iOS 18.3: New Features, Release Date, and More

Apple has officially started beta testing iOS 18.3. The update brings 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 to developers on December 16. Based on previous 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 big updates for iPhone users, iOS 18.3 promises to be a smaller update.

Robot Vacuum Support

Based on code changes in iOS 18.3, support for robot vacuums has been added to the Home app. This will allow users to add their smart vacuums to HomeKit and control them using Siri, automations, and more.

Here's what Apple says about robot vacuum support in the Home app:

The Home app now supports basic robot vacuum features like power management, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. They can also participate in automations and scenes and respond to Siri queries. So you can add them to your cleaning routines — or ask Siri to do a spot clean in the living room.

We're still waiting for more details from the companies that actually make robot vacuums and their plans to support HomeKit integration. For now, though, it's clear that iOS 18.3 will lay the groundwork for HomeKit to support them.

Bug Fixes

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 18.3 fixes two Apple Intelligence bugs:

Fixed: Custom Genmoji might not generate unless you select a different person first.
Fixed: For third-party apps using the Writing Tools API on iOS, if the first responder is not a UIView, it will fail to use the full built-in UI.

Minor Changes

A very minor change was made to the Image Playground app icon, as pointed out by Aaron Parris in X.
You can now sign in to the Feedback app with Face ID or Touch ID instead of entering your password each time.
The Camera Controls menu icon on the Accessibility page in Settings now supports Dark Mode.

iOS 18.3 Wrap Up

Of course, it’s possible that Apple will add more features to iOS 18.3 as the beta testing process continues. However, at this time, we don’t expect the next major Apple Intelligence features to be released until iOS 18.4.

Have you noticed anything new in iOS 18.3 yet? Let us know in the comments. We’ll have more to share about the update as we release additional betas over the next six months.

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