iOS 18: How the India-centric features shape Apple's iPhone experience

iOS 18 is the first platform upgrade from Apple to introduce India-centric features, including support for more languages, numerals from 12 languages, and voice call transcription in Indian English

India is emerging as a key market for Apple. In addition to its push for local manufacturing and expanding retail presence, the US-based technology giant is enhancing its product ecosystem with support for India-centric features. With the iPhone at the core of its ecosystem, it is natural for Apple to roll out these features here first.

iOS 18 is the first platform upgrade with native support for more Indian languages and numerals. Furthermore, existing iPhone features such as the Translate app, Siri assistant, and live call transcription have been enhanced with support for Indian languages. But how do these enhancements shape the iPhone experience? Let us find out.

 

Improved calling experience

Among the several upgrades aimed at enhancing the calling experience on the iPhone, one feature that stands out is “Live Voicemail”. Although it debuted with iOS 17 in select regions, Apple introduced it in India this year with iOS 18, claiming it is now capable of understanding Indian English.

For those unfamiliar, Live Voicemail allows users to prompt callers to leave a voicemail using the dedicated “Voicemail” button on the incoming call screen. An automated voice then asks the caller to leave a voice message, stating that the user is unavailable. As the voicemail is being recorded, the call screen displays a real-time text transcription of the message. The receiver also has the option to pick up the call while the voicemail is being recorded. Once the call ends, or the message is complete, both the audio and text transcription are accessible in the “Voicemail” section of the Phone app.

In a rather uncharacteristic move for Apple, the Live Voicemail feature works even when the caller is using an Android phone. It is also compatible with the “Silence Unknown Callers” setting, which routes calls from unknown numbers directly to Live Voicemail without ringing.

About the text transcriptions, it is quite accurate, though it does not support regional languages, but only Indian English. Additionally, while real-time transcription is available, there is no option to disconnect the call during a Live Voicemail session. It would have been preferable for the receiver to have the ability to end the call mid-session while the recording continued on the caller’s end.

Live Voicemail is not the only new addition. With iOS 18, Apple has also introduced support for Live Caller ID for iPhone users in India. This allows apps like Truecaller to display identification banners for incoming calls in real time, similar to the experience on Android. Furthermore, Apple has finally included a search bar in the recent calls section, along with a useful toggle in the Control Centre that lets users switch between SIM cards for mobile data.

Multilingual support

With iOS 18, the iPhone keyboard supports phonetic typing in Indian languages using the Latin keyboard layout. Users can add up to two Indian languages alongside English, enabling quick switching. When another language is selected alongside English, the keyboard displays a button on the edge of the suggestion field, allowing seamless switching without altering the keyboard layout.

Supported languages include Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Typing is fast and accurate, though there are occasional issues with Hindi vowel signs (matras). However, this is a common issue across all keyboards using Latin alphabets for typing in Hindi. For those who prefer native language scripts, Apple has added support for alphabetical layouts for Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

Although Apple has not explicitly mentioned it, QuickPath support is available for the Hindi keyboard layout. However, Emoji Prediction with local languages is only supported when using the Latin alphabet layout.

Beyond the keyboard, Apple has extended local language support to other areas. Siri can now understand and respond in Hindi. However, silent text responses in Hindi are presented in Latin script, while verbal responses are accurate in Hindi. In addition to Hindi, users can mix English with Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu to interact with Siri, though responses will be in English in such cases.

Apple has also included Hindi in the Translate app and added an option to translate web pages into Hindi on the Safari web browser.

Customisation

With the addition of multiple Indian languages, iPhone users in India running iOS 18 can customise the Clock widget on the Lock Screen with numerals from various languages, including Arabic Indic, Bangla, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, and Telugu. While this may seem like a minor update, it adds a distinct and personalised touch to the Lock Screen.

Moreover, the expanded support for Indian languages on the keyboard allows users to save contacts in those languages, providing greater customisation options for Contact Posters.

Experience

With iOS 18, Apple has introduced a well-rounded set of features for iPhone users in India. While features like Live Voicemail were already available in other regions, Apple has taken the time to optimise it for detecting Indian English accents. Additionally, the expanded support for local languages within the keyboard, Siri, and web page translation makes the iPhone more accessible to a wider range of users.