How to customize it on your iPhone

In addition to an all-new Home Screen for iPhone users in iOS 18, Apple is also debuting a revamped Control Center. This updated feature makes it easier than ever to access essential shortcuts on your phone with just a few swipes and taps.

In this article, we’ll teach you how to customize the iPhone’s new Control Center in iOS 18 and make it more useful. We also have a guide that will teach you how to customize the iPhone’s lock screen.

iOS 18 finally gives Control Center the overhaul it always needed

iOS 18 new Control PanelImage source: José Adorno for BGR

Over the years, Apple has made Control Center a key part of the iOS ecosystem. With iOS 18, the company has taken it to the next level with these changes:

Redesign: Control Center now includes new groups of controls, which you can more easily access by swiping down once on the Home screen.

Controls Gallery: You can add more controls using the Controls Gallery, which displays all your options in one place, including new controls from your favorite apps.

Change the layout and size of your controls: Customize how your controls appear, resize them, or create your own groups of controls so they’re always just a swipe away.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Freedom is the key to the new Control Center

Once you download iOS 18, you’ll find all of the connectivity controls in the same group. You can access them from the top left corner or via a dedicated tab when you swipe up.

What’s interesting is that Apple is making it harder for users to turn off Bluetooth, because people have to tap extra long to do it. I think this is an upgrade, because a lot of people still think that they have to turn off Bluetooth to save battery life, which is not true.

iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 18 new Control PanelImage source: José Adorno for BGR

Long-pressing an empty space while Control Center is open in iOS 18 lets you begin customizing Control Center. There are a few options: remove toggles and groups, add more controls, or resize existing ones.

While I don’t plan on using them, I do think smart home buttons will play an important role in Control Center, making it easier to select shortcuts, scenes, and accessories in the future. iPhone owners will even be able to create a tab exclusively for Home Controls.

You can choose from several shapes when adding controls to Control Center. We hope Apple adds third-party apps to the selection in the future.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

In my iOS 18 Control Center, I’m happy with most of Apple’s custom options, though I would have liked to add Headphone Volume, Personal Hotspot, and a few other options.

Complete

iOS 18 is expected to be released later this fall. Read more about it below.