iOS 18 Notes App Supports Colors for Highlighting Typed Text

The Notes app in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 supports colors for typed text for the first time, providing an option to add new hues to text.

iOS 18 Notes Highlight Feature 2
Apple offers five colors, including purple, pink, orange, mint, and blue, and there is no option for custom colors. Colors can be added to text through the formatting interface that can be accessed by tapping on the Aa button, with the shade applied to any text that is selected. Both the text and the background turn the selected color when the feature is used.

The five color options are useful for highlighting select words and passages in text. Multiple colors can be used in the same sentence, but it is worth noting that there does not seem to be an option for colored text without the shaded background, or black text with a colored background.

Written text added to Notes on the iPad has supported multiple color options, but Apple has not made that a feature for typed text prior to now.

Other features in the ‌iOS 18‌ Notes app include live audio transcription and summarization, collapsible section headers, and the option to have Notes solve typed math problems (or written on the ‌iPad‌).

The ‌iOS 18‌ beta is available to developers at the current time, with Apple planning to introduce a public beta in July.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

When Is iPhone 17 Coming Out?

Thursday July 24, 2025 9:11 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 series is expected to debut in September 2025. This release follows Apple's recent trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. To unveil the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Saturday July 26, 2025 5:50 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should launch in late September, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, as of July 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

Tipster: iPhone 17 Pro to Feature 8x Zoom, Pro Camera App, and More

Sunday July 27, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will have several new camera-related features, according to an anonymous tipster who contacted MacRumors today. The tipster claimed to be familiar with an iPhone 17 Pro commercial that is allegedly being produced by a film company that has publicly listed Apple as one of its clients. MacRumors has not independently confirmed any of the information shared ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Thursday July 24, 2025 7:08 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Tuesday July 22, 2025 5:00 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models, as of July 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14...
iOS 18

Apple Shares iOS 18.6 Release Notes

Thursday July 24, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
While the focus is now on iOS 26, there is still an iOS 18.6 update incoming. As noted by Aaron Zollo, Apple on Wednesday re-labeled iOS 18.6 Beta 4 as simply iOS 18.6, meaning that it is the Release Candidate version. This change effectively confirms that the update will be released to the public next week. Alongside the new label, Apple shared release notes for iOS 18.6, which is a...
Apple Partridge Creek

Apple Store in Michigan Permanently Closing Next Month

Saturday July 26, 2025 1:51 pm PDT by
Earlier this month, MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to permanently close its Partridge Creek store, just outside of Detroit, Michigan, and now the company has announced a closure date for the location. Apple Partridge Creek Apple Partridge Creek's final day of business will be Saturday, August 16, with the store set to close for good at 8 p.m. local time that day. All of ...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Leaked

Friday July 25, 2025 6:20 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a Macworld report this month, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report...

Top Rated Comments

sw1tcher Avatar
15 months ago

Apple offers five colors, including purple, pink, orange, mint, and blue, and there is no option for custom colors.
There should be 6 colors: green, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue



Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
15 months ago

There should be 6 colors: green, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue



Nope. Anything less than a rainbow is not acceptable.

Apple offers five colors
Noooooo.....way too many, as everyone knows, there are 4 colors (CMYK)



Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gwhizkids Avatar
15 months ago

Meanwhile, Xcode 16 just crashed on me when tying to add a package. Mail forgets to process rules on messages. Notifications never appear. Search does not find files I know exits. And on and on. I think the priorities at Apple these days are just plain wrong.
Repeat after me: It’s…a…beta.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
symphony Avatar
15 months ago
Can we please have folder icons like the Shortcuts and Reminders app? I feel like these would be more useful in a Notes app.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
15 months ago
Man.....Wall Street really loves this cutting edge leap forward, making the notes app years ahead of any note taking app on the market today. They should call it Notes Pro™



Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGeneo Avatar
15 months ago
i Just do this for icons

Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)