(Bloomberg) — Stocks hovered near record highs and the dollar steadied as a new week began, with investors focused on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision.
The MSCI All Country World Index held steady after closing at an all-time high Friday. MSCI’s Asia equity index also traded near a record high. South Korean shares gained 0.4% amid a change to the capital gains tax threshold for stock investors. There will be no cash trading in Treasuries during Asian hours as Japan is closed for a holiday. Gold fell 0.3%.
Oil was little changed as traders weighed moves to crack down on Russian flows against forecasts for a surplus later in the year. French bond futures opened mostly steady in Asian trading after Fitch Ratings downgraded France to A+ from AA-.
The key question for investors this week is whether Fed officials will push back against market bets on a series of interest-rate cuts extending into next year. In addition to the Fed’s decision on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are also set to announce policy decisions this week.
“The week is going to be all about central bank decisions. Of course, the biggest one will be the Fed, which is all but certain to cut interest rates by 25 basis points,” wrote Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne. “The question is how aggressive the Fed is with this easing, with the markets effectively pricing in a cut at each of the final three meetings of the year.”
Traders on Monday will also be closely parsing a slew of Chinese data to help gauge the health of the world’s second-largest economy. Retail sales growth may have quickened from a year ago while industrial output may have slowed, according to Bloomberg surveys.
“We expect another soft set of numbers from today’s Chinese August ‘data dump,’ which can provide some temporary support for dollar-yuan,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategists led by Joseph Capurso wrote in a note to clients.
The US-China talks are focused on trade, the economy and the status of ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, which faces a deadline this week to reach a deal to continue operations in the US.
Officials were also expected to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping as soon as October.
What Bloomberg’s Strategists Say…
“Global equities are likely to draw fresh momentum as traders price for the Federal Reserve to deliver its first rate cut since December 2024 and signal that there may be more to come. The US dollar will weaken should policymakers reinforce easing bets.”
— Mary Nicola, Markets Live strategist. Click here for the full analysis.
The Fed’s policy meeting will remain the key focus as markets question whether officials push back against bets of easing at each remaining meeting this year. A quarter-point reduction is seen as a sure thing when the Fed announces its policy decision Wednesday, with a small potential for a half-point move amid signs US job growth is slowing rapidly.
The Fed is likely to deliver a dovish cut with at least one member in favor of a 50 basis point reduction, and new forecasts that imply a steeper easing path to guard against a weakening labor market, said Elias Haddad, a senior market strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. “A dovish Fed policy stance can drag US dollar lower and support risk assets.”
Trump predicted a “big cut” from the Federal Reserve this week ahead of a pivotal meeting at which the central bank’s governors are expected to ease policy for the first time in nine months.
Elsewhere, Fitch Ratings downgraded France to A+ from AA- late Friday. The score is now a notch lower than the UK and on par with Belgium, indicating the upheaval of repeated government collapses has locked the country into an enduring battle to contain a swelling debt burden.
France’s 10-year benchmark bonds offer one of the highest yields in the euro area, akin to Lithuania, Slovakia and Italy. The premium paid over German peers has nearly doubled since President Emmanuel Macron called elections last year, a sign of weaker investor demand.
Corporate News:
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. will pay a A$240 million ($160 million) fine after admitting misconduct across its institutional and retail divisions, the culmination of a months-long investigation by the corporate watchdog into one of the country’s biggest lenders. Singapore’s GIC Pte is in talks to sell its stake in US landlord Yes! Communities Inc. to Brookfield Asset Management in what could be one of the biggest exits for the sovereign wealth fund in years, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Britain’s second-largest grocer J Sainsbury Plc has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc. to sell its general merchandise unit Argos. Chinese technology and mobile gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. has appointed banks for its first bond offering in four years. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:06 a.m. Tokyo time Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1725 The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.56 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1233 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $115,021.79 Ether fell 0.6% to $4,591.21 Bonds
Australia’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.26% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $62.94 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.4% to $3,629.49 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Michael G. Wilson.
As expected, Apple’s annual launch event in Cupertino sparked widespread media buzz. While the spotlight often falls on new iPhones, one of the more intriguing reveals this year was the long-awaited AirPods Pro 3, which debuted with several impressive upgrades.
During the launch event — which we attended in California — and through hands-on demos at Apple’s campus, we had the chance to try the new AirPods and explore their standout new features. Chief among them: a built-in heart rate sensor and offline AI-powered live translation, both of which made a strong first impression.
Heart rate sensor – check; H3 chip – not yet
Despite rumors, the new AirPods Pro don’t include Apple’s rumored H3 chip — it appears to still be in development. Instead, Apple stuck with its familiar H2 chip, but added a heart rate monitor, improved 10.7mm drivers and upgraded microphones. The charging case now includes the U2 chip, offering ultra-precise location tracking via Apple’s Find My service.
Visually, the new AirPods are nearly identical to their predecessors, though slightly more compact and better fitted for the ear canal. A subtle redesign of the angle improves sealing, and this time Apple offers five sizes of silicone ear tips — including a new XXS option — although these new tips aren’t compatible with earlier models.
As for the heart rate sensor, it syncs seamlessly with the iPhone and Apple’s fitness app. In our tests, it provided consistent and accurate readings. Apple said the sensor uses similar technology to that found in its Apple Watch, enabling it to deliver comparable precision.
According to Apple, the new active noise cancellation (ANC) is twice as effective as that of the AirPods Pro 2, especially for mid-to-high frequency sounds. During the noisy launch event, the AirPods managed to isolate us from the surrounding chatter with impressive clarity. Real-world testing against Sony and Bose models will offer further insight.
Sound performance also saw noticeable improvements. The new drivers and acoustic design enhance airflow, particularly benefiting bass response, which felt stronger than in the previous generation. Apple also claims better call quality, thanks to upgraded microphones and more advanced noise filtering.
There’s also a new hearing assist feature, which allows up to 10 hours of use in accessibility mode.
Offline live translation
Perhaps the most headline-grabbing addition is the new AI-based live translation feature. During the demo, we witnessed a Spanish conversation being translated in real time into English — without any internet connection. The results were surprisingly smooth, with just a brief lag of 2–3 words before the translation kicked in.
The feature can be activated by pressing both stems of the AirPods or via an iPhone, and is currently supported on iPhone 17 and other Apple Intelligence-compatible devices. It will also be available on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 models equipped with the H2 chip.
At launch, translation will support English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese, with Italian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese to be added by the end of the year. There’s currently no word on Hebrew support or availability in Israel, and due to EU regulations, the feature is not expected to launch soon in Europe despite its wide language support.
While the much-anticipated H3 chip didn’t make it into this generation, the AirPods Pro 3 still represent a substantial upgrade. In a pleasant surprise, the price remains the same as the previous model — $250 (pricing for Israel had not been announced at the time of writing).
So, are these the best earbuds on the market? It’s too early to tell — but they’re certainly among the most intriguing we’ve tested recently.
As expected, Apple’s annual launch event in Cupertino sparked widespread media buzz. While the spotlight often falls on new iPhones, one of the more intriguing reveals this year was the long-awaited AirPods Pro 3, which debuted with several impressive upgrades.
During the launch event — which we attended in California — and through hands-on demos at Apple’s campus, we had the chance to try the new AirPods and explore their standout new features. Chief among them: a built-in heart rate sensor and offline AI-powered live translation, both of which made a strong first impression.
Heart rate sensor – check; H3 chip – not yet
Despite rumors, the new AirPods Pro don’t include Apple’s rumored H3 chip — it appears to still be in development. Instead, Apple stuck with its familiar H2 chip, but added a heart rate monitor, improved 10.7mm drivers and upgraded microphones. The charging case now includes the U2 chip, offering ultra-precise location tracking via Apple’s Find My service.
Visually, the new AirPods are nearly identical to their predecessors, though slightly more compact and better fitted for the ear canal. A subtle redesign of the angle improves sealing, and this time Apple offers five sizes of silicone ear tips — including a new XXS option — although these new tips aren’t compatible with earlier models.
As for the heart rate sensor, it syncs seamlessly with the iPhone and Apple’s fitness app. In our tests, it provided consistent and accurate readings. Apple said the sensor uses similar technology to that found in its Apple Watch, enabling it to deliver comparable precision.
According to Apple, the new active noise cancellation (ANC) is twice as effective as that of the AirPods Pro 2, especially for mid-to-high frequency sounds. During the noisy launch event, the AirPods managed to isolate us from the surrounding chatter with impressive clarity. Real-world testing against Sony and Bose models will offer further insight.
Sound performance also saw noticeable improvements. The new drivers and acoustic design enhance airflow, particularly benefiting bass response, which felt stronger than in the previous generation. Apple also claims better call quality, thanks to upgraded microphones and more advanced noise filtering.
There’s also a new hearing assist feature, which allows up to 10 hours of use in accessibility mode.
Offline live translation
Perhaps the most headline-grabbing addition is the new AI-based live translation feature. During the demo, we witnessed a Spanish conversation being translated in real time into English — without any internet connection. The results were surprisingly smooth, with just a brief lag of 2–3 words before the translation kicked in.
The feature can be activated by pressing both stems of the AirPods or via an iPhone, and is currently supported on iPhone 17 and other Apple Intelligence-compatible devices. It will also be available on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 models equipped with the H2 chip.
At launch, translation will support English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese, with Italian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese to be added by the end of the year. There’s currently no word on Hebrew support or availability in Israel, and due to EU regulations, the feature is not expected to launch soon in Europe despite its wide language support.
While the much-anticipated H3 chip didn’t make it into this generation, the AirPods Pro 3 still represent a substantial upgrade. In a pleasant surprise, the price remains the same as the previous model — $250 (pricing for Israel had not been announced at the time of writing).
So, are these the best earbuds on the market? It’s too early to tell — but they’re certainly among the most intriguing we’ve tested recently.
Stephen Colbert kicked off the 2025 Emmys with a question for the audience.
“Is anyone hiring?” Colbert asked as he took the stage to present the first award of the night, for best actor in a comedy (which went to Seth Rogen for The Studio). “Because I have about 200 very qualified people with me tonight.”
Colbert was referring to the pending end of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which CBS announced it would drop after the 2025-26 season. The network made the announcement in July, a few weeks before its parent company Paramount’s merger with Skydance closed. The network said it was making a “purely financial decision” in ending the Late Show franchise, which began with David Letterman in 1993 and which Colbert has hosted since 2015. Reports suggested The Late Show is a money-loser for CBS to the tune of $40 million per year; others in the industry have disputed that.
Colbert didn’t end the bit with his question. He also said he brought his resumé with him, which he then slipped to Harrison Ford, asking “Can you pass this onto [Steven] Spielberg?”
Colbert is also up for an award Sunday, as The Late Show is a nominee for best talk series alongside Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Daily Show.
The 77th Emmy Awards were telecast live from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles Sunday on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. Nate Bargatze hosted. See the red carpet looks here.
According to the National Cancer Institute, there were an estimated 18.6 million cancer survivors in the United States as of May 2025. When it comes to health and fitness, exercise has always been promoted as one of the leading benefactors for the results, however, a new study has highlighted the role of exercise on a vital level when it comes to protecting people from fatal diseases such as cancer.While numerous studies show that working out could reduce the risk of dying from cancer, this new study has pinpointed a specific workout routine that is proven to reduce the growth of cancer cells in just one session.Researchers in Australia recruited women who had survived breast cancer and had them undergo a single session of either resistance training such as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) which includes short but intense bursts of exercise followed by short breaks.The results revealed that immediately after one 45-minute resistance training or HIIT routine, participants showed up to 47% higher myokines in their blood. Myokines are the proteins released by the skeletal muscles during exercise that help the muscles communicate with the rest of the body. Myokines have also been shown to regulate metabolism and suppress molecules that cause inflammation, a key cause of cancer cell formation.According to the team, the elevated amount of myokines produced may slow the cancer growth by 20-30%. ‘By demonstrating anti-cancer effects at the cellular level, our results provide a potential explanation for why exercise reduces the risk of cancer progression, recurrence, and mortality,’ said Francesco Bettariga, lead study researcher and PhD student at Edith Cowan University in Australia, to the Daily Mail.‘We found that both resistance training and HIIT increased the release of myokines with anti-cancer properties after just a single exercise session. We then observed a reduction of up to 30 per cent in cancer cell growth in [lab testing].‘What stood out was that both modalities had comparable effects, suggesting that exercise intensity is the main driver of these anti-cancer changes, rather than the specific type of exercise performed.’
The successful study
Image credits: Getty Images
The study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, looked at 32 patients who had been treated for breast cancer, ranging from stage one to stage three, at least four months beforehand. The participants in the resistance training group did eight repetitions of five sets of exercises for major muscle groups which included chest press, seated row, shoulder press, lateral pulldown, leg press, leg extension, leg curl and lunges. They got one to two minutes between sets to rest.In the HIIT group, participants performed seven 30-second bouts of high-intensity exercise on at least three of the following exercise machines: stationary bike, treadmill, rower and cross-trainer. They had three-minute rest periods between sets.The largest jump in the blood was of myokine IL-6, which increased 47% in the HIIT group immediately after exercise. ‘We selected two distinct exercise modalities—resistance and aerobic training—because they provide different physiological benefits: resistance training improves muscle strength, while aerobic training enhances cardiorespiratory fitness in order to determine which exercise could drive greater cancer-suppressive effects.‘Specifically, we used a high-intensity exercise to determine whether greater intensity could amplify these anti-cancer effects,’ said Bettariga.
The latest iPhone system, iOS 26, is being released this week, bringing a new Liquid Glass interface and other features. Before you update, make sure iOS 18.6 on your iPhone is in top form to make it feel faster, more private and easier to use.
I tested the latest update and found 10 quick changes that had an immediate impact. Some help cut background battery drain, others boost privacy and a few are just small “quality of life” upgrades that make the iPhone smoother overall. The best part? None of them require advanced know-how — and most take less than a minute to turn on.
So if your iPhone has been dragging a little or you’re just curious about hidden features, these settings are worth checking. They can refresh your phone’s performance, extend its battery life and buy you more time before you even think about upgrading.
For more on what’s new in iOS 18, learn about improvements to the overhauled Calculator app and the Mail app. And don’t forget to consult our iOS 18 upgrade checklist, which includes making sure you have a proper backup before upgrading.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Watch this: 11 Hidden Features in iOS 18
Turn off categories in the Mail app
With email, everyone has their own way of dealing with the influx of messages. Traditionally, the Mail app has kept a chronological list, but that can get unwieldy if you also get scores of promotions, receipts and other types of email. The new categories feature creates virtual buckets for Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and guesses how your messages should be sorted.
If that approach doesn’t work for you, here are two things to try.
• In the event that categories are somewhat useful, but you still want a chronological view of your Inbox, swipe all the way to the right of the categories and tap All Mail.
• To turn off categories altogether, tap the three-dot menu (…) in the top-right corner, and then tap List View.
Turn off Mail Categories from within the Inbox. (iOS 18.5 beta shown here.)
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Change the default buttons on the lock screen
In real estate, location is everything, and the bottom corners of the iPhone lock screen are the prime spots, each an easy thumb press away when your device is still locked. Before iOS 18, those posts were held by the flashlight and camera buttons, with no way to change them.
In iOS 18, you can finally replace them with other buttons — or remove them entirely, a balm for folks who unknowingly activate the flashlight (believe me, there’s a better way to turn it on). You can add buttons to recognize music via Shazam, enable Dark Mode, set an alarm/timer, enable Airplane Mode, open your Wallet, send money via Tap to Cash and more.
Here’s how:
1. On the iPhone’s lock screen, touch and hold anywhere on the display until you see the Customize button. You’ll need to unlock the phone using Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If it opens the home screen, swipe down from the center-top of the screen (not the right edge, which brings up Control Center.
2. Tap Customize and then choose Lock Screen.
3. Remove one of the buttons by tapping the – (minus) button on the icon.
4. To replace the button with another function, tap its space (now with a + icon) and then choose the one you want on the next screen. (You can also opt to leave that space empty with no button.)
5. Repeat those steps for the other button if you want to change it.
6. Tap Done when you’re finished.
7. Tap the lock screen again to exit the customize mode.
Remove a lock screen button by tapping the – (minus) button, and then choose a new control to replace it.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Get important alerts using Prioritize Notifications
For iPhone models that can run Apple Intelligence, a new option in iOS 18.4 is fast becoming one of my favorite AI features. Go to Settings > Notifications, and under Apple Intelligence, tap Prioritize Notifications. As new alerts come in — and some days feel like they arrive in floods — Apple Intelligence determines which ones are more likely to be important to you. For example, texts from people in your contacts could be flagged in favor of random scam messages. On that settings screen, you can enable or disable priority notifications for individual apps.
In iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence can prioritize notifications to grab your attention.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Set up some of the new tasks available on the Action button
The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16E and iPhone 16 Pro replaced the dedicated mute switch found on every earlier iPhone model with a configurable control. By default, it serves the same purpose — hold it to turn Silent Mode on or off — but you can configure it for other actions like opening the Camera app, performing multiple actions at once or even ordering coffee. The iOS 18.4 update adds Visual Intelligence as an option for the Action button. That makes the AI technology available on the iPhone 16E, which does not include the novel new Camera Control but is now an option for any iPhone with an Action button.
In iOS 18, the Action button gets new capabilities. You can bypass Control Center and choose a control of your choice, such as opening the Remote interface for navigating Apple TV or using Shazam to identify a song.
To choose a different action for the Action button, go to Settings > Action Button. Swipe sideways to select and activate one of the available actions. For the Controls, Shortcut and Accessibility options, tap the Choose button to pick which specific action to run.
iOS 18 now lets you program the Action Button with your favorite Control Center control.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Give your home screen a radical new look
You wouldn’t think that putting icons where you want is a radical new feature, but that’s because iOS has always had a locked arrangement. Apps get added from top to bottom, left to right. You could rearrange the order in which icons appear and move them to other screens, but that was about it.
In iOS 18, apps can be positioned nearly anywhere. You no longer need to deal with a wallpaper image of your kids or pets being obscured by icons. They still adhere to a grid — Apple isn’t about to sanction anarchy — but can be placed freely.
Also, Dark mode finally applies to all of the iPhone’s home screen, with options for coloring icons and affecting the brightness of the wallpaper image. Here’s how to customize the looks.
Arrange apps: Touch and hold the home screen to enter “jiggle mode,” and then drag the icons to new positions. It will still slide them around to fill spaces, but with patience, you can move them into the spots you want.
Position app icons where you want so this very good girl isn’t covered.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
You can also quickly turn compatible apps into widgets that display more information. Maps, for instance, can be a map of your current location with shortcut buttons to search for places or bring up a list of nearby places (such as dinner spots). Touch and hold the app icon and look for a row of resize buttons in the menu that appears. Once expanded beyond the standard icon size, you can drag the handle in the bottom-right corner of the new icon. To get it back to its single icon size you need to touch and hold again and choose the single-icon button
Some apps can be expanded into larger icons that act like widgets.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Set Dark mode: If you’ve ever subjected yourself to the retina blast of black text on a white background late at night in a darkened room, you will appreciate the new Dark mode option for the home and lock screens. iOS has previously included a Dark mode, where light backgrounds switch to black or dark gray, text switches to white or light gray and other interface elements are dimmed to coexist in a dark environment. That’s never been applied to the home and lock screens in any significant way — only the dock and some widgets — until iOS 18.
First, touch and hold the home screen to enter jiggle mode. Tap the Edit button in the top-left corner and choose Customize from the menu. At the bottom of the screen, choose a mode for the icons and background: Automatic, Dark or Light (I’ll get to Tinted in a moment). In Dark mode, the icons gain black backgrounds, and folders and the Dock become dark gray. (Developers have the option of making Dark mode icons for their apps. In the meantime, apps not yet optimized get a generally darker appearance.)
In the home screen’s Dark mode, icons and the background are given a darker treatment.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
In Dark mode, the background image also changes. Apple’s default iOS 18 wallpaper dynamically changes from light to dark as the day progresses, or you can choose colors that offer a light and dark option. If you use a photo, its overall exposure is reduced to dim the light output.
If you want dark icons but aren’t a fan of the dimmed photo treatment, tap the sun icon in the corner of the options sheet at the bottom of the screen to toggle back to Light mode just for the background.
Tinted icons: A new and different option is to tint all of the app icons so they share the same color. In the Customize options at the bottom of the screen, choose Tinted as the icon style. You can then adjust the Hue (the slider with the color spectrum) and Luminosity (the slider with the dark to light range) to choose the color tint you prefer.
Apply a universal tint to all app icons, with controls for adjusting the hue and luminosity.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
What if you want to match a color from a background image? Tap the eyedropper button and then drag the reticle to pinpoint the color you want — the border indicates the selected color.
The tint is applied not only to icons but to widgets as well. For a widget such as Photos, the images it displays show up as duotones to match the theme.
Large icons: Do the labels below each app icon seem redundant to you? Now you can remove the labels and increase the size of the icons with one setting. Open the Customize options as described above and tap the Large button.
Make the home screen icons larger and hide the app labels.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
After making any of these changes, tap anywhere on the screen to apply them and exit the Customize interface.
Change up how the Control Center looks
Control Center was once a convenient place to quickly access controls such as playback volume and Airplane mode but under iOS 18 it’s a configurable playground. You can position controls where you want, resize many to reveal more information and add new controls on multiple screens.
Swipe down from the top-right corner to reveal the Control Center (or swipe up from the bottom on the iPhone SE). To enter edit mode, touch and hold or press the + button at the top-left corner.
Just as with moving apps, drag a control to another slot on the screen to reposition it. Many of the controls also include a bottom-right handle that can resize the control — in most cases, it reveals the name of the control and its current status (such as Flashlight Off).
Rearrange the controls in Control Center and, for some, expand them to reveal more information (or just make the button a larger target for pressing).
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Control Center also now spans multiple screens. Swipe up to view controls for media currently playing, Home controls for smart lights and appliances and a page dedicated to the communication options that appear when you long-press the Connectivity block containing Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular and others. Look closely and you’ll see that those screens are actually individual controls expanded to occupy the entire Control Center area.
You can rearrange the order of those screens by moving their controls. Suppose you want Home controls to be the first swipe instead of Now Playing: In the editing mode, drag the large Home control up to the previous screen (Now Playing will shift to the right to make room).
Some controls get their own screens, such as Home. Normally it’s on the third screen, but here it’s been moved to the second screen.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
To remove controls, tap the – (minus) button that appears. You can also add other controls: Tap Add a Control and scroll through the available options ranging from starting a Screen Recording to a host of accessibility options.
Read more: All the new controls you can add to Control Center
Lock or hide any of your sensitive apps
Our phones carry some of our most sensitive data and yet it’s not uncommon to hand a phone to a friend to view photos or look up something online. That doesn’t mean they’re going to snoop but it doesn’t not mean they might be more curious than you’re comfortable with. For data you want to ensure stays out of sight or to add a layer of protection in front of sensitive information, iOS 18 adds the ability to lock and hide apps.
For example, let’s say you keep an ongoing set of lists of gift ideas for family members in the Notes app. You can lock individual notes but that requires a separate step. Maybe a few ideas were made as individual quick notes or drawings. Instead of micromanaging access, you can lock the entire Notes app by doing the following:
Touch and hold the app icon you want to lock and choose Require Face ID or Require Touch ID (or Require Passcode if Face ID or Touch ID are not enabled) from the menu that appears. Confirm your choice by tapping Require Face ID (or similar) in the next dialog.
Lock individual apps.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
To remove the authentication step, touch and hold the app and choose Don’t Require Face ID (or similar).
Nothing outwardly indicates that an app is locked — you’ll find out when you try to open it. There’s one more level of app security available, which is to hide apps in a special locked folder. Touch and hold the app and choose Require Face ID and then tap Hide and Require Face ID in the dialog. Confirm the action by tapping Hide App on the next screen.
The app disappears from the home screen and gets slotted into a Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library (swipe left beyond your last home screen to view the App Library). To access apps there, tap the Hidden folder and authenticate with Face ID.
When you choose Hide and Require Face ID to protect an app, it gets put into the Hidden folder in App Library (top). Tap the folder and authenticate to access the app (bottom).
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
iOS 18 imposes some limitations on hidden apps. Some, such as many of the built-in ones like Notes or Reminders, can only be locked and cannot be hidden at all. Also, the Hidden folder locks itself when you launch an app or swipe away from the App Library.
Turn off Loop Videos in the Photos app
Many apps have implemented a small but annoying (to me) feature, and now Photos under iOS 18.2 has it too: Videos automatically replay when you watch them until you tap the Pause button. That can be fun once or twice, or when viewing short clips. I’m not a fan of having to take action to make them stop each time.
Now I can take action once. Go to Settings > Photos, scroll down until you see Loop Videos and turn the option off. A video will play on its own but then stop at the end as it should.
Turn off Loop Videos to stop every video from replaying automatically.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
If you’d rather the video didn’t play at all until you tap the Play button, also turn off Auto-Play Motion in the same Settings screen.
Adjust the view of your calendar
Big new features like locking and hiding apps are great additions but so are the tiny changes that you encounter every day. The Calendar app includes two new ways to view your schedule.
In iOS 18, when you’re in the Month view in portrait orientation, pinch with two fingers to view more or fewer details. As you “zoom in,” individual events appear as colored bars and then as labeled events with times, all while keeping the monthly grid of days and weeks.
In the Calendar app’s Month view, pinch to zoom in and see more details.
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
The Day view, which breaks down your day hour by hour, now has a new Multi Day view that shows two consecutive days to give you context for what’s coming without turning the phone into landscape orientation and viewing the Week view. Tap the View button at the top of the Single Day view and choose Multi Day from the popup menu.
The new Multi Day view in the Calendar shows two days at once (right).
Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Improve movie and TV show dialogue in the TV app
Trouble hearing dialogue in movies and television shows isn’t a new problem — for example, Apple TV has had a feature for a while where you can ask Siri, “What did she say?” and it will automatically back up a few seconds, turn on subtitles and replay that section of the video. You can even buy soundbars that can overcome muffled TV speech. There are a lot of reasons it’s harder to hear dialogue but the TV app in iOS 18 includes a high-tech workaround to make dialog easier to discern.
While you’re watching a video in the TV app, tap the More (…) button and then expand the Audio heading in the menu that appears; if the phone is in horizontal orientation, tap the Audio Adjustments button. Tap Enhance Dialogue and choose Enhance or Boost. They each dampen background noise and raise the dialogue’s audio.
Turn on Enhance Dialogue in the TV app to discern characters’ speech better in noisy scenes.
Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
These are just a few new features and changes in iOS 18. Check out our broader coverage of Apple Intelligence, more impressions of the system after using it for months and how these all work together with the iPhone 16 models.
Apple’s iPhone 16, 16 Plus Show Off Bolder Colors and Buttons
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the three-day second phase of the anti-polio campaign in selected districts will begin on Monday (today).
The campaign will cover Bajaur, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan.
During the drive, the anti-polio vaccine will be administered to children under the age of five.
Health officials reiterated that polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease, often leading to permanent paralysis in children.
They underscored that the only reliable protection remains the repeated administration of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to every child under the age of five.
ABU DHABI (Dunya News) – The United Arab Emirates on Monday secured their first win in the T20 Asia Cup 2025 by defeating Oman by 42 runs in the seventh match of the tournament at Zayed International Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
The match added a thrilling chapter to the competition as UAE produced a strong batting display followed by disciplined bowling.
After being put in to bat, UAE posted 172 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Captain Muhammad Wasim top-scored with a commanding 69, while Alishan Sharafu played a vital supporting role with 51. Their partnership anchored the innings, ensuring a competitive target on the board.
Chasing 173 for victory, Oman faltered under pressure and were bowled out for 130 in 18.4 overs. The batting line-up struggled to gain momentum against the UAE attack, leaving them 42 runs short of the target.
Pakistan hammer Oman in Asia Cup 2025 opener
For Oman, Jiten Ramanandi claimed two wickets, while Hasnain Shah and Same Srivastava took one apiece. However, their efforts could not prevent UAE from dominating both innings. The result leaves UAE back in contention as the Asia Cup progresses, while Oman continue their search for a first win.
