iOS 18 beta 3 brings new features and changes like a tweaked flashlight interface, a consolidated emoji picker, a new dynamic wallpaper, more Dark Mode icons, etc.
Apple released the third developer betas of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 for testing on July 8, 2024, with more beta releases planned until the operating systems are available to the public in the fall. Keep in mind that some Apple Intelligence features, such as new Siri capabilities, won’t be ready until iOS 18.4 launches next spring.
The new features in iOS 18 beta 3
The latest beta brings several improvements, including updated interfaces for the flashlight feature, the Photos app and the systemwide emoji picker.
You’ll also find Dark Mode versions of more icons than before, along with a dynamic version of the iOS 18 marketing wallpaper. For a quick overview of the most important new features in iOS 18, visit Apple’s iOS 18 Preview page.
More Dark Mode icons for your Home Screen
iOS 18 enables Home Screen app icons to change automatically based on your Dark Mode settings, and developers can provide Dark Mode-friendly icons for their apps. The third beta of iOS 18 enables additional Dark Mode icons for popular third-party apps, including YouTube, Chrome, Facebook, Messenger, Slack, Notion, Revolut, Tesla, Telegram, Viber, Signal, Etsy and many others.
What Apple seems to be doing is pulling an appropriate icon for apps that provide multiple Home Screen icons that you can choose from, usually by subscribing to a paid upgrade. Still, automatic processing is also going on (which doesn’t always work well when manually tinting Home Screen icons). For instance, Apple automatically switches between black and white icon backgrounds.
The Photos app gets proper Select and Search buttons
I’m a big fan of an AI-infused Photos app in iOS 18, but the behavior of the essential Select button left me puzzled. You had to swipe down to reveal the Select button, which required precision. Otherwise, the content you need would scroll out of view.
Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. The Select button now persists in the upper-right corner, so you can select images without swiping down first. At the same time, the Search button is now a magnifying glass glyph.
The emoji picker consolidates Memoji, Animoji and stickers
In another welcome change, the emoji picker consolidates the classic emoji, Memoji, Animoji and stickers into a single interface. Just hit the Emoji button on the keyboard when writing something in apps like Messages or Notes to use this feature.
You can navigate through your sticker and Memoji categories by touching tiny icons at the bottom. Like with classic emoji, you can swipe to browse through your Memoji. You can also create new Memoji or stickers from here.
A new dynamic iOS 18 wallpaper
The third beta brings a dynamic version of iOS 18’s marketing wallpaper. Find it in the iOS 18 section when creating a new Lock or Home Screen wallpaper. “Infused with light, these wallpapers can change dynamically with the time,” Apple notes.
As mentioned, this wallpaper will automatically cycle through different colors based on the time of day, but you can customize it by picking a specific color.
The interactive flashlight interface
iOS 18 beta 3 updates the flashlight interface; the onscreen overlay is now larger. You can touch it to toggle the flashlight and swipe horizontally to make the beam broader or narrower or vertically to adjust intensity.
Like before, you can activate the flashlight from the Control Center or the Lock Screen (iOS 18 lets you change the Lock Screen flashlight and camera shortcuts).
iOS 18 is still in development
There are other tweaks in iOS 18 beta 3, like a tweaked Maps Dark Mode icon and an updated RCS toggle in Settings > Apps > Messages that’s now its own menu.
Apple also added an explainer, saying RCS messaging uses data that may share cellular network identifiers with carriers and their partners.
There are a few more betas to go until iOS 18 is ready for prime time, so stay tuned, as we’ll keep you in the loop.