iOS 18.6 arrives with a Photos improvement and bug fixes
Apple has started to roll out iOS 18.6 to the public, with the usual bug squashing and performance improvements of the update joined by a fix for Photos.
An iPhone running iOS 18
Concluding the most recent beta testing cycle, and not long after the release candidates were tested, Apple has started to distribute its update to iOS 18.6. It is build number 22G86.
Owners of iPhones are now able to download and install the release to their devices and start using it, outside of the beta process.
The release notes for the iOS 18.6 update are relatively slim, in part due to it being very late in the life cycle of an operating system with an annual update schedule. Apple states that the updates provide "important bug fixes and security updates," as expected of a late-version release.
Apple does specify that there is one specific fix of note, described as "an issue in Photos that could prevent memory movies from being shared."
The update to iOS 18.6 runs alongside Apple's other beta-testing track, for its fall operating system update to iOS 26. That version includes many new features, including the Liquid Glass user interface aesthetic, call screening features, battery updates, and a Games app, among other changes.
How to install iOS 18.6
To install iOS 18.6 on an iPhone manually, open the Settings app, select General, then Software Update. With beta updates turned off, the final release version will appear unless it has already been installed.
Not everyone needs to do this manually. It's only if a user has set their iPhone not to automatically update.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
As usual I will wait until at least June 2026 to install iOS 26/iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe.
Apple's software QA has markedly and steadily declined over the years. Ten years ago, yes, I would install the newest release the same week it came out (September usually). But as their release quality noticeably worsened, I started delaying this to a point release. Over years, this just drifted to later point releases until a few years ago I just waited until the week of WWDC in June to date. For sure Apple would not be adding any features, it would all be bug fixes by the time they previewed the next gen OSes.
But now most of Apple's operating systems still have significant bugs in the x.5 releases. Hence, waiting until this year's x.6 releases. This ensures a smoother user experience since I simply don't see nine months worth of bugs (typically the most serious ones). I just don't have the interest/energy to deal with that garbage anymore. I will wait for the features when the software is fully baked: July or August.
Note that I have skipped some releases altogether like macOS Crapalina (I upgraded directly from Mojave to Big Sur sometime in the spring of 2021, six months after that latter's release).
Note that Apple themselves are aware that their software quality is going downhill. They even took a week pause in December 2023 to tackle bugs which delayed a point release. And yes, Siri with Apple Intelligence is another example of how Apple determined that a particular feature wasn't ready for primetime. They have also removed and reintroduced some features like AI-powered summary notifications.
Note that since Apple releases security patches for the previous two operating systems, my devices are still safe and well supported.
Note that I do the same thing with Windows. I'm running Windows 11 23H2 on several machines with one system upgraded to 24H2 in the past month. Redmond dogchow certainly isn't better than Cupertino dogchow.
But I know such things are beyond the comprehension of some people online.
And I spend less time dealing with software bugs overall than someone who upgrades the day the new release comes out. And remember that an unstable operating system always results in more instability from third-party applications. So it's not just dealing with OS bugs.
Note that your typical corporate IT department will also wait out new releases before rolling out to users. At my last corporate job, the IT department skipped Windows 8 completely and upgraded users from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in due time (once the latter was probably 1.5-2 years old). Heck, even Patch Tuesday updates were installed remotely on the following weekend after IT staff tested the patches themselves on a variety of test systems. Deferring software upgrades is not ridiculous at all. They are a standard M.O. in the enterprise world. In the same way, no sane webmaster is going to install the Linux kernel released this morning on a production box.
Hell, at my former corporate job, the IT department issued iPhones to some employees. Again, they would test out the new iOS software before letting it loose on employees. Same as PC operating systems.
Today's phones have A LOT of personal information: banking, medical, legal, family, location, account passwords, schedules, et cetera ad nauseam. It's not in my best interest to install a super buggy brand-new OS with all that sensitive data on the device.
Anyone who thinks what I am doing is ridiculous knows nothing about software in the 2020s. Especially for a phone which has more personal data than anything you have owned in your life.
Taking a chance with a macOS upgrade is easier because A.) you can do a test install on an external drive that you don't need, B.) it is easier to downgrade, especially if you have a TimeMachine backup. With iOS and iPadOS upgrades, there are fewer opportunities to revert to the previous software and eventually Apple will stop signing the older version.
I probably installed Crapalina 5-6 times on an external drive and each time I was left unimpressed. That's why I skipped over that dung heap. A couple of times I cloned my actual boot drive to an external device and then upgraded the latter to ensure I would have an experience that would duplicate an actual upgrade (i.e., not a new build). It didn't matter, Crapalina lived up to its nickname.
I don't have any iOS devices that I'm willing to sacrifice to the 2025 Software Hall of Shame.
i do not have visibility into Apple's software quality processes or metrics. As with most very large software code bases there are probably tens of thousands of unaddressed software anomalies in Apple's technical debt database. Many of those are likely things that are not apparent to end users. As an end user I have not seen anything that would make me believe that Apple’s software quality has fallen. I’m certain the code base has grown substantially over the past several years. However, based on my experience as a developer I would say that the last updated build of an application or platform is likely the most stable build for that version, assuming the team has a good quality process in place.
Come with facts. This sounds like you have a whole list of regressions in your drawer, issues that remain unfixed by Apple!
The more likely scenario: you’re just expressing an emotion based on your confirmation bias.
Given the drastic overhaul of the UI in iOS 26, I can’t see myself upgrading a 14 PM to it for at least 6 months, if at all. I’ve had pretty good battery life lately and I sure as hell don’t want to screw that up.