iOS 18 public beta 3 is now available, here’s what’s new

Today Apple has released public beta 3 for iOS 18. This new public beta brings with it the variety of changes introduced in yesterday’s developer beta, and is available for download now to members of Apple’s public beta program. Here’s everything that’s new.

Photos app changes in public beta 3

The Photos app’s big redesign has received some fine tuning in public beta 3.

• Apple has removed the carousel design at the top of the app, which previously enabled swiping horizontally between your library and other app sections like Favorites.
• More of your library is now displayed in the top section of the screen, reducing the need to swipe down to access all your photos.
• The Albums section is now featured higher in the app’s hierarchy by default, though you can still customize its position.
• Finally, Recent Days now includes recently saved images too.

Apple says these changes have been implemented in direct response to users’ feedback to the earliest betas.

Safari’s new ‘Thanos snap’ feature

Apple’s browser Safari has a new Distraction Control feature that allows you to hide bothersome content on websites. It’s intended for annoying overlays or ads that get in the way of your content.

After enabling Distraction Control from Safari’s controls menu, you can tap on different elements on a page to see the option to hide them. The best part? The ‘Thanos snap’ animation you see as the hidden content turns to dust and flies away.

All the rest

Public beta 3 also introduces a variety of design and UI tweaks throughout iOS 18. You can more easily access the screen for editing multiple Home Screen pages. There are also new dark mode icons for Maps and Find My, refreshed Control Center icons, and more. The full list of changes in public beta 3 is available here.

Public beta schedule moving forward

If Apple follows previous years’ patterns, we should expect a fairly predictable schedule for upcoming public beta releases. Now that we’ve entered August, and the iPhone 16 event is only a month away, the release of iOS 18 betas will accelerate.

Expect to see new betas every week leading up to September. Those betas will come with fewer noticeable changes in every release, but more bug fixes and stability improvements. Apple’s focus throughout August will be on stabilizing iOS 18 in preparation for its public launch in September.

Have you found another change in public beta 3? Let us know in the comments.