Top 10 iOS 18 Productivity Features – Get More Done on Your iPhone with This Update

When it comes to this year’s iOS 18 update, Apple Intelligence features and the ability to customize the iPhone’s home screen may get all the attention. But quietly, the upcoming iPhone software update seems to be adding a lot of features focused on boosting productivity.

From improvements to existing apps to the arrival of a brand new iPhone app that’s designed to help you manage your passwords more easily, iOS 18 is packed with new features designed specifically to make things easier. And that’s something you’ll be able to experience for yourself soon, as the iOS 18 public beta is coming in July ahead of its full release later this year.

What’s more, with a few exceptions that we’ll note below, these productivity features will be available to anyone running iOS 18. That doesn’t include Apple Intelligence, however, which will be limited to iPhones with the A17 Pro chipset or newer — for now, it’s essentially just the iPhone 15 Pro models.

Not everyone will want to download the iOS 18 beta at this stage, but when you try out the software update for the first time, you’ll be able to take advantage of the following productivity features, based on what we saw in the iOS 18 preview.

Safari Highlights

Top Features in Safari on iOS 18

(Photo source: Apple)

One of the biggest changes to Safari is the new Highlights feature, which displays relevant information as you browse the web. Say you’re browsing a restaurant’s website, Safari in iOS 18 can display a map with the restaurant’s location and buttons for directions or calling when you visit the restaurant’s website.

Safari Highlights lets you access information about people, music, movies, and TV shows, though the latter may be limited to the United States for now.

Calendar reminders

When it’s time to create a reminder for a specific day, you don’t necessarily have to drop what you’re doing and head to the Reminders app. You can now schedule a reminder in Calendar using the same approach you would for scheduling a meeting or event.

The best part of this integration is that it syncs both ways: tasks from Reminders appear in Calendar on the day they’re due, and tasks from Calendar appear in Reminders. Whichever app you spend more time in, you’ll never miss a task again.

Audio Transcriptions in Notes

Audio Transcription in iOS 18 Notes

(Photo source: Apple)

Speaking of app integration, the Notes app in iOS 18 is adding its own recording app — so you no longer have to switch to the Voice Memos app.

The feature doesn’t stop there. You can also get a real-time transcript of your recording that will appear in your note, so you can search for specific words and phrases. You can also refine your transcription with Notes’ formatting tools.

You’ll need an iPhone 12 or later for this feature to work, but if you have the right hardware, the Notes app will become a lot more powerful.

Telephone conversation transcripts

The Notes app isn’t the only one that offers an integrated recorder. The feature is also coming to the Phone app in iOS 18. Enabling the recorder means you’ll be able to record phone calls, and you can also get a transcript of those recordings.

The app will be available not only in English for the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore, but also in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Portuguese.

Math notes

Notes with Math Notes Feature in iOS 18 on iPhone

(Photo source: Apple)

Coming back to Notes, this app also benefits from integration with the Calculator app in iOS 18. This essentially allows you to type math formulas into your notes and the solution appears automatically.

The most noticeable implementation of this is on iPads running iPadOS 18, where you can sketch a formula with your finger or Apple Pencil and the solution appears in a handwriting-like form. This feature also works on iPhones running iOS 18, though it’s harder to use due to the smaller screen size compared to tablets.

A more phone-friendly example of math notes involves typing in formulas and asking the calculator to provide the answer. The example Apple gives in its preview is a list of expenses that are added up at the end; the total automatically adjusts as you change the numbers that make up the formula.

Scheduled text messages

Scheduled text messages in the iOS 18 Messages app

(Photo source: Apple)

Messages in iOS 18 introduces a number of changes, including text animations, RCS support, and the ability to turn any emoji or sticker into a tapback. From a productivity standpoint, however, the main advantage of Messages is the ability to schedule text messages.

This feature is designed for those moments when it’s too late to send a text message, but you don’t want to remember to send it at a more convenient time. Scheduled text messages can also be useful for timely reminders or to contact people at a specific time. Whatever your reason, you’ll find Send Later in the same Plus (+) menu where you can send text photos, send Apple Cash payments, or use Check In

New Passwords app

Passwords App iOS 18

(Photo source: Apple)

iOS 18 only adds one new app, but it has the potential to be a real time-saver. Passwords expands on Keychain by giving you a place to store your passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes.

You can find these things quickly using search tools that filter accounts by whether they were created recently, their login type, or whether the account is in a shared group.

Passwords will work across Apple platforms, so the passwords on your iPhone will be securely synced with the passwords on your Mac, iPad, or other Apple device. AutoFill automatically adds passwords to apps.

Changing your privacy and security settings

Privacy and Security Settings in iOS 18

(Photo source: Apple)

If Passwords is all about simplifying password management, Apple is also making changes to the Settings app in iOS 18 that aim to more efficiently manage your privacy and security preferences. You have more control over what you share with apps, managing which ones can access your iPhone’s data, location, camera, and microphone.

From the screenshot shared by Apple, it appears that the biggest change to the privacy and security settings is the text that lets you know how many apps have full and partial access to data from a particular setting or app.

Categorizing your inbox in the Mail app

iOS 18 Mail Interface with Categories

(Photo source: Apple)

Even though iOS 18 arrives in the fall, at least one productivity feature will arrive a bit later. Mail is getting a makeover in the form of categorized inboxes, using machine learning to separate emails into different categories.

The main inbox will contain time-sensitive messages, as well as mail from family and friends. Other categories include Transactions (bills and invoices), Promotions (sales-related messages), and Newsletter Updates and the like. You’ll apparently still have access to a unified inbox view if you want. And if messages get sent to the wrong category, you can reassign them, teaching Mail to categorize them correctly in the future.