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, ...

In iOS 18, iPhone ... Light mode on while using the Dark icon option if you prefer. To go along with the ‌Dark Mode‌ icons, Apple also introduced a toggle that makes your wallpaper darker.