3 Annoying iOS 18 Features on Your iPhone and How to Fix Them

I’ll start by saying this: I love myself. iPhone — right now, I’m rocking this iPhone 15 Pro MaxI’ve had an iPhone since Apple released the first model in 2007, when I was in high school, and it’s been the only one I’ve owned since.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have complaints, though, especially when it comes to this topic. software.

With every new mobile software release, there are a few features or tweaks that I don’t really like, and I feel the same way about the latest version. iOS 18.

Don’t miss it: Download iOS 18 for your iPhone. How to Get It Now

Of course, there’s a lot to enjoy in iOS 18. I’m a big fan RCS supportIt makes messaging with Android users so much better. I also like that I can send text messaging via satellite When I don’t have cellular service. And I’m really glad I finally got to do it swap two lock screen buttonswhich frankly we should have been able to do for a while now.

But as always, there are things I hate.

And that’s why I wrote this story — and why I write this story every year — because there’s always something I really don’t like and want to change. Here are three things I don’t like about iOS 18 and how you can fix them.

For more, check out: 7 settings you should change when you download iOS 18 And 9 hidden iOS 18 features you should definitely know.

Get rid of all the clutter in the Photos app on iOS 18

Okay, I’ll be frank, I really didn’t like the revamp Apple made to the Photos app in iOS 18. I get what you’re going for, but it feels very cluttered by default. I don’t want my main camera roll constantly reminding me of vacations or suggesting wallpapers with photos and videos I wasn’t looking for.

Luckily, Apple gives you the option to customize the Photos app to your liking.

When you first open the Photos app, you’ll see the familiar library view, a grid of all your photos and videos. But you’ll notice that the navigation bar at the bottom is gone, replaced by collections of photos and videos you’ve taken recently of friends, family, and pets.

If you scroll down, you’ll still see random collections and albums like pinned collections, shared albums, memories, trips, featured photos, and wallpaper suggestions; all of these used to be in the Albums and For You tabs. Now they’re all in one place in iOS 18, the main view. And while that might be useful for some, I don’t need to see them all at once. I just want to see the camera roll and some albums.

Scroll to the bottom and tap to customize the Photos app Customize and Reorder. Here you can uncheck the collections you want to hide from the main view. You can also edit the order in which they appear. I don’t want the wallpaper suggestions and most of the other options, so I unchecked everything except MTypes of Edia (organizes your media into videos, live photos, etc.) and Utilities (hidden albums, recently deleted, receipts, documents, etc.)

Sure, you’ll no longer be able to see the collections and a few other albums that Apple created for you, but if you don’t use them, you’re better off this way because you can find any photo or video you want by scrolling through your camera roll or using the search button at the top.

Remove all new Control Center pages in iOS 18

I use Control Center all the time to quickly connect to Wi-Fi, enable Do Not Disturb, turn on dark mode or low battery mode, and discover new songs with music recognition control. But with iOS 18, Apple has expanded the design of Control Center and it now has multiple pages of controls, some pre-made and some you can create yourself.

The thing is, I don’t need multiple Control Center pages — I just need one. I don’t want the clutter of multiple pages, because I can fit all the controls I need on one page. But that’s not the only problem. Also, now when I try to scroll from Control Center, I find that I’m accidentally scrolling through Control Center pages, which gets me stuck and frustrated.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get Control Center back to how it used to be, all with a single page.

In Control Center, which you can access by swiping down from the top-right corner of your screen, swipe up to access additional pages and press your finger on any empty part of the page. This will highlight the control — press the remove control button (-) in the top left to get rid of the control and the page.

Do this for any other Control Center pages you have until only your main Control Center remains.

Now when you try to swipe out of Control Center, you won’t get stuck on other pages. Instead, you’ll be able to easily swipe out like before.

Stop accidentally triggering the new Siri in iOS 18.1 (public and developer beta users only)

The big AI upgrade to Siri that everyone’s been waiting for won’t be released until sometime next year, but if you’re running the public beta (or developer) version of iOS 18.1 ( here’s a full guide to it ) How to download) and a iPhone compatible with Apple IntelligenceYou’ve probably noticed that Siri has gotten brighter.

Instead of the Siri orb you’re used to, the edges of your iPhone’s screen glow with a variety of colors as the assistant listens to you. It’s a welcome design change, even if Siri still doesn’t have the expected Apple Intelligence features, but one aspect of the new Siri continues to bother me.

If you double-tap the bottom center of your iPhone, Type to Siri appears. This lets you type instead of speaking to Siri, and a keyboard appears at the bottom of your screen. It’s a handy feature if you’re in a situation where you need to be inconspicuous, but I accidentally activate it all the time, especially when I’m tapping or swiping on my phone.

But there is a way to disable Type to Siri without disabling the assistant completely. Settingsgo Apple Intelligence and Siri > Speak and Type with Siri and close Type to Siri.

For more, check out: How do you cut out blurry movie dialogue with this new iOS 18 audio feature?.