iOS 19 Wishlist: Every New Feature We Want Apple to Add
Credit: iOS design concept / Jia
We're only a few weeks away from Apple officially revealing iOS 19. Just as every year before, we expect the company to unveil its big update during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote, which will take place on June 9.
While there are already several rumors about what this new update will bring, there are many things we still don't know. That means there are still many things we hope to see Apple include in this year's software update.
Sure, some of these features may not be available in iOS 19 — or ever. However, that doesn't mean we can't hope that Apple will surprise us this year with some features iPhone fans have been waiting for years. Call it wishful thinking, but read on for 7 things we want Apple to add to iOS 19.
A Smarter Siri (For Real This Time)
Siri has been around for over a decade now, but it has yet to become the super-smart virtual assistant Apple fans have wanted for a long time.
Some of us thought that this would change with iOS 18. After all, Apple Intelligence was supposed to make Siri as smart as any other AI assistant on the market. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet, but maybe iOS 19 will finally turn it around.
Apple promised some interesting features that would make Siri smarter and more useful than ever. For instance, it would be able to understand what's on your screen and learn personal context to provide more personalized and accurate answers.
Unfortunately, Apple had to delay these features, which means there's still a chance we'll see them in iOS 19. Sadly, that might not mean iOS 19.0 — there's a good chance we won't see a smarter Siri until 2026 — but there's still some hope it will show up before iOS 20.
More Customization Features
In recent software updates, Apple has introduced additional customization features, making the iPhone more personal than ever. Yes, it took years, but we can finally add icons anywhere we want on our screen.
While these changes have been nice, we'd love to see a bit more customization. Something that may not happen but would still be cool to see is the ability to customize the app icons individually. For instance, we'd like to be able to customize the color of individual app icons and maybe even change the icon to whatever we want.
Granted, you can arguably kind of do that already with the help of the Apple Shortcuts app. But being able to change icons without the extra steps of creating a shortcut for an app would be a big plus.
Additionally, we wish Apple would add a way to change the opacity of apps and widgets, so you can hide or show as much of the widget or your wallpaper as you want.
New Multitasking Features
Another feature that Apple fans have long requested is the ability to use two apps simultaneously. Opening two apps in Split Screen mode — just like many Android phones and even the iPad can do — would bring a productivity boost to professional users who use their iPhones to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
Additionally, having a desktop mode, which other Android phones already have, would let you turn your iPhone into a basic laptop by plugging it into a monitor. Luckily, rumor has it that Apple might be working on a limited version of Stage Manager for the iPhone, which wouldn't turn it into a computer but would offer more capabilities for when you want to work with a bigger display.
Better RCS Messaging
Apple introduced Rich Communications Services (RCS) for the iPhone in iOS 18. Thanks to this change, texting with Android users improved significantly.
Unfortunately, this update didn't bring everything that RCS is capable of. The good news is that this might change in iOS 19.
Apple has already confirmed that encrypted RCS messaging will be available on the iPhone soon, thanks to the new RCS 3.0 standard. This change means that Apple will likely include other RCS 3.0 features, which would be a nice upgrade from the version it currently supports, RCS 2.4.
If that's true, we want to see all of the other RCS 3.0 features that are available. For instance, you would be able to send inline replies, edit or unsend messages, and even react to messages. Basically, it would be one step closer to having iMessage with Android users.
Of course, Apple has only confirmed that it will add encryption to RCS messages, so we'll need to wait and see if it makes any other changes.
New Apple Health Features
Currently, the Health app can track nearly every aspect of your health. You can track things like your sleep, medicine, and even your mental health.
However, the Health app falls short when it comes to tracking your macronutrients. Sure, there's already a nutrition section where you can track many different things, like the calcium or vitamins in the food you eat. However, you can't track your macros.
Apple Health can't track your protein, carbs, fat, or caloric intake. Instead, you need to use a third-party app for the job.
The good news is that, if the rumors are true, Apple might add a macros tracking feature in iOS 19, alongside other huge changes coming to the Apple Health app. However, we'll have to wait to see if the rumors are true.
More Options for the Action Button
The Action Button has been a welcome change to the iPhone's hardware. Now, instead of having a Ring or Silent switch, you can customize the Action Button to do pretty much anything, like opening Visual Intelligence or turning on your flashlight.
However, we would like to see Apple add a few more options to this really cool feature. For instance, we'd like to see more options, like the ability to control specific actions in third-party apps. You can technically already do that with the Shortcuts app, but it involves more extra steps than we'd like.
Additionally, Apple should add the ability to add more than one action to the Action Button. For instance, if you press it twice, you can turn on your flashlight, and if you long-press it, you can silence your iPhone.
It's Time for a Better Keyboard
Many iPhone users don't like the keyboard on the iPhone, and for a good reason. Even though modern iPhones are bigger than ever, we still don't have a dedicated digit row at the top of the keyboard. Sure, it would be a change we'd need to adjust, but Apple could take it one step further and make this change customizable.
After all, every other smartphone on the planet already has a larger keyboard with a numbers row, and there are third-party apps on the iPhone that add a numbers row to Apple's keyboard, so there's no reason why the company hasn't done it.
What Else Do You Want?
Even though we want many things on this list, many iPhone users also want dozens of other features that would make the iPhone better.
Of course, it's highly likely that we won't see even half of what we want in the next iOS 19 update, but we can still dream.
To be fair, the company has been adding many features that users have asked for years in recent updates, so there's still a chance. We'll have to wait until June to see what Apple and iOS 19 have in store for us.