How to activate Game mode on iOS 18 and all you need to know about the feature

Are you a gamer using iOS 18?

Apple’s new “Game Mode” is here to enhance your gaming experience by optimizing system resources and reducing distractions.

“Game Mode” automatically turns on when you launch a game on your device. You may have come across this toggle when you launch a game on your device. When game mode turns on, your device allocates more resources to the game that you are playing and it optimizes every other activity in the background to enable a smooth experience with your game.

This guide explains how the feature works, how to enable or disable it, and what devices are compatible.

What You Should Know

Game Mode in iOS 18 is an automatic feature that activates when you launch a game. It ensures smoother gameplay by prioritizing system resources and minimizing latency with Bluetooth controllers and AirPods.

• Improved Performance: Allocates more system resources to games for faster and smoother operation.
• Reduced Latency: Enhances connection speed and accuracy with Bluetooth devices.
• Distraction-Free Gaming: Eliminates unnecessary notifications and background activities.

How to Enable Game Mode

For now, the game mode is activated by default on the IOS 18 whenever you open a large game. There is currently no feature to enable it manually. What you need to do to enable it is to launch a game on your device and the operating system will turn on game mode for you by default.

It has also been noticed that game mode does not turn on when you launch some games. Some other users have also reported that the game mode does works when they launch a game but does not turn on again the next time that same game is launched. This may or may not get fixed as Apple and app developers fix bugs with iOS 18 and/or their apps.

If you don't see the Game Mode banner pop up when opening a game, try a different one or you can restart your iPhone and launch the game again.

In my personal experience, I launched Dream league soccer on my iPhone that runs on iOS 18. The game mode turned on by default and I was notified with a pop-up. Later that same day, on my next launch of the same game, I did not get the pop-up notification that Game Mode is on until I restarted my device and launched the game again.

How to Disable Game Mode

You can disable game mode by tapping the notification banner at the top of the screen when game mode turns on.

If you miss this banner, you can instead swipe down from the top-right corner to open the Control Center and tap the game's name at the top of the screen.

This will show you a Game Mode toggle which you can turn on/off according to your preferences.

iPhones Compatible with Game Mode

There are no specific hardware requirements for using Game Mode. Any iPhone that’s supported by iOS 18 will get this feature. Check out the complete list below:

• iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max 
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd gen)
• iPhone 12, 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd gen)
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15, 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16, 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max