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When Apple unveiled iOS 18 earlier this month, I used to be considerably disillusioned by the dearth of great new safety and privateness options. I nonetheless really feel that strategy to some extent. Nevertheless, after testing the iOS 18 beta for over two weeks, I need to spotlight a few of my favourite and noteworthy options. So, right here’s my rating in ascending order.
![](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Pasted_Image_1_2_24__5_39 PM.png?w=1024)
Taking yet one more observe from the Photographs app, which permits customers to pick out particular person images to share over a complete library, Apple has added the power to choose and select which contacts to share with an app. Earlier than iOS 18, customers solely had two choices: giving an app full entry to all their contacts or no entry.
Who customers have of their Contacts could reveal extra about them than they’re snug with. For instance, a health care provider’s contact may point out a delicate medical situation; a crunch, temple, or mosque tackle can level to non secular affiliation.
![](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/Apple-WWDC24-iOS-18-Contacts-permission-240610_inline.jpg.large_.jpg?quality=82&strip=all)
4. Lock and Conceal apps
In iOS 18, Apple took a observe from the Photographs app and now permits customers to lock or cover any utility on the house display screen. The app will stay hidden in every single place apart from an space in Settings and a hidden apps folder, which each require Face ID, Contact ID, or a passcode to open.
![lock and hide app on iPhone in iOS 18](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/how-to-lock-and-hide-apps-on-iphone-in-ios-18.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1024)
Apple claims this enables customers to safeguard delicate content material from unintentional publicity when sharing their units or displaying their screens to others.
“We relentlessly ship on our dedication to provide customers the strongest and most revolutionary privateness protections,” says Erik Neuenschwander, Apple’s director of Consumer Privateness, in a press release right now. “This 12 months isn’t any exception, and the power to lock and conceal apps is only one instance of Apple serving to customers stay accountable for their info, even when they’re sharing their units with others.”
Right here’s the way it works:
- Press and maintain on any app
- Choose Require Face ID
- Then select between Require Face ID or Conceal and Require Face ID
- The latter will take away the app from your private home display screen altogether and place it in a hidden apps folder on the backside of your final apps web page
3. RCS assist, enormous
With the discharge of iOS 18 beta 2 final week, Apple added RCS assist, permitting iPhone customers to lastly ship wealthy messages with audio and bigger media information to Android customers. Not like SMS, RCS provides acquainted options resembling learn receipts and the basic typing indication animation, nevertheless it additionally has vastly improved privateness and safety.
Till final week, for those who despatched SMS/MMS messages to non-iPhone customers, they weren’t encrypted and, in actual fact, despatched in plain textual content–readable to a probably malicious third social gathering. One of many fundamental benefits of RCS is full end-to-end encryption, which ensures that solely the sender and recipient can learn the messages. As well as, RCS provides a message verification system that ensures solely verified corporations can ship texts to customers, lowering the quantity of spam and phishing makes an attempt a person could obtain.
2. Apple’s new Passwords app
In earlier variations of iOS, Apple supplied its built-in Keychain password supervisor device hidden inside the Settings app. It allowed for passwords to be routinely generated and saved within the Passwords part, however it could possibly typically be cumbersome when a person must handle specific logins.
![iOS 18 Passwords app](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/passwords-app-ios18.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1024)
Now, in iOS 18, passwords have a devoted app known as Passwords. Apple hopes this modification will make password administration extra handy for its customers. Like 1Password, saved passwords may be accessed from any signed-in Apple gadget. You’ll be able to even entry your saved passwords on Home windows by way of the iCloud for Home windows app. Passwords may also include some moderately aggressive options.
“Constructing on the inspiration of Keychain, which Apple first launched greater than 25 years in the past, the brand new Passwords app makes it simple for customers to entry account passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and two-factor authentication codes saved securely in Keychain. The app additionally consists of alerts for customers relating to widespread weaknesses, resembling passwords that may be simply guessed, have been used a number of instances, or have appeared in recognized knowledge leaks,” according to Apple.
I’m excited to see Apple proceed to construct upon this.
Associated: Can Apple’s new Passwords app replace your password manager?
1. Personal Cloud Compute
Private Cloud Compute (PCC) is a kind of unveiled at WWDC24 that isn’t getting sufficient consideration. PCC was created utilizing Apple’s silicon chips to course of Apple Intelligence requests with end-to-end encryption. Apple claims it has zero entry to this knowledge, touting a brand new stage of privateness within the Synthetic Intelligence area.
Even right now, iPhone, iPad, and Mac aren’t highly effective sufficient to assist all of the AI fashions customers want domestically. So Apple Intelligence does one thing moderately intelligent. Everytime you use a characteristic like Siri in iOS 18, it’s going to use a mix of on-device and server-based generative AI fashions to deal with requests. Something exterior Siri’s information is picked up and managed securely within the cloud.
That is the magic of Personal Cloud Compute.
“When a person makes a request, Apple Intelligence analyzes whether or not it may be processed on the gadget. If it wants larger computational capability, it could possibly draw on Personal Cloud Compute, which can ship solely the info that’s related to the duty to be processed on Apple silicon servers. When requests are routed to Personal Cloud Compute, knowledge isn’t saved or made accessible to Apple, and is barely used to satisfy the person’s requests,” in accordance with Apple.
Extra lower-level particulars on how PCC works here.
About Safety Chew: Safety Chew is a weekly security-focused column on 9to5Mac. Each week, Arin Waichulis delivers insights on knowledge privateness, uncovers vulnerabilities, or sheds gentle on rising threats inside Apple’s huge ecosystem of over 2 billion energetic gadgets that can assist you keep protected.
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