My Easy Solution to the Three Most Annoying iOS 18 Settings on Your iPhone

Please understand that I have a lot of praise for Apple’s iOS 18. But for me, these three options simply don’t work. I simply get frustrated and delayed by the extra Control Center pages.

The liquid glass makeover and iOS 26 were the main announcements at Apple’s WWDC. As a devoted iPhone user, I’m excited about a few changes, but there are also some new iOS 18 options that I can live without.

I consider myself an authority on how to get phones to function the way you want them to since I study phone manuals very carefully. There are a lot of things I like about the most recent iOS 18 improvements, but there are three things I wish Apple had corrected.

Here’s what I did, though, and you may do the same till they do. particularly if you find these three iOS 18 features as annoying as I do. See the nine secret iOS 18 features you should be aware of for additional information.

Remove all of the clutter from the iOS 18 Photos app.

Alright, let me be really honest: I don’t like the way Apple updated the Photos app in iOS 18. Although I can see its purpose, it feels quite crowded by default. I don’t want my primary camera roll to continuously remind me of trips or offer wallpaper ideas that contain images and movies I’m not interested in.

Thankfully, Apple does allow you to personalize the Photos app anyway you like.

When you first launch the Photos app, you’ll see a grid of all your images and videos, which is the library view you’re accustomed to. However, you’ll notice that the navigation bar has disappeared, and collections of your most recent images and videos of friends, family, and pets have taken its place at the bottom.

This is how iOS 18’s camera roll currently appears.

Swiping down will reveal more random albums and collections, such as shared albums, pinned collections, memories, travels, highlighted photographs, and wallpaper recommendations, which were previously located under the Albums and For You tabs. The primary display on iOS 18 now has them all in one location. Some people might find that helpful, but I don’t need to see everything at once. All I want to see are my albums and camera roll.

Swipe all the way to the bottom of the Photos app, then select Customize and Reorder to personalize it. Any collections you want to keep hidden from the main view may be unchecked here. The sequence in which they appear can also be adjusted. I unchecked everything except material Types (which arranges your material into movies, live images, etc.) and Utilities (which include albums for hidden, recently deleted, receipts, papers, and so on) because I don’t want wallpaper recommendations or most of the other options.

You are free to delete or retain as many albums and collections as you desire, but in my opinion, the less the better.

Naturally, the collections Apple has made for you and a number of other albums will no longer be accessible. You’re better off this way if you don’t use them, though, because you can still use the search button at the top or browse through your camera roll to locate any picture or video you’re looking for.

On iOS 18, delete every new Control Center page.

I constantly utilize the Control Center to rapidly connect to Wi-Fi, activate Do Not Disturb, switch on low power or dark mode, and use the music recognition control to find new songs. Nevertheless, Apple improved the Control Center’s layout with iOS 18, adding several pages of controls, some of which are prefabricated and others of which you may build yourself.

The problem is that I only need one Control Center page, not several. I can fit all the controls I need on one page, therefore I don’t want the mess of numerous pages. However, that’s not the only problem. Additionally, I find that I become trapped and irritated when I try to swipe out of the Control Center because I inadvertently browse through the Control Center pages

Fortunately, there is a simple method for making the Control Center seem as it did in the past, using just one page.

Swipe up to view the extra pages in the Control Center, which you can get by swiping down from the top-right corner of your screen. Then, press your finger down on any vacant area of the page. This will draw attention to the control; to remove it and the page, click the delete control button (-) in the upper-left corner.

Until you just have the primary Control Center, repeat this process for any additional Control Center pages you may have.

The page icons in the center-left will disappear after the excess Control Center pages are deleted.

You will no longer become trapped on the other pages while attempting to swipe out of the Control Center. Rather, you will be able to leave as simply as before.

Stop inadvertently activating Siri on iOS

With the introduction of iOS 18.2, Siri received a significant AI improvement. Now, while the assistant is listening to you, the corners of your iPhone screen will flash in different colors instead of the familiar Siri orb. Although I appreciate the cosmetic makeover, there is one feature of the new Chat GPT-powered Siri that continues to irritate me.

The Type to Siri function may be accessed by double tapping the bottom center of your iPhone. This brings up a keyboard at the bottom of your screen so you can type to Siri instead of speaking. Although it’s a helpful function in situations where discretion is required, I constantly manage to accidentally activate it, particularly when I’m touching or swiping my phone.

Disclaimer

 This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The settings and suggestions shared are based on personal preferences and utilize features built into iOS 18. They do not involve any unauthorized modifications or third-party software. Always ensure your device settings are configured in a way that suits your individual needs while preserving intended functionality.