What’s been your experience so far?
I’ve been on the macOS, iOS, and iPadOS betas since — I think — the second public beta.
I was more cautious with watchOS and tvOS; I only jumped on those in the last couple of weeks.
I’ve had zero issues with any of them.
Now that the official versions are out, I’ve taken myself off the betas (I only do betas in the summer). So my devices will pick up the official 18.1 update when it lands.
Unsurprisingly, none of my devices saw today’s update after I removed them from the betas — the final beta versions are apparently the same as the official versions that dropped today.
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I wasn’t able to log into a financial site after updating because my IP was different. Turns out the iOS update had turned on Private Relay. I was able to login after I turned it back off. And Siri has lost “her” voice, it is not responding verbally. It is responding on iPadOS
I don’t plan to update macOS.
Edit: Discovered that changing Siri responses from Automatic to Prefer Spoken Responses allows Siri to answer verbally on my iPhone (when I’m not wearing AirPods).
- Ran iOS 18 RC (same build number as final version) for a week, without any issues.
- Upgraded to macOS Sequoia yesterday, so too early to tell
I haven’t been running any betas this year, so I updated my iPad mini 6 last night first. (It’s mostly an entertainment and a secondary device so I usually install major updates on it first.) No issues so far; I’ll probably update my other devices this coming weekend.
First minor Sequoia issue: it changed the hostname of my Mac, breaking my prompt.
Updated to Sequoia and iOS 18 couple of hours back
Two issues I faced
- In Sequoia the local file links generated by Things Helper app (Things Helper) no longer work. Previously clicking on these links would open the corresponding folder, now nothing happens. And yes I did update Things to latest version which is compatible with Sequoia
- iPhone mirroring app is not working for me. I am connected to Wifi with my laptop and phone is not on wifi. The app says unable to connect to iPhone. I will try later again at home with both devices being on same wifi
Many things:
- Tinted app icons can make me less distracted
- I don’t know what hidden apps is for, but I use it to hide social media so that I will check them less often.
- Apple Notes search bug is fixed (I don’t need to type " to generate all results). After tapping a note link in a note, you can go back to the previous notes with “recent notes” - it’s a list rather than a gesture. Not convenient as swipe but will let you know what notes you have been to.
- In safari I can hide distracting items!
- Files app allow Keep Downloaded so that I can use it for iA Writer - everything including images can be ready offline to preview. No need to wait for the attachment to download first.
- Photos does not have easy navigation but I can customize to put something important on top.
Sadly my MacBook Air 2018 can’t upgrade to Sequoia but I think it’s fine to keep using macOS 14. I don’t want to replace now but want to use one or two years more.
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Updated my iPhone 13 Pro to iOS 18. I like the new Photos app. I also enjoyed playing with the Home Screen and Control Center. Other than that, nothing mind blowing. It works and have been stable. I think I care about this more than mind blowing.
Also, finally decided to restart my Mac - so I might as well update to Sequoia. Aside from Rogue Amoeba Sound Source not working (and I need to upgrade the software to a Sequoia-ready), and a couple of that irrirtating permission (DFX, Moom and SnagIt asked for it), it was a pleasant, no frills upgrade too. I love the new screensavers and wallpapers. Those are fun. Aside from that, it’s just your everyday upgrade. It didn’t break any software, unlike when moving from Ventura to Sonoma. I think this is a pretty safe upgrade.
iPhone mirroring works as advertise. There’s a limit to how far away the iPhone to the Mac Mini. My iPhone could be 50m away in the living room and iPhone mirroring did not work, which is a bummer because that is where I always leave the iPhone.
Edit to add that: I think Apple also fixed that reboot-caused-my-USB-hub-to-go-crazy where I have to unplug the mouse USB dongle and replug it. I don’t have to do it in Sequoia anymore, but my memory may be fuzzy on whether this was already fixed before.
I upgraded my unsupported 2017 Air to Sonoma using OpenCore Legacy Patcher
. Of course that might not be a route you want to go down, but I’ve had zero issues running it.
I’ll wait a few weeks before considering Sequoia - hopefully, any bugs will be worked out.
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@alvinc, can you explain what you mean by this? I’m experimenting with using iA Writer as my primary writing app. This may be a useful feature but I’m not sure I understand how it works.
I podcast with 2 android users.They were my last tether to Facebook messenger. RCS is most welcome.
After you download iA Writer on iOS and iPadOS, all the text files have been downloaded so you can edit anytime including offline for sure. But when you preview your documents with images, they may not be downloaded yet due to iOS Files app natures. You will need to wait for a while so that related images are downloaded. Unless you need to go to Files app tapping iA Writer folder “Download now”, but if you have new attachments, the folder won’t automatically download all new files until you tap download again.
MacStories has related coverage: iOS and iPadOS 18: The MacStories Review - MacStories - Part 6
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Two things:
1. Photos app. Completely switched off all of that 1-page nonsense immediately. I don’t want to look at all that clutter.
Switching it off on iPad puts it all back into the sidebar which I much prefer. Switching it all of on iPhone puts it nowhere. So I either have the option of clutter or nothing on iPhone. You can do better than that Apple. I get the idea of it. Now they have the option to put it all in place with SwiftUI and for the common user that’s good but for people like us who know where to find stuff, it’s not good, because it’s clutter
2. Music app. More clutter. The music app includes ALL the information about all the artists and performers of a single track when inside album view in the Music app.
This is NOT good if you’re a classical music fan as you can now scroll endlessly in album view to get to the bottom because classical music can have a LOT of performers.
I know there’s whole Apple Classical music app, which I welcomed when it came out but have NEVER used. However, this app presents a much more condensed view of albums than the standard Music app.
Again, why, Apple?! Why the change? And why would you put all the performer information of a single track in album view. It’s ridiculous
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That view is kind of funny! (I realise as a user it’s actually not!) How did that even get out of the initial feedback meeting? Surely someone in the room pointed out the layout is ridiculous?!
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iPhone mirroring is a game changer for me, loving it 
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It’s not accessible in my region (Denmark) it says when I try it… I don’t understand why that is
Because you’re in the EU and Apple are delaying the release of that and the AI and other features.
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I assume you’re referring to the Music.app as your comment could also apply to the new layout of the Photos.app.
But yeah, I don’t get it. Apple has never understood classical music, which I have been telling them for years, as have Kirk McElhearn in a much better way than I. But the search functions and indexing of artists and composers have always been a mess.
Then they introduce the Apple Classical app. Great! But I have opened it twice in two years, never saw the idea to it. It’s a good idea but why not incorporate that into the Music.app instead. And now this. Not a surprise.