Apple rolled out iOS 18 this week, which has been dubbed the iPhone‘s ‘biggest upgrade in history’.
But despite being packed with new features, early downloaders have already taken to social media to slam the new operating system.
Users claim that the update’s customisation options have made their iPhones more difficult to use thanks to ‘clunky and weird’ design choices.
The redesigned Photos app has been the target of particular frustration, with one user calling it ‘one of the worst designs Apple has ever released’.
On X, formerly Twitter, one commenter vented: ‘iOS 18’s photo app change makes me overall want to throw up.’
iPhone users have slammed Apple’s latest iOS 18 software update, complaining that the changes make their phones uglier and harder to use
On X, formerly Twitter, one commenter complained that the changes to the Photos app in iOS 18 were so bad that it ‘makes me overall want to throw up’
Amidst a number of major changes, it’s the redesign of the Photos app which has attracted the most criticism online
Although it doesn’t contain the hotly-anticipated Apple Intelligence AI features which had been expected, iOS 18 still brings some major changes to the iPhone.
One of the biggest changes in the update is a host of new customisation options for the home screen and control centre.
iPhone users can position apps around their wallpaper and add ‘dark mode’ or tints to the app icons to totally change their appearance.
In the control centre, users have also been given a lot more creative freedom, with the option to create groups, resize and rearrange control icons, and even add their own controls from third-party apps.
However, many fans say that these changes have made the system far too complicated.
One of the biggest changes in iOS 18 is that iPhone users can now customise the Control Centre
On X, many iPhone users expressed their frustration with the new iOS 18 Control Centre, with one calling it a ‘convoluted mess’
One iPhone user bluntly called for the designer of the Control Centre to be fired
On X, a frustrated commenter wrote: ‘Whoever designed the iOS 18 control center should be fired. It is not user-friendly at all.’
Another wrote: ‘To start, what in the tech is this convoluted mess? Those resize bars on every icon are cursed.’
Another added: ‘After messing around with my iOS 18 menus and home screen for like an hour – Apple really launched a half-baked pretty glitchy product didn’t they?’
And one vented: ‘It’s actually worse. All that color and customizations of control center have ruined it.’
Another major change to the iPhone is that users can now edit and rearrange apps on the home screen
Many iPhone users complained that the new customisation options have made the iPhone harder to use. One commenter wrote that Apple had ‘launched a half-baked pretty glitchy product’
One Apple user complained that they ‘hate’ the new Control Centre and blasted the iOS 18 update as ‘underwhelming’
However, it is the newly updated Photos app which has attracted the most anger online.
According to Apple, iOS 18 gives the Photos app its ‘biggest-ever design update’.
Upon opening the iOS 18 version of the app, you will see a simplified ‘single view’ with a large photo grid above a ‘collections’ menu which lets you browse your photo library by theme.
While Apple may have intended to simplify all your photo information onto a single screen, users have reacted with fury to the change.
On X, one commenter wrote: ‘The new Photo App in iOS 18 is one of the worst designs Apple has ever released. I can’t believe it survived multiple betas. I hate it so much.’
While Apple called the launch the iPhone’s ‘biggest upgrade in history’, some commenters complained that it had made the iPhone worse
The most hated part of the update is the new design of the Photos app, which commenters called ‘clunky and weird’
One iPhone user simply called the Photos app the ‘worst thing ever’
Another wrote: ‘The new Photos app in iOS 18 is clunky and weird. I hate it. Just feels unnecessarily complicated and you have to navigate so much to do simple things.’
‘I hate it so much like I wanna cry lmao,’ another Apple user wrote.
While one disappointed tech fan simply wrote: ‘The iOS 18 Photos app is the worst thing ever.’
Several iPhone users also reported that the update had caused several unexpected bugs.
The Photos app got its ‘biggest redesign ever’ which condensed the photos grid and ‘collections’ menu into a single screen
The new Photos app is so disliked that one commenter wrote ‘I hate it so much like I wanna cry’
One angry commenter called for the designer of the Photos app to be fired
One commenter reported that ‘adding any Control Widget crashes my phone.’
Others noted that the Apple Music app experienced unexpected crashes and glitches after the iOS 18 update was installed.
On X, a commenter wrote: ‘I regret upgrading to iOS 18 because Apple Music is ******* BUSTED bro’.
Another wrote: ‘The Apple Music app sucks on iOS 18, this **** keeps crashing.’
‘iOS 18 is bugging apple music the **** out,’ one frustrated commenter added.
On X, several iPhone users reported that the iOS 18 update had caused the Apple Music app to crash or glitch
After installing the update, some commenters said they were having difficulty using Apple Music
The iOS 18 update appears to be causing crashes for some users
Yet, despite issues with the features that had been included, one of the largest disappointments concerned those that were conspicuously absent.
During the launch of the latest iPhone, and at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, Apple made big promises about the arrival of Apple Intelligence.
Many had expected that iOS 18 would bring a number of the promised AI features such as Genmoji, writing editing tools, and improvements to Apple’s voice assistant Siri.
However, Apple has now revealed that these features won’t come to the US until iOS 18.1 in November, with updates to follow in the UK in December.
Having spent the launch of the iPhone 16 and the Worldwide Developers Conference showcasing Apple Intelligence, many iPhone users were disappointed that Apple had not included any of the new AI features in this update
Without the AI features which had been promised, one Apple fan called iOS 18 ‘a flop’
One feature that was particularly missed by Apple fans was the Genmoji – AI-generated emojis which can be generated from a simple text prompt
In the European Union and around the world, these AI features will not be available until 2025 at the earliest.
One commenter wrote on X: ‘iOS 18 is a flop. You promised AI and it’s not available at launch along with minor bugs and ui [user interface] design changes.’
Another commenter wrote bluntly: ‘Updated to iOS 18 but I don’t see no AI emojis.’
These are not the only issues plaguing the latest update, as many iPhone users have reported that iOS 18 is draining their battery life.
As millions rushed to update to the latest software, reports soon emerged of iPhone’s battery lives sharply declining.
Apple now says that the first AI features will not arrive in the US until November while the UK will need to wait until December. Some features such as ChatGPT integration will not arrive until 2025 at the earliest
However, this sudden drop in charging capacity is to be expected, as updating the software will trigger a number of processes in the background which can draw a lot of power.
It may take hours or even days for software changes to finalise, which means that battery life will fluctuate after installing the update.
For those who are not daunted by the potential issues, iPhone users can download iOS 18 by navigating to Settings, then selecting General and Software Updates.
Next, simply follow the onscreen instructions to finish downloading the latest software.