The new Control Center in iOS 18 has turned out to be much more than a one-off design update. Through software updates, Apple has been gradually expanding the Control Center’s functionality, and iOS 18.4 significantly builds on that trend with several good enhancements.
- New Controls for Ambient Music
Ambient Music is a completely new set of controls in iOS 18.4. The four controls listed below can be discovered here:
Chill
Productivity
Sleep
Wellbeing
With any of these, you may instantly start an Apple Music playlist that matches the mood. Additionally, you can set your selected control to play a different playlist by default, either one you directly select or one that is suggested by the control.
You can adjust the Ambient Music controls to fit into one, two, or four slots in the Control Center. You can even designate them as the Action Button or Lock Screen on your iPhone.
- Visual Intelligence & Talk to Siri
The Control Center catalog now has two new options under the newly renamed “Apple Intelligence and Siri” section.
Along with the already-existing “Type to Siri” toggle, you can now add new controls for “Talk to Siri” and “Visual Intelligence.”
The former, like the side button, activates Siri in voice mode. The latter makes it possible for the iPhone 15 Pro and 16e to have an essential Apple Intelligence camera feature that was previously only available on the iPhone 16—despite the absence of Camera Control. Action Button assignments are particularly well-suited for Visual Intelligence.
- iOS 18.4’s Control Center design changes
iOS 18.4 also includes several design improvements from Apple. These modifications thus far consist of:
Adding up and down arrows with focus control
Depending on the setting, the brightness slider changes animations
The volume slider animates dynamically as well
It is clear from the Focus change that you can examine your whole selection of Focus modes by tapping the arrows. It is situated on the right side of the toggle, and pressing the left side activates and deactivates the current focus.
The brightness and volume slider animations in iOS 18.4 showcase some of Apple’s playful design elements. For example, you can adjust the brightness slider to make the sun appear brighter or smaller, depending on your preference.
iOS 18.4 Control Center: Conclusion
Throughout its lifespan, the Control Center has seen several upgrades, but the most recent version continues to be the best. It has proven to be a successful mix, given that users may completely design their own Control Center installations and select from an ever-expanding selection of controls. The improvements made to iOS 18.4 only serve to further Apple’s success by making Control Center even better.