Apple's iOS 18 arrives on iPhones with new password manager app

Apple has launched the latest major software update for iPhones, bringing a password manager app, as well as various new ways to tweak the look of your home screen.

The latest iOS 18 version, now available to download, also brings several changes to the Photos and Messages apps, with the latter now also supporting the communication standard RCS. Already widely used on Android smartphones, RCS is effectively the successor to SMS.

Anyone worried about bugs in this brand new system can wait before upgrading to iOS 18, and instead simply install the optional iOS 17.7, which does not bring any new features, but simply fixes bugs and patches security gaps.

In any case, some of the most anticapated iOS 18 features aren't even ready yet. The heavily promoted AI features, known in corporate lingo as Apple Intelligence, will only be added in October with the release of iOS 18.1.

You can also only use these if you have an iPhone 16, an iPhone 15 Pro or an iPhone 15 Pro Max whose language scheme is set to US English. Other languages are set to follow by next year.

The operating system updates are available for all iPhones from generation XS (2018) onwards. Those who have not yet been offered them by their phone can also initiate the updates manually: connect the iPhone to the charger, check the wi-fi is activated, tap through to "Settings/General/Software update" and then select either the update to iOS 17.7 or iOS 18.