iOS 18’s new Control Center has proven to be much more than a one-off design change. Apple has steadily added new capabilities to Control Center via software updates, and iOS 18.4 continues that trend in a big way thanks to several nice upgrades.
#1: New Ambient Music controls
iOS 18.4 introduces a whole new section of Apple Music controls called Ambient Music. Here you’ll find the following four controls:
- Chill
- Productivity
- Sleep
- Wellbeing
Each of these let you quickly trigger an Apple Music playlist that fits the given mood. You can also configure your chosen control to play a different playlist by default—either one you manually set yourself, or a recommended built-in.
Ambient Music controls can be resized to take up one, two, or four slots inside Control Center, and they can also be assigned to your iPhone’s Action Button or Lock Screen.
#2: Visual Intelligence & Talk to Siri
In the newly renamed ‘Apple Intelligence and Siri’ section of Control Center’s catalog, there are two new options.
Joining the existing ‘Type to Siri’ toggle, you can now also add ‘Talk to Siri’ and ‘Visual Intelligence’ as new controls.
The former triggers Siri in voice mode, just like the side button does. The latter enables a key Apple Intelligence camera feature, which was formerly iPhone 16-exclusive, to also come to the iPhone 15 Pro and 16e despite the lack of Camera Control. Visual Intelligence makes an especially nice Action Button assignment.
#3: Control Center’s design updates in iOS 18.4
Apple also has several design enhancements included with iOS 18.4. Those changes include:
- Focus control adding up and down arrows
- Brightness slider changing animations based on level
- Volume slider similarly animates dynamically
The Focus change makes it clear that you can tap the arrows to view your full lineup of Focus modes. It sits on the right side of the toggle, while hitting the left side turns the current Focus on and off.
iOS 18.4’s brightness and volume slider animations show off some of the fun design flourishes Apple is known for. With the brightness slider, for example, you’ll see the sun grow smaller and dimmer or larger and brighter based on your brightness setting.
iOS 18.4 Control Center: wrap-up
Control Center has gone through several updates over the course of its lifespan, but the latest iteration keeps proving itself the best. The ability for users to fully customize their own Control Center setups, and choose from a wide range of controls that’s always growing, has made for a winning combination. iOS 18.4’s additions only continue Apple’s success making Control Center better than ever.
Which iOS 18.4 Control Center changes do you care about most? Let us know in the comments.
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