iOS 18 doubles down on India-specific features: Check what's coming to iPhone 15 and other iPhones

iOS 18 is set to launch later this year in a stable capacity, featuring major updates such as new customisation options, a redesigned Photos app, Apple Intelligence, and more. It is safe to say that this is one of the most ambitious updates by Apple in almost a decade. However, it isn’t limited to these features alone: In good news for Indian users, Apple has announced the addition of India-specific quality-of-life features and support for multilingual Siri.

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Apple India-Specific Features Coming to iOS 18

Customisation with Regional Numerals and Languages: iOS 18 will allow users to customise the time on the lock screen using Indian numerals from 12 languages: Arabic, Arabic Indic, Bangla, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, and Telugu.  In addition, users can also adjust the font colour and weight to fine-tune the appearance of their Contact Posters.

Live Voicemail Transcription in Indian English: iOS 18 introduces Live Voicemail Transcription in Indian English, support for Live Caller ID, smart call history search, and a new phone keypad search and dialling experience.

Improved Dual SIM Support: Apple will enable users to easily switch between their SIMs, providing greater flexibility in choosing their network.

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Multilingual keyboard: With iPhone 12 and later models, users can type phonetically using Latin characters for English and two additional Indian languages, enabling trilingual predictive typing. This feature is accessible in Messages, Notes, and any app with a keyboard and supports QuickPath and Emoji Prediction.

Plus, users would be able to  switch between languages with scripts displayed on both sides of the suggestions field. For this, the keyboard remembers the language used in prior conversations, enabling automatic switching. Supported languages include English, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

Multilingual Siri: Siri has got a big boost with iOS 18, and when it comes to India-specific features, it doubles down there too. Apple says that Siris will have additional multilingual support for 9 Indian languages, and Indian English.

Users can now use Siri to set alarms, timers, launch apps, get directions, play music, or check the weather by combining English with their local language. The supported local languages include Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Not only can users mix English with these languages, but Siri can now respond in Hindi to Hindi queries as well.

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More Features

In addition to the previously mentioned features, iOS 18 will include Hindi in the Translate app, support for alphabetical layouts for 11 Indian languages, allowing users to type directly in Indian scripts, and improved language search. This will enable users to find words using familiar spellings without considering the spelling style of the content.