwelling display screen to view the App Library). To entry apps there, faucet the Hidden folder and authenticate with Face ID.

iOS 18 imposes some limitations on hidden apps. Some, reminiscent of lots of the built-in ones like Notes or Reminders, can solely be locked and can’t be hidden in any respect. Also, the Hidden folder locks itself whenever you launch an app or swipe away from the App Library.

Turn off Loop Videos within the Photos app

Many apps have carried out a small however annoying (to me) characteristic, and now Photos beneath iOS 18.2 has it too: Videos robotically replay whenever you watch them till you faucet the Pause button. That may be enjoyable a few times, or when viewing quick clips. I’m not a fan of getting to take motion to make them cease every time.

Now I can take motion as soon as. Go to Settings > Photos, scroll down till you see Loop Videos and switch the choice off. A video will play by itself however then cease on the finish because it ought to.

If you’d somewhat the video did not play in any respect till you faucet the Play button, additionally flip off Auto-Play Motion in the identical Settings display screen.

Adjust the view of your calendar

Big new options like locking and hiding apps are nice additions however so are the tiny adjustments that you simply encounter on daily basis. The Calendar app consists of two new methods to view your schedule.

In iOS 18, whenever you’re within the Month view in portrait orientation, pinch with two fingers to view extra or fewer particulars. As you “zoom in,” particular person occasions seem as coloured bars after which as labeled occasions with instances, all whereas retaining the month-to-month grid of days and weeks.

The Day view, which breaks down your day hour by hour, now has a brand new Multi Day view that exhibits two consecutive days to present you context for what’s coming with out turning the telephone into panorama orientation and viewing the Week view. Tap the View button on the prime of the Single Day view and select Multi Day from the popup menu.

Improve film and TV present dialogue within the TV app

Trouble listening to dialogue in films and tv exhibits is not a brand new downside — for instance, the Apple TV has had a characteristic for some time the place you possibly can ask Siri, “What did she say?” and it’ll robotically again up a couple of seconds, activate subtitles and replay that part of the video. You may even purchase soundbars that may overcome muffled TV speech. There are a number of causes it is more durable to listen to dialogue, however the TV app in iOS 18 features a high-tech workaround to make dialog simpler to discern.

While you are watching a video within the TV app, faucet the More (…) button after which increase the Audio heading within the menu that seems; if the telephone is in horizontal orientation, faucet the Audio Adjustments button. Tap Enhance Dialogue and select Enhance or Boost. They every dampen background noise and lift the dialogue’s audio.

These are only a few new options and adjustments in iOS 18. Check out our broader protection of Apple Intelligence, extra impressions of the system after utilizing it for months and the way these all work along with the iPhone 16 fashions.