iOS 18 is lacking extra than simply Apple Intelligence

Look, I’m not ungrateful. However the reality stays that nothing stokes the creativeness of what Apple may do with its merchandise greater than the discharge of its newest {hardware} and software program. As iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and all the opposite newest OSes arrive, we not solely find yourself selecting via the entire new options and capabilities to see what’s new but in addition coming to grips with what’s not there and the restrictions of what’s.

That’s no totally different this time round. Despite the fact that I’ve been utilizing iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia for a number of months all through the beta course of, there are issues that I’d prefer to see improved or expanded upon in future releases. As a result of nothing whets the urge for food like seeing what’s doable. So listed here are simply three locations the place Apple appears poised to construct on this yr’s options to do extra within the coming years.

Mirror mirror on my iPad

Among the many finest new options in Sequoia is the flexibility to not simply view however management your iPhone proper out of your Mac with the brand new iPhone Mirroring app. Display screen sharing and management between Macs has been round for many years by way of Distant Desktop, VNC, and associated applied sciences, however that is the primary time that you simply’ve been in a position to do something like this with the iPhone.

Which raises the query: why cease on the iPhone? Why can’t I remotely view and management my iPad from my Mac? Truthfully, I’d like to see this sort of display screen sharing throughout Apple’s gadgets. Typically I need to have a look at one thing on my Apple TV after I’m upstairs. Typically I need to test my iPad from iPhone, or vice versa, and it’s bizarre that there’s this seemingly synthetic limitation of which gadgets can have a look at which others.

Apple

Apple

Apple

iPhone Mirroring additionally isn’t the one characteristic that Apple rolled out this yr that strikes the needle on this path. The brand new Distant Management characteristic of SharePlay permits you to view and even management another person’s iPhone—or iPad!—over a FaceTime name (with their permission, naturally). Right here’s hoping subsequent yr’s replace expands what’s doable.

Tremendous Password

In its newest platform updates, Apple promoted its Passwords characteristic from a mere choice pane to a full-blown app. With it comes a number of niceties, together with the flexibility to type your passwords by standards like date created or edited in addition to get fast entry to classes of entries like verification codes or passkeys. The app additionally, for the primary time, incorporates Wi-Fi passwords, which was consigned to the Keychain Entry app on the Mac. (On iOS, for a very long time you couldn’t even view Wi-Fi passwords!)

Nevertheless it appears like Passwords could possibly be a helpful place to retailer different kinds of info too. For instance, bank cards. Autofill for these is basically managed by Safari, however in case you go to have a look at your saved playing cards there you’ll see it divided up into objects in your Pockets (the Apple Card and Apple Money) and different saved playing cards.

Frankly, it’s complicated. I get that I normally need to autofill my bank cards on the internet—for locations that don’t use Apple Pay, anyway—however having every thing in the identical place would make issues a lot less complicated. The identical goes for info that’s not fairly a password however I would like fast and safe entry to: driver’s licenses, checking account numbers, safe notes.

Foundry

Foundry

Foundry

I perceive that Apple’s modus operandi for these sorts of apps is to supply the fundamentals and permit third-party builders to fill within the hole, however between saved bank cards and safe objects in Notes, it additionally appears like they’ve all of the elements of this performance already, simply in a disjointed style. If something, the transfer to make Passwords its personal app does counsel that the corporate might need extra in thoughts for all of this.

Maps doesn’t love you such as you like it

This yr’s Maps updates are principally designed to enchantment to the outdoorsy varieties, with additions like topographical maps and climbing routes. However there’s additionally a quieter enchancment: a brand new Locations Library that higher organizes your saved places, guides, and routes in a single place.

Nevertheless, the first factor that this enhancement jogs my memory is of the lackluster nature of Apple’s Guides characteristic. Guides have been round for a number of years; the thought is to have the ability to save a bunch of locations to a single checklist for whenever you’re planning a visit.

Apple

Apple

Apple

A lot as I really like this concept, I discover it largely hampered by a scarcity of collaborative options. When you can share a information you’ve created with different folks, they basically get their very own native copy, which means any adjustments they make to it aren’t mirrored in your information. So there’s no method to, say, create a information for a visit my spouse and I take and allow us to each add places that we need to see, one thing that Maps main competitor, Google Maps, makes fairly straightforward.

Equally, whereas the brand new Locations Library permits you to save customized routes—for strolling, operating, climbing, and so on.—there’s no method to share these customized routes with others. So I can’t suggest a selected hike I took with a buddy, or share my customized stroll route with my household. For me, a lot journey is about experiencing and sharing issues with others, and it’s a disgrace that Apple’s Maps app doesn’t make {that a} larger centerpiece.