Apple released the latest version of its iPhone operating system, iOS 18, on Monday, including several new security and privacy features. The rollout comes a week after Apple unveiled new versions of the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch. Preorders for the new iPhones began Friday and will be widely available on Sept. 20.
Some consumer tech experts say the new iPhone hardware is best judged as incremental, and early data suggests demand could be sluggish, so neither the phone nor new artificial intelligence features will necessarily result in an upgrade supercycle. But for iPhone users, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the new operating system’s Password Manager app and additional choices on how and where your data is accessed. That includes controls related to your personal and business contacts, and new ways to protect sensitive apps and associated information on devices that may be shared.
Privacy professionals say updates for iOS 18, the public beta version of which has been available since July, should make it easier for consumers to understand and use available privacy protections.
“Apple continues to try to build privacy for its users, and it does typically try to make them easy for people to understand,” said Jodi Daniels, chief executive and privacy consultant at Red Clover Advisors.
Here’s a rundown of some new security and privacy features and how to access them.
A new Passwords app to improve on iCloud keychain
Apple has created a separate app for storing user passwords. Previously, passwords could be stored in iCloud Keychain, the password management system integrated into Apple devices, but a separate app makes access easier, privacy professionals said.
The new app has other features to promote good privacy practices. For instance, users are alerted if passwords or account credentials may have been part of data breaches, which can be helpful for fraud protection purposes. In addition, users who have a weak password or one that’s been used before will be alerted so they can update that credential.
“The broader goal is to have more people using unique passwords and having more general online security,” said Thorin Klosowski, security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on privacy matters.
As in the past, Apple can’t access these passwords, but users can on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro and on Windows with the iCloud for Windows app. Users of the AutoFill function will have their passwords automatically added to the Passwords app.
Users will also have quick access to categories of credentials including verification codes, passkeys and Wi-Fi passwords. Passwords can also be categorized under shared groups such as work or family.
A way to lock and hide apps
With limited exceptions, apps on the phone can be either locked, or, for additional privacy, hidden if the user chooses. Basic functional apps can’t be hidden, but generally speaking, if it’s on the App Store it can be hidden, an Apple spokesperson said.
This is a useful tool because people sometimes hand their phones to friends to show them photos, messages or emails, for example, or parents may offer their phones temporarily to children to play a game. In all these cases, users may not want others to have unfettered access to their phone.
When an app is in locked or hidden mode, content like messages or emails inside the app aren’t searchable, and notifications don’t pop up. Apps can be locked and unlocked with Face ID, Touch ID, if available, or the device passcode.
Apple has also taken steps to help ensure young children don’t use these features to thwart parental observation. Accountholders under age 13 can’t lock or hide an app, according to the Apple spokesperson. Users between the ages of 13 and 18 can use these functions, but parents can still see what apps were downloaded and how much they are used in Screen Time. Apple warns children in the older age group when they lock or hide an app that parents retain the ability to see that information.
More control over contact-sharing
In iOS 18, consumers have the option to determine more precisely how they want their contacts shared with apps. They can choose to share all, none or specific contacts. So, if for example, a person uses an app solely for work, he might decide to share only work-related contacts with the app. Access can be updated as desired.
When they update to iOS 18, users can change their settings for apps they already use. “In practice, it will provide a little bit of a speed bump for people to think whether they really need an app to have access to their contacts,” Klosowski said.
A better view of data apps are accessing
Apple users can now see, at a glance, how many apps have access to data like location services, tracking, calendars, files and folders, contacts and health information. When they tap on a particular category, users see a list of which apps have what level of access, such as limited or full.
AI privacy protections
Separately, Apple will soon be launching Apple Intelligence, an artificial intelligence platform developed by Apple. Its features include on-device processing so it’s aware of your personal data, but doesn’t require Apple to collect or store it, and a new complex system designed to draw on larger server-based models to handle more complex requests, while still protecting user privacy.
These privacy protections can be important to users who want to have access to AI, but are concerned about privacy ramifications, including having their private data used to train models, which is a concern, even for many AI enthusiasts.
“Having it local to the device reduces that risk,” Daniels said.