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.
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.
