It's by FAR the buggiest major release in all of iOS history. I have never experienced this amount of bugs and glitches in a single release since I first owned the original iPhone! They fix a bug and introduce two bugs. With iOS18.2 my screen constantly glitches and AOD randomly turns off by itself and carplay has issues.
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iOS 18 is the worst software Apple has ever released. I wish so bad I had stayed on 17.7
- Thread starter LionTeeth
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In my opinion this is the worst iOS version in history.
You’re wrong, iOS 19 going to be the buggiest release ever 😉
Same happened to me! So annoyed at myself. I now just use it for the time, and turned Bluetooth off. To my surprise a lot of things still work with just wifi. I get less notifications on my wrist though.. which, im actually liking! But in future I’ll always wait like a month after iOS update to proceed with watch update.
iOS 15 was the peak of stability and nice features. Since the introduction of customization in iOS 16, stability has gone downhill and bugs increased since then.
I’m still on 16.7.2 on my 14 pro for this reason. I’ve used my wife’s 14 pro on 18.5 and nothing excites me and there are just random hiccups and stutters that I simply don’t have. My sons 13 on 18.5 has weird random bugs where a random icon will get stuck on light mode while the others are all dark and sometimes his messages will show from the wrong people in threads. At this stage of the lifecycle of the iOS these things just shouldn’t be happening.
My performance is buttery smooth and I have no bugs on my phone with 16.7.2. I reboot it every Sunday night and I’ve been so happy. Don’t want to screw up this phone by updating! I might not get the new iOS until I get a new phone in a few years. Still get amazing battery life with 83% health. Hopefully they will be able to polish up iOS in the coming years but they keep adding so much gimmicky stuff and introducing more bugs. I do miss the simpler times. Been using iOS since iOS 4 so I’ve seen lots of updates over the years and iOS 18 looks to be one of the buggiest through the lifecycle.
My iPhone 16 Plus is fine on iOS 18, but as an early adopter you had the chance to downgrade.
This is especially key for iOS 26, as I’m very scared of battery life on the redesign. That hasn't fared well.
I will say though, that there is some very sporadic keyboard lag, this being the first time ever I’ve seen that on an original version of iOS.
Keyboard lag used to be the precursor of more serious trouble when updating. I never do, but I’ve seen it. Having slight keyboard lag on an original iOS version surprised me. That never happened. It is otherwise perfect though, and after almost 15 years of using original versions of iOS, I won’t stop doing that now.
Surprisingly, my iPad 11th-gen is indeed completely flawless, as expected, on iPadOS 18. That one will also stay there.
This is especially key for iOS 26, as I’m very scared of battery life on the redesign. That hasn't fared well.
I will say though, that there is some very sporadic keyboard lag, this being the first time ever I’ve seen that on an original version of iOS.
Keyboard lag used to be the precursor of more serious trouble when updating. I never do, but I’ve seen it. Having slight keyboard lag on an original iOS version surprised me. That never happened. It is otherwise perfect though, and after almost 15 years of using original versions of iOS, I won’t stop doing that now.
Surprisingly, my iPad 11th-gen is indeed completely flawless, as expected, on iPadOS 18. That one will also stay there.
I used to avoid updates as long as possible. Most only included security patches and new emojis, which I never used or cared about. While most people don't notice performance drops, I do. That was my main reason for skipping updates. Eventually I gave in and now update a bit more often.
I only upgrade when a favorite app stops working on older iOS versions or if my phone has problems and Apple forces an update, which rarely fixes anything.
The new iOS naming system makes no sense. Apple claims it's tied to the release year, like calling it iOS 26 even though it launches in 2025. Supposedly this is to match Samsung, but Samsung only uses years in device names, not operating systems. It feels like Apple just wants to keep users off balance, like an unhinged business seminar speaker who says everyone return from break at 10:23 or 10:24 instead of something logical like 10:20, 10:25 or 10:30.
I bought a refurbished 13 Mini from Amazon that sadly came with iOS 18.5.. horrible system. Performance is not good and battery life is horrible.
I wish I could just downgrade to iOS 17 and stay there forever. I sold to a friend a SE 2nd gen with iOS 17 and just told him: man, just don't update the phone unless it's really really necessary to do it. iOS 17 runs just much better.
It's sad to stay in iOS 18 when iOS 26 comes out. I just can't believe in apple about delivery a polished version of iOS anymore and specially talking about an "old" phone as a 13 Mini.. will stay with iOS 18 maybe for about 6 months I don't know
I wish I could just downgrade to iOS 17 and stay there forever. I sold to a friend a SE 2nd gen with iOS 17 and just told him: man, just don't update the phone unless it's really really necessary to do it. iOS 17 runs just much better.
It's sad to stay in iOS 18 when iOS 26 comes out. I just can't believe in apple about delivery a polished version of iOS anymore and specially talking about an "old" phone as a 13 Mini.. will stay with iOS 18 maybe for about 6 months I don't know
18.6 has been really good from battery life to fluidity this apps working well. But I agree, until now Apple was “losing me”
Nice to hear that. I have nothing to lose at this moment with the iOs version so, once iOS 18.6 comes out, I will update the phone
Now that it's less than 2 weeks before the release of iOS 18.6 non-beta, I am tempted to upgrade my pre-owned iPhone 11 Pro Max that came with iOS 17.7 when I purchased it. iOS 18.7 will definitely be released but I'm thinking iOS 18.8 may never happen and iOS 14.8 was the last x.8 release.
Sharing the same concerns of iOS 18 to begin with, in fact since iOS 14 or 15, I now do not switch to the latest operating system. Around July each year, I jump to the next major OS, because by this time, Apple fixes the bugs - or at least most of them, and the operating system becomes close to major-bug-free. If you just ignore the new releases around September October, watch the announcements with smile, feel sorry for those who will take the bait and update their devices to the latest and greatest OS; you will be fine. Just be patient until next summer, knowing that at least from a security point of view, Apple will look after you perfectly and you really don't need to use every new feature as soon as they are announced. Then it's all good. Apple should calm down. They really should.
Still feel that way with iOS 18.6?
I think it’s pretty good now barring that photos app is always inferior to the way it was laid out in iOS 17
I think it’s pretty good now barring that photos app is always inferior to the way it was laid out in iOS 17
It’s easy to not upgrade to the next major OS until December or January when Apple won’t support the previous OS anymore if your phone is supporting the newest one. After that, No security updates for 6 months is a risk to take. Maybe it’s a minimal one but why taking the chance just for saving a little bit of battery life? In general, the new OS is very usable and stable around that time. Some people exaggerate a little too much.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately: why does the newest phone every September come with the most broken version of an OS? Why rush out the x.0 GM every single year to hit a new device? It makes the new phone experience so bad, as some things just don't work well and you have zero option of going back to the OS you were using the day before you bought the new phone. Just an awful way to make a first impression of a new phone. If the iPhone 16-series had shipped with 17.x and offered to install an upgrade to 18 during setup, that would have been ideal. Now that the 17-series is around the corner, it just feels like 26.0 won't be a very finished, polished version by the time the phone needs to ship. Why not include 18.6 on it and give users a choice?
Because at the end of the day you are still buying it so it doesn’t matter to them. Stop buying. That’s the only way to get any company to change. You think the shareholders give a damn about the product actually working? They want more money and you keep giving it to them.
I had to turn off the Push Mail notifications early on in 18 beta, and rely on 15 min fetch cycles for my mobileme/icloud mail. Have they even fixed this?
But I wish I stayed with 17, least that was decent and stable. 18 is just one huge mess, and hopefully 26 is just a lick of paint.
But I wish I stayed with 17, least that was decent and stable. 18 is just one huge mess, and hopefully 26 is just a lick of paint.