Apple has released iOS 18.3 Release Candidate (RC) to developers and members of its public beta community. This indicates that the final update will likely be available to users with the best iPhones on Monday, January 27.
Even though this update doesn’t introduce as many new features as iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2, there are still some things that will interest everyone. Here’s what’s coming.
The biggest novelty
Once you install iOS 18.3 on your iPhone, you will quickly notice one of its most important updates: improved Notification summaries. Originally launched with iOS 18, this feature aims to make it easier to review incoming messages, news headlines, and other notifications using Apple technology. However, the summaries have faced widespread criticism due to their shortcomings.
In iOS 18.3, notification management has been improved to make messages more relevant and less intrusive. Additionally, you can turn off notification summaries for specific apps right from the lock screen.
As a user of the iOS 18.3 release candidate, I can confirm that notification summaries work better than before, which should please millions of iPhone users.
Other new features
In addition to improvements to notification summaries, at least three notable new features in iOS 18.3 also deserve attention. One of the most interesting is the ability to create custom Genmojis directly from the emoji menu using a new “+” button. This update simplifies the process by removing unnecessary steps, making it easier for users to access this feature. With the Genmoji option now available in the emoji menu, we can expect faster adoption of one of Apple Intelligence’s most creative features.
Apple also introduced a privacy improvement to mobile Safari with the release of iOS 18.3. This improvement occurs when you crop screenshots to save them as PDFs. Before finalizing the PDF, your phone will warn you that cropped content may still be visible in some applications. This warning lets you decide if sharing the cropped PDF is the right choice.
The Calculator app does not introduce a new feature but brings back a feature removed in earlier versions of iOS. This feature allows users to reapply the last calculation by pressing the equals button multiple times. Currently this function is not available.
The camera interface received a subtle update in iOS 18.3 for the iPhone 16 Pro. Instead of options like “AE/AF Lock” and “Sharp Preview,” the labels have been changed to “Lock Focus and Exposure.”
iOS 18.3 includes bug fixes carried over from previous versions of iOS and battery performance improvements. It may take time to fully understand the implications.
You can download iOS 18.3 next week if you have a supported iPhone. Keep in mind that Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
