Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18 on Monday, just over a month after the tech giant announced the software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Along with more ways to customize your lock screen And homepageThe new operating system also lets you instantly resize widgets on your home screen and quickly turn your apps into widgets.
In previous versions of iOS, you had to delete a widget if you didn’t like the size. After deleting it, you had to go through the whole process of choosing the right size, adding it to your screen, and then finding the right location. Now, you don’t have to go through those extra steps anymore and can instantly resize your widget.
Learn more: Everything you need to know about the iOS 18 public beta
We recommend that you only download a beta on a device other than your primary device. Since this is not the final version of iOS 18, the update may have bugs and battery life may be short, so it’s best to keep these issues on a secondary device.
Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18, so more features may be added to your iPhone when iOS 18 is released. Apple has said that iOS 18 will be available to the public this fall, but there is no firm date yet.
Here’s how you can resize your widgets and turn your app icons into widgets.
How to Resize Widgets and Turn Apps into Widgets
Long press on a widget until a menu appears. You will then see new tiled icons in the form of different widgets.
Some widgets, like the Weather widget, show four different size options: the app icon, a small tile, a longer tile, and then a large tile that looks like a full page. Other apps, like Contacts, show just the tile icon and another tile option. Tap the size widget you want to try, and the app will expand on your home screen in real time.
You can transform the Photos app into four widgets of different sizes.
You can also turn your app icons into widgets in the same way. Long-press an app until the menu appears, then select the widget size you want to try. If an app doesn’t have a widget, like Messages, you won’t see these options.
If you’ve arranged your apps in a particular way on your Home screen, changing the size of widgets or turning app icons into widgets may disrupt your custom layout. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to lock custom app layouts, so you may need to rearrange your apps after changing the widget or app icon size.
Keep in mind that iOS 18 is still in beta, so this feature may be buggy or not work properly. There will likely be more betas before the operating system is released to the public, giving Apple time to work out any issues. As of now, however, it’s unclear when Apple will release iOS 18.
To learn more about iOS 18, here’s my hands-on experience with the first public beta, how get rid of your flashlight from your lock screen and how to use T9 numbering to make calls easily.
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