iOS 18: Control Center turning into multiple pages is important for users

iOS 18 will be fully revealed on Monday at the WWDC keynote. According to one recent rumor, the iPhone update will introduce a redesigned Control Center.

One of the key features of the new Control Center is the ability to place controls on several separate pages, rather than the single-page view currently available. Here’s what that means for you.

Control Center is more powerful than ever

Mark Gorman writes for Bloomberg:

Control Center… will get an updated interface that allows shortcut buttons to be rearranged within the same Control Center view and placed across multiple pages. It will also feature a new music instrument and an updated interface for controlling smart home devices.

Back in iOS 10, Apple introduced a version of Control Center that spanned several pages. You can scroll between three different sets of controls. Unfortunately, these controls were not customizable at all.

What Apple has planned for iOS 18 will return, in some small way, to this long-forgotten design. Mostly, though, it will be something completely new and more powerful than ever.

Create your own multi-page control center in iOS 18

Currently in iOS 17, Control Center has some customization options. You can open Settings ⇾ Control Center and edit the specific controls that appear in Control Center. But some controls cannot be modified, and items like the On, Focus, and Call controls are all fixed. Their location cannot be changed and they cannot be removed.

In iOS 18, reports like Gurman’s suggest that more customization power is coming to users.

Consider what Apple has done with iOS widgets over the past few years. Widgets can be placed and organized on your Home screen and Lock screen to provide the controls that matter most to you.

It looks like something similar is coming to Control Center.

Just like when you enter Vibrate Mode on the iPhone Home screen, in iOS 18 you’ll be able to rearrange, add, and delete controls directly from the Control Center interface. No more going into settings first.

A key component of this newfound freedom will be the ability to create multiple pages of controls. Unlike the static options in iOS 10’s design, with iOS 18, you should be able to create fully customizable pages that suit your needs — just like you would with Home Screen pages using apps and widgets.

This additional screen space should fit in nicely with the reported changes to the Now Playing and Home controls, which may take up more space than before. Apple could also stop hiding extra layers of control behind long press. This would benefit not only the playback and home controls, but also focus, volume controls, and more.

Will third-party apps be able to take advantage of the Control Center?

This might be a bit radical, but it would be surprising to see Apple open up Control Center to third-party developers as well, so apps can offer their own custom controls there.

Based on the foundation created by the tools, enabling third-party controls makes a lot of sense. It’s very much in line with what the company has done in recent years with tools.

It is contained

I’m very excited about the capabilities of Control Center in iOS 18.

Apple could promote the new, redesigned Control Center as part of a broader push toward greater customization options for iPhone users. You’ll be able to customize your Home Screen in more ways than ever in iOS 18, so why not Control Center, too?

What are you most excited about with the new Control Center? Do you think Apple will open the way for third-party applications? Let us know in the comments.