iOS 18.3: New features, release date, and more

Chance Miller | Dec 17 2024 - 12:52 pm PT

Apple has officially started beta testing iOS 18.3. The update comes with minor changes for iPhone users. Here’s everything you need to know.

iOS 18.3 release date

Apple released the first beta of iOS 18.3 for developers on December 16. Based on prior years, iOS 18.3 will likely be released to the general public sometime in late January.

iOS 17.3 – January 22, 2023
iOS 16.3 – January 23, 2023
iOS 15.3 – January 26, 2022

What’s new in iOS 18.3?

While iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 were full of new Apple Intelligence features and other major upgrades for iPhone users, iOS 18.3 is shaping up to be a smaller update.

Robot vacuum support

Based on code changes, iOS 18.3 adds support for robot vacuums in the Home app. This will allow users to add their smart vacuums to HomeKit and control them with Siri, automation, and more.

Here’s what Apple says about support for robot vacuums in the Home app:

The Home app now supports the core functionality of robot vacuum cleaners, such as power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. They can also participate in automations and scenes, and respond to Siri requests. So you can add them to your cleaning routines — or tell Siri to do some spot cleaning in the living room.

We’re still waiting on more details from companies that actually make robot vacuums and their plans to support HomeKit integration. As of right now, however, it seems clear that iOS 18.3 will lay the HomeKit foundation for their eventual support.

Bug fixes

According to Apple’s release notes, iOS 18.3 fix two Apple Intelligence bugs:

Fixed: A personalized Genmoji might not generate without selecting a different person first.
Fixed: For third-party apps adopting Writing Tools API on iOS, if the first responder is not a UIView, it will not be able to use the complete inline experience.

Minor changes

There’s a very minor change to the icon for the Image Playground app, as highlighted by Aaron Perris on X.
You can now log in to the Feedback app using Face ID or Touch ID, rather than entering your password each time.
The icon for the Camera Control menu in the Accessibility page of Settings now supports dark mode.

iOS 18.3 wrap up

It’s certainly possible that Apple will add more features to iOS 18.3 as the beta testing process continues. Our current expectation, however, is that the next major Apple Intelligence features won’t be released until iOS 18.4.

Have you spotted anything new in iOS 18.3 so far? Let us know in the comments. We’ll have more coverage of the update as additional betas are released over the next six months.

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