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 might 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 constraints of what’s.

That’s no completely 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 below 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 greatest new options in Sequoia is the power 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 just’ve been capable of 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? Actually, I’d like to see this sort of display sharing throughout Apple’s units. Generally I wish to have a look at one thing on my Apple TV after I’m upstairs. Generally I wish to examine my iPad from iPhone, or vice versa, and it’s bizarre that there’s this seemingly synthetic limitation of which units can have a look at which others.

Apple

Apple

Apple

iPhone Mirroring additionally isn’t the one function that Apple rolled out this yr that strikes the needle on this course. The brand new Distant Management function of SharePlay allows 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 function from a mere choice pane to a full-blown app. With it comes a number of niceties, together with the power to kind 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 seems like Passwords might be a helpful place to retailer different sorts of data too. For instance, bank cards. Autofill for these is basically managed by Safari, however for those who go to take a look at your saved playing cards there you’ll see it divided up into gadgets in your Pockets (the Apple Card and Apple Money) and different saved playing cards.

Frankly, it’s complicated. I get that I often wish to autofill my bank cards on the net—for locations that don’t use Apple Pay, anyway—however having every little thing in the identical place would make issues a lot less complicated. The identical goes for data 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 offer the fundamentals and permit third-party builders to fill within the hole, however between saved bank cards and safe gadgets in Notes, it additionally seems like they’ve all of the components of this performance already, simply in a disjointed trend. If something, the transfer to make Passwords its personal app does recommend that the corporate might need extra in thoughts for all of this.

Maps doesn’t love you such as you find it irresistible

This yr’s Maps updates are largely designed to attraction to the outdoorsy varieties, with additions like topographical maps and mountain 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.

Nonetheless, the first factor that this enhancement jogs my memory is of the lackluster nature of Apple’s Guides function. Guides have been round for a number of years; the concept is to have the ability to save a bunch of locations to a single listing for once 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, that 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 wish to see, one thing that Maps main competitor, Google Maps, makes fairly straightforward.

Equally, whereas the brand new Locations Library allows you to save customized routes—for strolling, operating, mountain climbing, and so on.—there’s no method to share these customized routes with others. So I can’t suggest a particular 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} greater centerpiece.