iOS 18 Beta: How to Customize Your iPhone's Control Center

Apple released the fifth public beta for iOS 18 on Aug. 20, more than two months after the tech giant announced the software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The beta brings many new features to the iPhones of developer sand beta testers, including more ways to customize your home screen and upgrades to Messages. The software also lets you transform your Control Center into a hub for all your favorite controls and apps.

Control Center was introduced in 2013 with iOS 7. At the time, the Control Center gave you control of some iPhone functions, like screen brightness, and a few apps, like your calculator. Since then, you've been able to add certain functions and apps to the page, like Low Power Mode and Notes. With iOS 18, you can add whatever apps and functions you want to your Control Center.

Read more: Everything to Know About iOS 18's Public Beta

Because iOS 18 is still in beta, I recommend downloading a beta only on a device other than your primary phone or tablet. Because this isn't the final version of iOS 18, the update might be buggy and battery life may be short, so it's best to keep those troubles on a secondary device. I downloaded the beta onto an older iPhone XR in order to keep those issues away from my iPhone 14 Pro.

Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18, so more features could land on your iPhone when iOS 18 is released. Apple said iOS 18 would be released to the public this fall, but there's no definitive date yet.

Here's how you can make your iPhone's Control Center live up to its name.

How to add controls to your Control Center in iOS 18

1. Unlock your iPhone and swipe down from the top right corner of your screen.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top left corner of your screen.
3. Tap Add a Control near the bottom of your screen.

You can either search for controls in the search bar across the top of the new menu, or you can scroll through the different controls. Some of the controls include old favorites, like Screen Recording, as well as new controls for things like Tap to Cash or Ping My Watch. 

There's also a shortcut called Open App, which turns any other app on your iPhone into a control. You can only open the app with this control, but you can use it to clean up your home screen or keep all your favorite apps in one place for quick access.

You can add as many controls as you want to your Control Center even after you've filled the page. Once you've filled the first Control Center page, the next control you add will appear on a new page, similar to how adding new apps to your home screen will keep adding new home screens. To access other Control Center pages, swipe up or down on your Control Center, or tap the correct page symbol on the far right side of your Control Center screen.

How to customize apps and functions in your Control Center

You can also make the controls larger to make them easier to access. Some controls can transform into tiles while others -- like Music -- can become their own Control Center page. Here's how to resize your apps and functions.

1. Unlock your iPhone and swipe down from the top right corner of your screen.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top left corner of your screen.

In this new view, the border around each control will now be thicker in its bottom right corner. Tap and drag this thicker section to expand the control. 

You can rearrange controls in this new view. After you've tapped the plus (+) sign in the top left corner of your Control Center, press and drag your controls to their new home like you would on your home screen.

How to remove controls from your Control Center

Here's how you can easily remove controls from your Control Center if you're no longer getting much use out of them and want to make room for new ones.

1. Unlock your iPhone and swipe down from the top right corner of your screen.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top left corner of your screen.
3. Tap the minus (-) sign in the top left corner of the control you want to remove.

For more on iOS 18, here's my hands-on experience with the public beta, how to customize your home screen and how to schedule a message to send later. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.

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