Apple released iOS 18 to the general public on Sept. 16, a week after the company announced its new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10 and more at its September event. The new operating system brings many new features to your iPhone, like 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 You Need to Know About iOS 18
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.
There are a lot of accessibility controls that you can add to your Control Center.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETYou 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 resize many controls in the Control Center.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETYou 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 iOS 18 review, how to customize your home screen and our iOS 18 cheat sheet. You can also check out everything Apple announced at its September event.
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