Namaste, iOS 18: Six India-specific features coming soon for iPhone users

iOS 18 features

The official rollout of iOS 19 is still more than two months away. However, the developer beta has been out for a while now and Apple showcased a lot of features at WWDC 2024.  iOS 18 bring a lot of India-specific feature for iPhone users. These features include new India fonts, numerals, enhanced language search and a multilingual Siri. Here are six iOS 18 features that will improve the iPhone experience for users in India:

Indian numerals come to lock screen and contact posters

Users can customise the time on the lock screen with Indian numerals from 12 languages: Arabic, Arabic Indic, Bangla, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, Telugu. Furthermore, users can adjust the font colour and weight to create exactly the look they want for their Contact Posters.

Alphabetical keyboard layouts

With iOS 18, iPhone will support alphabetical layouts for 11 Indian languages allowing users to type in Indian scripts directly. Keys are arranged in an alphabetical order, vowel and conjunct keys on the layouts change dynamically based on what the user is typing making it easier to find the correct character to type. Alphabetical layouts are available in 11 languages: Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Language search becomes better

Apple has made certain enhancements to language search which help users to find the word they are looking for in the spellings that they are accustomed to, without having to consider the spelling style that the content is composed in. Also, different spellings for words can now be looked up regardless of which spelling is typed. Enhanced language search is available in Assamese, Bangla, Devanagari and Gujarati.

Siri gets smarter with more language capabilities

With iOS 18, Siri gains additional multilingual support for nine Indian languages as well as Indian English. Users can ask Siri to set alarms and timers, launch an app, get directions, play music or check the weather by using English mixed with a local language. Users can mix English with Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil & Telugu. Also, Siri can now respond in Hindi to Hindi queries.

Support for Hindi in Translate app

In iOS 18, support is added for Hindi in the Translate app, Safari webpages and other systemwide translation features, including apps like Notes.

Multilingual keyboard on 

On iPhone 12 and later, users can type phonetically with latin characters in English and up to two additional Indian languages for a trilingual predictive typing experience. This is available in Messages, Notes, and anywhere where users have access to keyboard. It is available in English, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu. The bilingual keyboard experience (English + Hindi) will continue to be available on all devices that support iOS 18.

Also read: Apple is making CarPlay more accessible with iOS 18: How to use them and other details