Mikey Madison and Kirsten Dunst Dive Into the Dark Waters of REPTILLIA About a "Seductive Mermaid" — GeekTyrant
Mikey Madison has found her next film project after her Oscar-winning turn in Anora , and she's plunging headfirst into some wild territory. Madison is set to star alongside Kirsten Dunst in Reptilia , the next feature from filmmaker Alejandro Landes Echavarría ( Monos ).
Reptilia follows a dental hygienist who becomes entangled with a seductive mermaid and spirals into the 'dark and wet underworld' of Florida's shadowy, swampy exotic animal trade.
Mermaids, molars, and morally murky waters. This sounds like it'll be a wild and unhinged movie, and production kicks off this fall with a lineup
Reptilia marks another major move for Madison. She swept awards season with Anora , winning five Oscars including Best Actress, along with a BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award. She also snagged nominations from the Golden Globes, SAG, and Critics Choice.
Fans will also recognize her from Scream 5 , FX's Better Things , and her scene-stealing performance in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood .
Then there's Dunst, another acting heavyweight with a history of haunting, offbeat performances. With Madison's momentum and Dunst's gravitas, Reptilia could be a dark fantasy worth checking out.
Source: Deadline
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Fox News
35 minutes ago
- Fox News
Keith Urban describes turning point that led him to sobriety after years of addiction
Keith Urban is reflecting on the turning point in his years-long battle with drug addiction and alcoholism. During a recent appearance on "The Zane Lowe Show," the 57-year-old country star recalled the moment he knew he had to make a decision that would affect the rest of his life. "All through the years of drinking and doing drugs and all the rest of it, I always had this very specific voice inside of me that goes, 'One day, you're gonna come to a crossroads or a fork in the road, and it'll be the final one,'" Urban said. "'You're either gonna choose to get out of this s--- or you're never gonna get out of it. That day is gonna come and it won't be like well, if you mess it up this time, maybe next time. There won't be a next time. And you'll know when it comes,'" he continued. "This went on for years." The four-time Grammy Award winner explained that the critical junction came when his wife Nicole Kidman called an intervention for him in 2006 shortly after they married. "I knew that was it," Urban said. "I'm like, 'Oh, this is that fork in the road.'" The New Zealand native, who has been sober for almost 19 years, told Lowe that finally extricating himself from the throes of addiction and its repercussions was a relief. "I didn't come to America for that," Urban said. "I came to America to make music and record and tour, and grow as an artist and as a human being. I didn't come to America to end up in rehab and courthouses and s---. That's not why I came here, so I'm like, 'What am I doing?'" "But it took a few, a few shots," he admitted. Over the years, the "Somebody Like You" singer has been transparent about his journey to sobriety. In a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Urban recalled that his troubles began after he moved to Nashville from Australia, where he had previously released four hit albums. Urban explained that he felt like an outsider as a foreigner trying to make it in the country music scene. "I knew that was it. I'm like, 'Oh, this is that fork in the road.'" "Nothing I'd done before meant s---," he says. "I felt like I was meant to be here, I had this absolute burning belief, but I was out of step with everything. I mean, what do you do when you're doing your best, and it's not enough?" "When I was onstage, I felt good, but if I was not onstage, I was very, very insecure," he added. "I felt like I didn't have much of anything to offer. I was just an alien." Urban recalled that a painful breakup with a woman who had told him that the "novelty of you has worn off" had fueled his descent into addiction. "You might say, 'Big deal.' But I was feeling insecure, and the fact that me and my accent would be a novelty to somebody cut me to the core," he said. "Oh, my God. Really bad. It devastated me. It was a turning point. After that, s--- started to really go awry." "I stepped up my drinking," he continued. "I started doing more drugs. Yeah, man. The whole back end of the Nineties were just awful." After years as a struggling artist, Urban made his career breakthrough in 1999 when he released his self-titled debut album. The record, which notched four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was certified platinum, launched Urban into country music stardom. Despite finding career success, Urban continued to struggle with his addictions to alcohol and drugs. He told Rolling Stone that he was in denial about the extent of his addiction after growing up with an alcoholic father. "It took me a long time to get sober," he said. "Took me a long time to recognize my alcoholism. A long time, because I didn't drink like my dad, so I compared everything to him. So it just took a long time for me. But I was able to finally make the right choice in my life, that I wish my dad would have made." In 2015, Urban's father Robert died after a long battle with prostate cancer. After two failed stints in rehab, Urban was finally able to conquer his own addiction problems after he married Kidman. Four months into their marriage, Urban agreed to enter rehab again at the urging of Kidman and his loved ones. "That's the point right there where she really should've just walked," Urban told Oprah Winfrey in 2010. "I'm just so glad she didn't, and she made a decision to turn around and initiate ultimately this intervention, and it was done in such a way that the love in that room at that moment was just right. I was like, 'Put the cuffs on, let's go.'" In a 2020 appearance on the podcast "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard," Urban recalled that he realized he would lose the love of his life if he continued down the path that he was on. "She's just the one, that was it," Urban said of Kidman. "She's the one that I was searching for my whole life, and everything not only changed, but had to change in me if I was going to go that road." "It was literally like, 'You either get this right now, or you are never, ever going to get it right. This is your one shot,'" he continued. "Really, it felt so obvious and I knew where I was going. I was going into the light finally. It was everything I was looking for and then some. I mean, beyond." While speaking with Rolling Stone, Urban said that it was a "miracle" that their marriage survived. "I was spiritually awoken with her," the singer said of Kidman. "I use the expression 'I was born into her,' and that's how I feel. And for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction." Urban and Kidman, who will celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary on June 25, are parents to daughters Sunday, 16, and Faith, 14. In June 2024, Urban gave a heartfelt tribute to Kidman when she was honored with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award. The couple's daughters joined their parents at the star-studded event, which marked the girls' red carpet debut. During his speech at the ceremony, Urban recalled how Kidman's love for him persevered despite the rocky start to their marriage. "We got married in June 2006, and barely four months into our marriage, my addictions that I'd done really nothing about, blew our marriage to smithereens, and I went into the Betty Ford Center for three months," he told the crowd. "Four months into a marriage, I'm into rehab for three months, with no idea what was going to happen to us," he continued. "And if you want to see what love in action really looks like, give that a whirl." "Nic pushed through every negative voice, I'm sure, even some of her own," Urban added. "And she chose love. And here we are tonight, 18 years later." In a video of the speech, Kidman was seen wiping away tears while sitting in the audience next to Sunday and Faith. Ahead of performing at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, Urban shared the secret to their successful union. "It's always family first," he said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "It's balanced, so it means it goes out of balance sometimes, and we just put it back in balance," Urban added. "It's never perfectly in balance, but we get it back on track." Since becoming sober, Urban has helped other musicians who were struggling with addiction. In a 2017 interview with the Tennessean, country singer Brandtley Gilbert recalled how Urban saved his life when he was at his lowest point in his battle with alcohol and drugs. Gilbert told the outlet that he started drinking alcohol as a young boy and became addicted to painkillers when he was in high school. His addiction continued after he became a successful singer-songwriter in Nashville. In 2011, Gilbert developed pancreatitis after years of abusing drugs and alcohol. He ended up in the hospital and entered rehab after he was discharged. However, Gilbert had decided to check himself out after a few days against his doctors' advice. He recalled that his alcohol counselors and managers urged him to stay one more day so that he could meet with someone, who turned out to be Urban. "I remember thinking, these (expletives) are pulling out all the stops," Gilbert told the outlet. The "Country Must Be Country Wide" singer said that he was "annoyed" upon first meeting Urban and was thinking to himself, "You don't know me, man." However, the two began to connect when Urban asked him about why he feared giving up drugs and alcohol. "I told him, I don't think I can do my job," Gilbert recalled. "I don't know if I can ever play a song at my shows without being (messed) up. Or writing, I was worried my songs wouldn't be the same, that I wouldn't be on everyone else's level." Gilbert remembered that Urban said he had once harbored those same doubts and anxieties and he also was afraid when he started performing without the crutch of drugs and alcohol. However, Gilbert told the Tennessean that Urban eventually found "he was a better performer, a better writer, he had more fun, he was a better husband and a better man without drugs and alcohol." Gilbert recalled that his conversation with Urban had a huge impact on him. "My whole world flipped," he said. "At that point, I was like, 'All right.'" The singer has now been sober since December 2011. "If it weren't for him, I don't know if I'd be sober or be in this business anymore," Gilbert said of Urban. "I'd probably be dead," he added. Last September, Urban released his latest album titled "High." In a press release, Urban revealed that the album's title was inspired by his interpretation of the multi-faceted meaning of the word "high." "What makes you 'high' can mean whatever you want it to mean," he said. "It might be physical, spiritual, herbal, meditative, chemical or musical, but it's definitely a place of utopia." He continues, "For me it's my family, my friends, and this rollercoaster musical journey I'm on. Playing guitar, writing songs and the place where I always feel high — playing live. Every night I get a chance to bring an energy and a release to people." During his appearance on Lowe's podcast, Urban shared that he was "intentionally" reclaiming the word "high" when naming his album. "The sort of dark humor of the word 'high' for a guy like me is just kind of too right on the money," he said. "It's a great word because it means so many things to different people. Different things," Urban continued. "It's meant different things to me through my life. It means something different now than it did 19 years ago." Urban told Lowe that getting high to him means "playing on stage." "It always has," he said. "That was always my safe place, was being on stage." "My troubles were off-stage but being on stage was always my really happy place," he added.
CNN
38 minutes ago
- CNN
NBA Finals: What to know as OKC Thunder and Indiana Pacers battle for title
The 2025 NBA playoffs have been ones to remember with shock results, historical big comebacks and the traditional heavyweights struggling. And at the end of a thrilling postseason, it is two teams with vastly different stories in the Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers will face off in the best-of-seven series for the Larry O'Brien Trophy and the chance to lift aloft a championship banner in their home arena. Both have had grueling journeys to reach this spot, so here's everything you need to know. The NBA Finals begin with Game 1 on Thursday in Oklahoma City with the Thunder having home-court advantage because of their better regular season record. All games will be broadcast on ABC. Here's the full NBA Finals schedule: · Game 1: Pacers @ Thunder, Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET · Game 2: Pacers @ Thunder, Sunday at 8 p.m. ET · Game 3: Thunder @ Pacers, June 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET · Game 4: Thunder @ Pacers, June 13 at 8:30 p.m. ET · Game 5 (if needed): Pacers @ Thunder, June 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET · Game 6 (if needed): Thunder @ Pacers, June 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET · Game 7 (if needed): Pacers @ Thunder, June 22 at 8 p.m. ET The Thunder's and Pacers' route to the NBA Finals couldn't have been more different. The Thunder spent the majority of the regular season atop the Western Conference standings and were many peoples' picks for the title. They are led by this season's MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and have a deep rotation filled with productive role players who have stepped up in the biggest moments. On the other hand, the Pacers had a good but not great regular season, not challenging for the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference and even having a sub-.500 record in January. Yes, they have two elite players in Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, but causing a stir in the latter stages of the NBA postseason was on nobody's playoffs predictions. But here we are. Both teams had to endure their ups and downs throughout the playoffs. The Thunder went to a Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets in the semifinals and experienced a 42-point blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals before their star-power shone through. The Pacers, meanwhile, have made big comebacks a part of their DNA, shocking the Eastern Conference No. 1 seed, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the second round in five games before coming through a thrilling Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Knicks which became an all-time classic, such was the level of drama in most games. While the Thunder are many people's favorites to earn their first NBA ring since moving from Seattle, in particular with home-court advantage – they had a league-best 43-7 home record this season – Indiana has made the impossible possible throughout the postseason. And led by head coach Rick Carlisle – who coached the Dallas Mavericks to a shock NBA title victory over the heavily-favored Miami Heat in 2011 – nothing is off the cards. Throughout the postseason, the two Finals contenders have homed in on what makes them successful. For the Thunder, it is their elite defense while for the Pacers, it is their explosive offense. OKC's deep rotation is full of capable defensive players, highlighted by their two All-NBA Defensive team stars – Lu Dort on the first team and Jalen Williams on the second. But even outside of those, they have contributors who have had big moments this playoffs. Chet Holmgren has provided key blocks at certain points and Alex Caruso turned into a key defender of three-time MVP Nikola Jokić in the Nuggets series. On the other side, Indiana has made a high-scoring offense a key part of its game. Most of it revolves around Haliburton, with his pin-point passing able to set up his teammates in good spots while Siakam provides a physical presence inside. Haliburton is averaging 18.8 points, 9.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game this postseason as Indiana has outgunned many of its opponents; in the 2025 postseason so far, the Pacers are 12-0 when they score 114 or more points but 0-4 when they don't hit the mark. 'When you get to this point of the season, it's two teams and it's one goal and so it becomes an all-or-nothing thing,' Carlisle said. 'And we understand the magnitude of the opponent. Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long – with capital letters in the word 'dominant.' 'Defensively, they're historically great and they got all kinds of guys that can score. It's two teams that have similar structures, slightly different styles.' The fate of this year's NBA title might revolve around one end of the court and whether Indiana can break down a stout OKC. The NBA Finals could be defined by the two star guards on display – Gilgeous-Alexander for the Thunder and Haliburton for the Pacers. Both were traded away from their first teams – Gilgeous-Alexander was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers and Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings – but have blossomed with their new teams. Gilgeous-Alexander is the league's MVP this season, beating out Jokić for his first award, after leading the league in scoring with 32.7 points per game. The 26-year-old is arguably one of the most unstoppable offensive forces in the NBA at the moment, but it has been a long road to get to this point. 'It's been a roller coaster,' Gilgeous-Alexander said earlier this week. 'I had nights where I thought I wasn't good at basketball, had nights where I thought I was the best player in the world before I was. It's been ups and downs. My mentality to try to stay level through it all really helped me. Once I figured that out, I really saw jumps in my game.' He added: 'All the moments I got, like, cut, traded, slighted, overlooked. But also all the joy, all the things that my family has comforted me in, all the life lessons. Everything that's turned me into the man and the human being that I am today.' It's been a similar journey for Haliburton, who had played second-fiddle in Sacramento to De'Aaron Fox. His trade to Indiana allowed him to express himself, and it's seen him turn into one of the best playmakers in the NBA. 'This is a franchise that took a chance on me, saw something that other people didn't see in me,' Haliburton said of the Pacers. 'Sometimes, I think they saw more in me than I saw in myself.' That doesn't mean he's universally loved around the league though, with The Athletic conducting an anonymous survey of NBA players who voted Haliburton as the league's most overrated player. Though his play and game-winners this postseason have surely changed some of those opinions. For the Thunder or Pacers to have any chance of winning this year's Larry O'Brien Trophy, it will likely rest on their star guards' shoulders to get them to the finish line.
CNET
39 minutes ago
- CNET
I Made These 10 Changes to My iPhone Settings Right After Installing iOS 18.5
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is coming next week, where a major announcement will no doubt tell what's new in iOS 19, (like if it will be named iOS 26). In preparation for what's coming, I like to make sure my current iPhone setup is working well. So, grab the latest iOS 18.5 update and revisit these 10 settings with me. Don't forget that iOS 18 includes the first Apple Intelligence features, so be sure to check out the ones you'll use most. Or if you have no current interest or want to wait before using the AI features, here's how to turn off Apple Intelligence. Watch this: 11 Hidden Features in iOS 18 06:44 For more on what's new in iOS 18, learn about improvements to the overhauled Calculator app and the Mail app. And don't forget to consult our iOS 18 upgrade checklist, which includes making sure you have a proper backup before upgrading. Turn off categories in the Mail app When it comes to something like email, everyone has their own way of dealing with the influx of messages. Traditionally, the Mail app has kept a chronological list, but that can get unwieldy if you also get scores of promotions, receipts and other types of email. The new categories feature creates virtual buckets for Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and guesses how your messages should be sorted. If that approach doesn't work for you, here are two things to try. • In the event that categories are somewhat useful, but you still want a chronological view of your Inbox, swipe all the way to the right of the categories and tap All Mail. • To turn off categories altogether, tap the three-dot menu (…) in the top-right corner, and then tap List View. Turn off Mail Categories from within the Inbox. (iOS 18.5 beta shown here.) Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Change the default buttons on the lock screen In real estate, location is everything, and the bottom corners of the iPhone lock screen are the prime spots, each an easy thumb press away when your device is still locked. Before iOS 18, those posts were held by the flashlight and camera buttons, with no way to change them. In iOS 18, you can finally replace them with other buttons -- or remove them entirely, a balm for folks who unknowingly activate the flashlight (believe me, there's a better way to turn it on). You can add buttons to recognize music via Shazam, enable Dark Mode, set an alarm/timer, enable Airplane Mode, open your Wallet, send money via Tap to Cash and more. Here's how: 1. On the iPhone's lock screen, touch and hold anywhere on the display until you see the Customize button. You'll need to unlock the phone using Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If it opens the home screen, swipe down from the center-top of the screen (not the right edge, which brings up Control Center. 2. Tap Customize and then choose Lock Screen. 3. Remove one of the buttons by tapping the – (minus) button on the icon. 4. To replace the button with another function, tap its space (now with a + icon) and then choose the one you want on the next screen. (You can also opt to leave that space empty with no button.) 5. Repeat those steps for the other button if you want to change it. 6. Tap Done when you're finished. 7. Tap the lock screen again to exit the customize mode. Remove a lock screen button by tapping the – (minus) button, and then choose a new control to replace it. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Get important alerts using Prioritize Notifications For iPhone models that can run Apple Intelligence, a new option in iOS 18.4 is fast becoming one of my favorite AI features. Go to Settings > Notifications, and under Apple Intelligence, tap Prioritize Notifications. As new alerts come in -- and some days feel like they arrive in floods -- Apple Intelligence determines which ones are more likely to be important to you. For example, texts from people in your contacts could be flagged in favor of random scam messages. On that settings screen, you can enable or disable priority notifications for individual apps. In iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence can prioritize notifications to grab your attention. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Set up some of the new tasks available on the Action button The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16E and iPhone 16 Pro replaced the dedicated mute switch found on every earlier iPhone model with a configurable control. By default, it serves the same purpose -- hold it to turn Silent Mode on or off -- but you can configure it for other actions like opening the Camera app, performing multiple actions at once or even ordering coffee. The iOS 18.4 update adds Visual Intelligence as an option for the Action button. That makes the AI technology available on the iPhone 16E, which does not include the novel new Camera Control, but is now an option for any iPhone with an Action button. In iOS 18, the Action button gets new capabilities. You can bypass Control Center and choose a control of your choice, such as opening the Remote interface for navigating Apple TV or using Shazam to identify a song. To choose a different action for the Action button, go to Settings > Action Button. Swipe sideways to select and activate one of the available actions. For the Controls, Shortcut and Accessibility options, tap the Choose button to pick which specific action to run. iOS 18 now lets you program the Action Button with your favorite Control Center control. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Give your home screen a radical new look You wouldn't think that putting icons where you want is a radical new feature, but that's because iOS has always had a locked arrangement. Apps get added from top to bottom, left to right. You could rearrange the order in which icons appear and move them to other screens, but that was about it. In iOS 18, apps can be positioned nearly anywhere. You no longer need to deal with a wallpaper image of your kids or pets being obscured by icons. They still adhere to a grid -- Apple isn't about to sanction anarchy -- but can be placed freely. Also, Dark mode finally applies to all of the iPhone's home screen, with options for coloring icons and affecting the brightness of the wallpaper image. Here's how to customize the looks. Arrange apps: Touch and hold the home screen to enter "jiggle mode," and then drag the icons to new positions. It will still slide them around to fill spaces, but with patience, you can move them into the spots you want. Position app icons where you want so this very good girl isn't covered. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET You can also quickly turn compatible apps into widgets that display more information. Maps, for instance, can be a map of your current location with shortcut buttons to search for places or bring up a list of nearby places (such as dinner spots). Touch and hold the app icon and look for a row of resize buttons in the menu that appears. Once expanded beyond the standard icon size, you can drag the handle in the bottom-right corner of the new icon. To get it back to its single icon size you need to touch and hold again and choose the single-icon button Some apps can be expanded into larger icons that act like widgets. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Set Dark mode: If you've ever subjected yourself to the retina blast of black text on a white background late at night in a darkened room, you will appreciate the new Dark mode option for the home and lock screens. iOS has previously included a Dark mode, where light backgrounds switch to black or dark gray, text switches to white or light gray and other interface elements are dimmed to coexist in a dark environment. That's never been applied to the home and lock screens in any significant way -- only the dock and some widgets -- until iOS 18. First, touch and hold the home screen to enter jiggle mode. Tap the Edit button in the top-left corner and choose Customize from the menu. At the bottom of the screen, choose a mode for the icons and background: Automatic, Dark or Light (I'll get to Tinted in a moment). In Dark mode, the icons gain black backgrounds, and folders and the Dock become dark gray. (Developers have the option of making Dark mode icons for their apps. In the meantime, apps not yet optimized get a generally darker appearance.) In the home screen's Dark mode, icons and the background are given a darker treatment. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET In Dark mode, the background image also changes. Apple's default iOS 18 wallpaper dynamically changes from light to dark as the day progresses, or you can choose colors that offer both a light and dark option. If you use a photo, its overall exposure is reduced to dim the light output. If you want dark icons but aren't a fan of the dimmed photo treatment, tap the sun icon in the corner of the options sheet at the bottom of the screen to toggle back to Light mode just for the background. Tinted icons: A new and different option is to tint all of the app icons so they share the same color. In the Customize options at the bottom of the screen, choose Tinted as the icon style. You can then adjust the Hue (the slider with the color spectrum) and Luminosity (the slider with the dark to light range) to choose the color tint you prefer. Apply a universal tint to all app icons, with controls for adjusting the hue and luminosity. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET What if you want to match a color from a background image? Tap the eyedropper button and then drag the reticle to pinpoint the color you want -- the border indicates the selected color. The tint is applied not only to icons but to widgets as well. For a widget such as Photos, the images it displays show up as duotones to match the theme. Large icons: Do the labels below each app icon seem redundant to you? Now you can remove the labels and increase the size of the icons with one setting. Open the Customize options as described above and tap the Large button. Make the home screen icons larger and hide the app labels. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET After making any of these changes, tap anywhere on the screen to apply them and exit the Customize interface. Change up how the Control Center looks Control Center was once a convenient place to quickly access controls such as playback volume and Airplane mode, but under iOS 18 it's a configurable playground. You can position controls where you want, resize many to reveal more information and add new controls on multiple screens. Swipe down from the top-right corner to reveal the Control Center (or swipe up from the bottom on the iPhone SE). To enter edit mode, touch and hold or press the + button at the top-left corner. Just as with moving apps, drag a control to another slot on the screen to reposition it. Many of the controls also include a bottom-right handle that can resize the control -- in most cases, it reveals the name of the control and its current status (such as Flashlight Off). Rearrange the controls in Control Center and, for some, expand them to reveal more information (or just make the button a larger target for pressing). Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Control Center also now spans multiple screens. Swipe up to view controls for media currently playing, Home controls for smart lights and appliances and a page dedicated to the communication options that appear when you long-press the Connectivity block containing Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular and others. Look closely and you'll see that those screens are actually individual controls expanded to occupy the entire Control Center area. You can rearrange the order of those screens by moving their controls. Suppose you want Home controls to be the first swipe instead of Now Playing: In the editing mode, drag the large Home control up to the previous screen (Now Playing will shift to the right to make room). Some controls get their own screens, such as Home. Normally it's on the third screen, but here it's been moved to the second screen. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET To remove controls, tap the – (minus) button that appears. You can also add other controls: Tap Add a Control and scroll through the available options ranging from starting a Screen Recording to a host of accessibility options. Read more: All the new controls you can add to Control Center Lock or hide any of your sensitive apps Our phones carry some of our most sensitive data, and yet it's not uncommon to hand a phone to a friend to view photos or look up something online. That doesn't mean they're going to snoop, but it doesn't not mean they might be more curious than you're comfortable with. For data you want to ensure stays out of sight or to add a layer of protection in front of sensitive information, iOS 18 adds the ability to lock and hide apps. For example, let's say you keep an ongoing set of lists of gift ideas for family members in the Notes app. You can lock individual notes, but that requires a separate step. Maybe a few ideas were made as individual quick notes or drawings. Instead of micromanaging access, you can lock the entire Notes app by doing the following: Touch and hold the app icon you want to lock and choose Require Face ID or Require Touch ID (or Require Passcode if Face ID or Touch ID are not enabled) from the menu that appears. Confirm your choice by tapping Require Face ID (or similar) in the next dialog. Lock individual apps. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET To remove the authentication step, touch and hold the app and choose Don't Require Face ID (or similar). Nothing outwardly indicates that an app is locked -- you'll find out when you try to open it. There's one more level of app security available, which is to hide apps in a special locked folder. Touch and hold the app and choose Require Face ID and then tap Hide and Require Face ID in the dialog. Confirm the action by tapping Hide App on the next screen. The app disappears from the home screen and gets slotted into a Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library (swipe left beyond your last home screen to view the App Library). To access apps there, tap the Hidden folder and authenticate with Face ID. When you choose Hide and Require Face ID to protect an app, it gets put into the Hidden folder in App Library (top). Tap the folder and authenticate to access the app (bottom). Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET iOS 18 imposes some limitations on hidden apps. Some, such as many of the built-in ones like Notes or Reminders, can only be locked and cannot be hidden at all. Also, the Hidden folder locks itself when you launch an app or swipe away from the App Library. Turn off Loop Videos in the Photos app Many apps have implemented a small but annoying (to me) feature, and now Photos under iOS 18.2 has it too: Videos automatically replay when you watch them until you tap the Pause button. That can be fun once or twice, or when viewing short clips. I'm not a fan of having to take action to make them stop each time. Now I can take action once. Go to Settings > Photos, scroll down until you see Loop Videos and turn the option off. A video will play on its own but then stop at the end as it should. Turn off Loop Videos to stop every video from replaying automatically. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET If you'd rather the video didn't play at all until you tap the Play button, also turn off Auto-Play Motion in the same Settings screen. Adjust the view of your calendar Big new features like locking and hiding apps are great additions but so are the tiny changes that you encounter every day. The Calendar app includes two new ways to view your schedule. In iOS 18, when you're in the Month view in portrait orientation, pinch with two fingers to view more or fewer details. As you "zoom in," individual events appear as colored bars and then as labeled events with times, all while keeping the monthly grid of days and weeks. In the Calendar app's Month view, pinch to zoom in and see more details. Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET The Day view, which breaks down your day hour by hour, now has a new Multi Day view that shows two consecutive days to give you context for what's coming without turning the phone into landscape orientation and viewing the Week view. Tap the View button at the top of the Single Day view and choose Multi Day from the popup menu. The new Multi Day view in the Calendar shows two days at once (right). Screenshots by Jeff Carlson/CNET Improve movie and TV show dialogue in the TV app Trouble hearing dialogue in movies and television shows isn't a new problem -- for example, the Apple TV has had a feature for a while where you can ask Siri, "What did she say?" and it will automatically back up a few seconds, turn on subtitles and replay that section of the video. You can even buy soundbars that can overcome muffled TV speech. There are a lot of reasons it's harder to hear dialogue, but the TV app in iOS 18 includes a high-tech workaround to make dialog easier to discern. While you're watching a video in the TV app, tap the More (…) button and then expand the Audio heading in the menu that appears; if the phone is in horizontal orientation, tap the Audio Adjustments button. Tap Enhance Dialogue and choose Enhance or Boost. They each dampen background noise and raise the dialogue's audio. Turn on Enhance Dialogue in the TV app to discern characters' speech better in noisy scenes. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET These are just a few new features and changes in iOS 18. Check out our broader coverage of Apple Intelligence, more impressions of the system after using it for months and how these all work together with the iPhone 16 models.
