Apple Notes Is Getting Supercharged in iOS 18. Here’s What's New

There’s a lot that’s new in iOS 18, and with the software update now rolled out to millions of iPhones worldwide, it’s going to take you a while to check out all of the new features Apple has included. The changes are found not just in iOS itself but in the apps Apple bundles with it.

Here we’re going to focus specifically on what’s new in Notes, as a case in point. Like Mail, Maps, Messages, Safari, and other apps, Notes is getting some major improvements to give you even more features and functions to make use of.

It’s well established as one of the most versatile apps on the iPhone, of course, suitable for everything from grocery lists to daily journals to passing secret messages. With the arrival of iOS 18, Notes is now even more useful than before.

Live Audio Transcription

Not only is Notes adding a built-in way of recording audio in iOS 18, so you don’t have to keep copying over clips from Voice Memos, the app will also transcribe your spoken audio into digital text along the way. You then get the audioclip and the text transcript embedded in your note.

With a note open, tap the paperclip icon at the bottom of the screen (or just above the keyboard), then choose Record Audio. You’ll then be taken to the main recording screen: Tap the red record button to start and stop recording. Text transcriptions will be saved automatically, but you can show or hide them by tapping the speech bubble icon in the lower left.

Tap the three dots in the top right to rename your audio file, and save it somewhere else if you need to. When you’re finished with your recording, tap Done, and it gets added to the note. Then, when you run searches through Notes, you’ll see results from text transcriptions as well as the standard text in the notes you’ve saved.

Integrated Calculations

The Math Notes feature enables sums and graphics in notes.

Courtesy of Apple

Notes can do sums now as well.