Widgetsmith 7

I finally got around to trying Widgetsmith 7 for iOS 18, which is a significant improvement from the previous version. Widgetsmith, the leader in the customizable Home Screen app genre, expands its feature set with support for Control Center, Lock Screen, and Home Screen customization. The new version of the application takes full advantage of these new features and brings a bunch of customization that I expect Apple would never include.

3 iPhone devices side by side showing different screens from the widgetsmith app, version.

In many ways, this reminds me of the old days when we would all customize our Mac computers with apps like this. You can choose from Widgetsmith’s Icon Pack or import your own to customize your iPhone’s look and feel.

If you’d like to take your Home Screen customization to a new level, check out Widgetsmith 7.

Looking Forward to iOS 18.2

Now that we’re officially in October, I can’t help but think a bit about the 18.2 beta coming to iOS later this month. According to the rumors, we’re going to get several new Apple intelligence features including Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT integration, and personal context awareness for Siri. We’re also supposed to get the auto-sorting feature in Apple Mail. These are big features and represent a step up over the Apple Intelligence features we saw with 18.1.

The next six months, in general, will feel like a slow burn toward Apple intelligence. Apple’s put a lot of wood behind the arrow about how important Apple Intelligence is for them but we still need to see the more advanced features work. This feels like a big bet for Apple, and I’m curious to see how it plays out. We’ll get our next big indication with 18.2 later this month.

“Distraction Control” in iOS 18

We recently received beta 5 of iOS 18, which includes a new distraction feature called “Distraction Control.” This feature lets you hide distracting elements on web pages, like sign-in pop-ups and content overlays. It is not an ad blocker and does not permanently remove items, but it can be used to hide elements while you are reading a page. In short, it makes things less distracting.

I’d love to know the story behind features like this and Focus Modes. Clearly, there are some advocates at Apple for the problems, including features that combat the focus and distraction issues inherent in a smartphone. Indeed, Apple has been the best player among the big technology companies in tackling this in their devices, so much so that they get the ire of the advertising industry and Facebook aimed at them on occasion.

What we haven’t got is a clear statement from Apple on this issue, the same way we did on Apple’s privacy stance, declaring privacy a “human right.” Apple has not been so explicit concerning focus and distraction. Instead, we get these occasional features that pop up and help us.

I would like for Apple to be more declarative about the issue of distraction and focus. They are best placed to do so, and their words could impact this issue industry-wide. Moreover, it would be an excellent sales point for Apple devices over others.