You’ll Be Able to Set New Default Apps in iOS 18.2

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In addition to all the fun new Apple Intelligence features we were expecting, there’s a hidden surprise in today’s first iOS 18.2 developer beta: a new section that allows you to set your default apps for various functions.
Although Apple has provided the ability to choose a default browser and a default e-mail app since iOS 14, these settings have always been a bit awkward to find as they were tucked away in the main Settings app under the settings for each browser and mail app. To make things even more complicated, Apple wouldn’t let you go to Mail or Safari to choose another default — you had to do it from the app you wanted to set as the default.
However, that’s changing in iOS 18.2, which offers a unified section where you can manage those in one place, along with some new options.
Default Apps appears in the iOS 18.2 beta at the top of the Apps section, which was added in iOS 18.0. In addition to email and browser, it now includes options for messaging, calling, call filtering, passwords & codes, and keyboards, and it sounds like at least one more option may be on its way. Here’s how Apple describes it:
Manage your default apps for iPhone, including choosing the apps you prefer to use for opening links on the web, sending emails, making contactless payments, and more.
While there’s no option to set a default contactless payment app right now, that will likely change in future betas. Apple recently announced that third-party contactless payment and wallet apps would be available to developers starting in iOS 18.1 and that users could replace Apple Wallet with another digital wallet of their choice.
It’s also possible the contactless payment option may only appear once a third-party payment or wallet app is installed. However, it’s worth noting that the other options appear here even when no third-party alternatives are installed.
The new Default Apps screen includes new options for messaging and Calling, which implies that third-party VoIP apps and other messaging apps like WhatsApp will eventually be able to replace the default Apple apps for these features. Only Apple’s first-party apps appear here right now, although it’s possible to switch to FaceTime as the default calling app instead of the built-in Phone app.
Call Filtering isn’t a newcomer here but has moved into a more prominent position. It was previously hidden in the Phone app settings, but with the ability to set another default calling app, it now needs to stand independently. This also implies that call-filtering apps will be engaged even when using a third-party calling app, which makes sense as the incoming calls still need to be processed by iOS before being handed off to the selected calling app.
Passwords & Codes and Keyboards aren’t new; they’re just pared-down versions of what’s already available under General > AutoFill & Passwords and Keyboard.
While the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) mandates that users be able to select alternative defaults for most built-in functions, Apple has presumably decided it’s simpler to make it available to all iPhone users worldwide. This is similar to the opening up of NFC payments to third-party wallet apps in iOS 18.1, another change required in the EU that will help Apple avoid looming antitrust investigations elsewhere.