iOS 18 upgrades: Apple packs everyday apps with new features

While Apple's new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence announcements dominated the WWDC spotlight earlier this month, the tech giant also packed iOS 18 with a number of upgrades across its everyday apps and services, including smarter bill splitting in Apple Wallet, new ways to share locations in Find My, and improved Apple Maps features. Apple introduced an improvement to 'Flyover,' the feature that provides immersive 3D views of cities and landmarks. The feature has been refreshed with more detailed visuals and smoother navigation.

The company also launched 'Local Lists,' a new way for users to discover and save recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other spots within Maps by seeing what's trending. This could be Apple's way to entice users away from using third-party apps for local exploration, like Google Maps or even Instagram and TikTok. Find My is becoming more flexible with new location-sharing controls.

Beginning this fall, users will be able to share their location for a custom amount of time, whether that's a few minutes, several hours, multiple days, or until a specific date and time. Apple is also adding the ability to temporarily pause location sharing with individual contacts until the end of the day. The changes are designed for various situations, like keeping a surprise birthday party under wraps.

Apple Wallet is getting a significant boost. One of the standout additions allows users to scan receipts using their iPhone camera and automatically split bills with friends using Apple Cash. Powered by Apple Intelligence, the feature can identify individual items on a receipt, calculate each person's share of taxes and tips, and facilitate repayment directly through Messages or Wallet.

Wallet is also gaining support for digitizing physical membership and loyalty cards. Users can simply point their iPhone camera at a barcode or scan a digital card to save it directly into Wallet. Support is extending to Apple Watch, so passes can even be pinned to the Apple Watch Smart Stack for faster retrieval.

Travelers will benefit from a revamped hotel key experience. In addition to unlocking rooms and amenities with an iPhone or Apple Watch, guests staying at participating hotels and resorts will be able to access trip details, activity schedules, service information, and real-time updates directly within Wallet. Apple Pay is receiving a redesigned checkout experience online and in apps.

Users will be able to swipe between payment cards more easily while viewing information such as rewards balances, debit account balances, and available pay-later options. Later this year, Apple says users will also be able to add funds directly to eligible debit cards through Wallet or during Apple Pay checkout. For merchants, Apple is expanding 'Tap to Pay' on iPhone with a new feature called 'Tap to Share.' Customers can connect directly with participating merchants using a simple tap to securely share information such as loyalty accounts, shipping addresses, and contact details.