Apple's Massive Control Center Update Gives You 11 New Must-Try Features on iPhone and iPad

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 revolutionize the control center, bringing a new interface design and unprecedented customization options. This update not only optimizes the control center itself, but also extends access to common shortcuts to other areas of the device for faster operations.

The previous update has only made some minor tweaks since iOS 11 redesigned the Control Center. iOS and iPadOS 18 take Control Center to a new level, making it more than just a simple quick access menu, but a powerful tool that can be customized to your personal needs. Now, the functions of the control center are no longer limited to the control center itself, and they are likely to become an integral part of your daily life.

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 were released on September 16.

1. Redesigned buttons

Once you open the Control Center, you will first notice that the widget is now inside the round button, rather than the rounded rectangle that was previously. While this is a subtle change, the round buttons help distinguish them from the large controls that are still rounded rectangles.

Comparison of control center designs for iOS 17.6.1 (left) and iOS 18 (right).

The connection control panel in the upper left corner has also been visually improved. You will see seven controls (rather than the previous four, clicks can be expanded to six), four of which occupy the fourth position of the panel, similar to the category in the App Repository. Click the fourth position to expand the panel into a full-screen list. In addition to Airplane Mode, AirDrop, Wi-Fi, cellular data, Bluetooth and personal hotspots, you now have access to VPN and satellite controls.

Comparison of extended connection controls for iOS 17.6.1 (left) and iOS 18 (right).

2. Multi-page control center

Yes, Control Center now supports multiple pages! By default, you may see three pages: Favorites (the first page), full screen control that is playing, and full screen connection control. You may also see a fourth page for home automation.

The page is identified by a small icon on the right, namely a heart icon, a musical note icon and a connection symbol. You can click these icons to jump to the corresponding page, or swipe up or down in Control Center to browse the page. You can also navigate to a specific page in a faster way: Open Control Center and slide with your fingers until you reach the target page.

If you keep all the pages, the smaller Playing and Connecting controls on the Favorites page seem a bit redundant, and you can remove them to make more space for common controls.

3. Rearrange controls without setting up an app

Previously, to move the controls, you had to go to Settings > Control Center, and you needed to switch between Control Center and Settings several times to intuitively check if the controls are in the location you want. Now you can do everything directly in Control Center.

After opening Control Center, click and hold the background or click the plus ( ) button in the upper left corner to open a new editor. To rearrange the controls, just drag and drop like you would on the home screen. You can rearrange any controls so the Connect, Playback, Direction Lock, Screen Mirroring, Silence Mode, Focus Mode, Brightness, and Volume Controls can be placed anywhere you want.

You can even drag and drop the controls onto a new page. Simply drag them from the bottom or top of the screen to the next or previous page and place them where you want it. You can also hold the control with one finger and slide between pages with the other. Unlike the home screen, you cannot move multiple controls at the same time.

New pages without controls are assigned a hollow circle icon, while pages with at least one control are assigned a solid circle icon (most of the time). The icon of the page sometimes borrows the icon of one of the controls. For example, when the remote is the only control on the page, it provides its icon for the page. Other controls that can do this include Connect, Playing, and any Home options.

4. Add and remove controls more easily

In the new editor in Control Center, you can eliminate any control by clicking the minus button. To delete the entire page, you need to delete all controls on that page or move them to another page.

To add a new control, click the "Add Control" option at the bottom of the page. You can even slide to an empty new page and add controls from there.

In the control library, elements are organized by application and category. The first part is the recommended controls and you will also see other parts such as Capture, Clock, Connect, Display and Brightness, Focus, Home, Memos, Playing, Remote, Shortcuts, Sound, Translation, Utility, Voice Memos, Wallet, Watch, Accessibility, Listening Assistance, Movement Assistance, and Visual Assistance.

Third-party applications also have their own categories, but their controls may also appear in one or more parts of Apple. For example, Halide and Instagram will have their own categories, but their controls may still appear in the Capture category.

Some controls will appear in multiple sections. If you know what you want, you can also use the search bar at the top to narrow down the controls. When adding a control, it will occupy the first empty space on the page, unless the page is full or the control is too large, in which case it will start a new page.

(The following content omits some control lists to keep the space reasonable)

5. Try more Apple controls

As you can see from the list above, iOS and iPadOS 18 bring over 40 new controls to the Control Center, including standalone connection controls (such as Airplane Mode and Bluetooth) that were previously available only in the Connection Panel, as well as Feedback Assistant, Open Apps, Ping My Watch, Print Center, Shortcuts, Touch Payment, and Translation. There are also some standalone controls for specific accessibility settings, some of which were previously accessible only through accessibility shortcuts and listening controls.

6. Take advantage of third-party controls

Third-party application developers can now create custom controls for their applications. So, just like a third-party widget in a widget selector, you will see third-party controls appear in the control selector. Now that iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 have been released, you may start to see more apps appearing in Control Centers such as Drafts, Halide, Instagram, and TickTick.

7. Resize the icon for larger or smaller controls

On the home screen, you can now resize the widget, and you can do the same with the control in Control Center. While not all controls can be resized, most do. In the Control Center editor, you can resize the size of the control with a large, thick, curved handle. Simply touch the handle and drag it outward to zoom in, or drag it inward to zoom in to zoom in.

Most resizable one-to-one controls can grow to a one-to-two rectangle or a two-to-two square. Some controls can become larger.

8. Turn off the machine faster

You will now find a power button in the upper right corner of the Control Center. When you don't want to or can't use the physical button, you can use it to turn off your iPhone or iPad. Tap and hold or long press it until the button size expands, then release and slide the switch to turn off. As with other shutdown methods, startup but not completing shutdown will disable Face ID or Touch ID.

Overall, this is much simpler than shutting down using the volume and side button combination, and is much faster than looking for hidden "shutdown" options in settings. While Siri is still an easy way to shut down an iPhone or iPad, the new Control Center button may herald other changes to Apple's future plans, such as eliminating the physical button, as some rumors say.

9. Custom lock screen controls

As one of many new lock screen changes, your iPhone now allows you to replace the default flashlight and camera shortcuts with nearly any control available in the Control Center. Although controls such as low battery mode, screen recording and sound recognition are missing, there are still 50 controls to choose from. You may also see third-party controls appear.

10. Assign controls to your action buttons

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max (or the new iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, or 16 Pro Max), you can now assign controls to your action buttons. To do this, go to Settings > Action Buttons and swipe left or right until you reach the Controls option. If you have never assigned a specific control to the action button, click Select Control, or if you have assigned, click the name of the control. The control selector will appear, which contains many controls to choose from:

(The following content omits some control lists to keep the space reasonable)

11. Navigate easier settings menu

When you go to Settings > Control Center, you will no longer find many preferences. Apart from showing new animations for the custom Control Center new method, the only option that is still available is the "In-App Access" switch. Once closed, you can only access the Control Center from the home screen (although it will still work on the lock screen).

Cover photos and screenshots courtesy of Justin Meyers/Gadget Hacks

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