Just installed iOS 18.6 on your iPhone? 11 settings I would change first for the best experience

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Apple earlier this month rolled out iOS 18.6. It's not a major software update, but a maintenance release that tackles security bugs (including the high-severity CVE-2025-6558 WebKit zero-day) and glitches (like the Photos app preventing you from sharing Memory movies). Also: iPhone 17 Air: Everything to know about the 'ultra-thin' Plus killer coming in September There are no flashy new features, as those will arrive with iOS 26, which is now in beta and will officially launch this fall with a "Liquid Glass" redesign. Still, after installing iOS 18.6, I found a dozen settings I could change on my iPhone to improve the experience. In addition to major iOS releases, your iPhone can now automatically download and install smaller security patches as soon as Apple issues them. That means zero-day exploits -- like the WebKit flaw in iOS 18.6 -- get patched almost immediately, without any effort from you. Also: Should you buy the iPhone 16 or iPhone 17? How to decide which model to buy How to set up automatic updates on iPhone: The best part about this? It all happens overnight while you sleep when connected to power and Wi-Fi, so you won't be left waiting around for those one-off fixes to apply. The Mail app in iOS 18 (including dot updates such as iOS 18.6) sorts incoming messages into Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions categories -- like Gmail does. But if you get dozens of messages a day, those categories can bury...