Reviewing iOS 18 for power users: Control Center, iCloud, and more

This contextual menu in Files now includes a “Keep Downloaded” option.

Samuel Axon

This contextual menu in Files now includes a “Keep Downloaded” option.

Samuel Axon

The same menu lets you uncheck it once it’s been flagged as something to keep downloaded.

Samuel Axon

The same menu lets you uncheck it once it’s been flagged as something to keep downloaded.

Samuel Axon

The new iCloud settings panel doesn’t really add any new functionality, but it’s more readable than before.

Samuel Axon

The new iCloud settings panel doesn’t really add any new functionality, but it’s more readable than before.

Samuel Axon

The same menu lets you uncheck it once it’s been flagged as something to keep downloaded.

Samuel Axon

The new iCloud settings panel doesn’t really add any new functionality, but it’s more readable than before.

Samuel Axon

Also, those using third-party cloud storage solutions can now sync desktop and documents to the cloud.

And speaking of cloud storage, there’s a revamped iCloud management panel in the Settings app. There isn’t really any new functionality here, but it’s in a much more digestible and scannable format, and it’s quicker to make changes to what’s being synced.

None of these changes is radical, but it’s nice to see small iterations happening in terms of making iOS a more efficient and customizable operating system for users who want to get into the nitty-gritty of things like file management.

Hidden and locked apps

There’s one last set of features worth noting here: locking or hiding apps.

Locking an app makes it so an additional Face ID authentication is required to launch the app, so sensitive data is protected even if you hand your phone to someone for another purpose.

It additionally makes it so data from that app doesn’t appear anywhere else it might across the operating system. That includes places like Spotlight searches, suggestions, and notification previews.

To lock or hide an app, you just long-press on it on the home screen to bring up these options, then tap “Require Face ID.”

Samuel Axon

To lock or hide an app, you just long-press on it on the home screen to bring up these options, then tap “Require Face ID.”

Samuel Axon

This will pop up to ask whether you just want to lock it, or if you want to lock and hide it.

Samuel Axon

This will pop up to ask whether you just want to lock it, or if you want to lock and hide it.

Samuel Axon

That was for a third-party app; if you try it with a built-in app, no hiding option is available.

Samuel Axon

That was for a third-party app; if you try it with a built-in app, no hiding option is available.

Samuel Axon

This will pop up to ask whether you just want to lock it, or if you want to lock and hide it.

Samuel Axon

That was for a third-party app; if you try it with a built-in app, no hiding option is available.

Samuel Axon

If you choose to hide, this warning pops up to explain what’s going on. Apple doesn’t want casual users to get confused and lose their apps.

Samuel Axon

The hidden app folder appears at the bottom of the app library. Until you tap it and authenticate with Face ID, you can’t see what apps are in it.

Samuel Axon

The only way to unhide an app is to long-press it in this hidden apps folder. Doing this also unlocks it, and you’ll have to add it back to your home screen if you want it there.

Samuel Axon

You can also hide an app, which relegates it to a special folder in the app library that you need Face ID to open. Hidden apps still appear in a few other isolated places, though, like the Screen Time app.

This is a niche feature. Most of us don’t have a lot of situations where someone is using our phone but we don’t want them to see some ultra-specific thing. But it’s nice that it’s there for those edge cases.

An interface so good I wish Apple had used it twice

All told, I love this new Control Center interface. In fact, I find it quite strange that Apple didn’t copy it for the home screen. Just a few days ago, I wrote about how awkward wiggle mode is and how the new place-an-app-icon-anywhere approach in iOS 18 mitigates that but doesn’t fix it. Here it is, just a swipe away: an alternate solution to the same grid-based interface that works far better than what we get with the home screen.