5 New Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Could Do

The latest iOS update just gave your current iPhone some cool new trick.

Published December 19, 2024

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Apple rolled out iOS 18.2, the latest iPhone software update, earlier this month. And it brought several key features to your iPhone. We’ve rounded up the best of them below.

Note: You’ll need to have a 2018-released iPhone (which is the iPhone XS or iPhone XR) or later to download iOS 18.2.

Change your default apps

For the first time, iOS 18.2 lets you switch away from Apple’s default apps for things like calling and messaging. It lets you change the default apps for call filtering, passwords and keyboards, as well.

You’ve previously been able to change away from a select few of Apple’s default apps, like Safari and Mail, but thanks to iOS 18.2, you have even more options … which you can access via a new Default Apps menu in the Settings app.

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to the bottom and select Apps.
Select Default Apps at the top.

From here, you can change away from Apple’s default apps for email, messaging, calling, call filtering, browser apps, passwords, wallets and keyboards.

If you use AirTags, iOS 18.2 lets you temporarily share its location with “an airline or a trusted person.” This way, if you misplace your luggage, you can enlist the help of people not in your Contacts to help you find it.

When running iOS 18.2, your iPhone’s Find My app has a “Share Item Location” option. This creates a shareable link showing the location of your device. You can see how many people accessed the shareable link — yes, you can enlist the help of multiple people — and un-share the location of your AirTag at any time.

The link will expire once your device is returned or after a week (if it’s still not found).

(Note: At the time of writing, 14 airlines have already integrated this feature into their apps — including Delta, United, British Airways, Air New Zealand and Air Canada.)

Add a volume slider to your Lock Screen

iOS 18.2 introduced a new feature that lets you add a volume slider to your Lock Screen (which iOS 16 previously took away).

This allows you to adjust the volume of what you’re listening to, be it music or a podcast, right from your Lock Screen and without pressing your iPhone’s volume buttons. It also gives you a permanent visual of the volume of what you’re listening to.

To add the volume slider to your Lock Screen:

Open the Settings app.
Select Accessibility.
Select Audio and Visual.
Toggle on the “Always Show Volume Control” option.

A new way to organize your email

If you use Apple’s default email app, Mail, iOS 18.2 introduced a pretty significant redesign. Most notably, it adds a “Categories” view that automatically sorts your emails into one of four categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions.

“Primary” is for personal and time-sensitive emails. “Transactions” is for orders, receipts, and deliveries. “Updates” is for subscription, news and social media notifications. And “Promotions” is for coupons and deals.

If you’re not a fan of this new categorization system, fear not — you can switch it back to the regular “List View” via the ellipsis icon in the top-right corner. (The “Categories” view is on by default.)

Limit how loud your iPhone gets

iOS 18.2 introduced a new “Volume Limit” feature that allows you to set a volume limit for your iPhone’s built-in speaker. This way, you can’t accidentally turn up its speaker too loud.

Volume Limit affects the volume of things like songs, videos and other media. When turned on, it does not affect the volume of Phone of FaceTime calls, ringtones, alarms and system sounds.

To turn Volume Limit on: