Now that you’ve turned your sketches into highly detailed drawings, customized your iPhone’s home screen, added sizzle to your text messages and tried out all the new Apple Intelligence features, what’s next to discover in iOS 18.2?
There’s a lot. A lot of new settings aren’t publicized, so they stay under the radar, but that doesn’t mean they’re not important.
We’ve picked our favorite hidden iOS 18.2 features you should know about.
For more, here are eight iOS 18 settings you’ll want to change right away, how to back up your iPhone the right way and how to fix these three annoying iOS 18 settings.
Restart your iPhone from the new Control Center
You don’t have to press any physical buttons to restart your iPhone if you’re running iOS 18. The redesigned Control Center has all the classic controls you’re used to, like brightness, volume, orientation, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, but there are several new controls, including one for restarting your iPhone.
All you have to do is swipe down from the top right of your iPhone and press and hold the new power button at the top right of Control Center. You can’t just tap it; you have to press and hold it for a second or two, and then a slider will appear to turn off your iPhone.
To turn your iPhone back on, you’ll still have to press and hold the physical side button.
Use QR codes to share your Wi-Fi password
There are a few ways you can share Wi-Fi networks and passwords with people through your iPhone, and there’s a new way to do so on iOS 18. Using QR codes can serve as a way to quickly share your Wi-Fi information.
So if you encounter any of these scenarios and you don’t want to text them the Wi-Fi password, you can use a QR code. Go to the new Passwords app, go to the Wi-Fi section, tap the network you want to share, and then click Show Network QR Code. If the other person scans the QR code with their camera, they will connect to the Wi-Fi network.
Adjust the beam width of your flashlight
The flashlight on iPhone is getting a big upgrade. You’ve been able to change the intensity of the flashlight for a long time, but on iOS 18 you can now adjust the beam width of the light as well, provided you have a compatible model.
You can go wide to cover more area in less light, or narrow to use more intense light in a smaller area, and everywhere in between. It’s a fun feature for lighting people for photos.
To use the new feature, turn on your flashlight (use the lock screen or Control Center), and a new user interface will appear on the dynamic island. You can change the light intensity by swiping up and down, but to change the beam width, you need to swipe left and right. If you tap anywhere in the dynamic island, you can turn the flashlight off and on.
Share your AirTag with others
AirTag makes it easy to track your luggage while traveling or track your keys if you lose them, but sometimes you want other people to be able to track your AirTag too, especially when you’re going on a family vacation or a weekend getaway with your partner. With iOS 18, you can now share any AirTag you have with up to six people.
To do this, go to the Find My app and find the AirTag you want to share. Go to AirTag, click Add Person under Share AirTag and select a contact or multiple contacts. Finally, tap Share in the top right and then the person must accept your invitation. Once they do, they will be able to track your AirTag from their Apple device.