iOS 18 Control Center Keeps Jumping to the Next Page? Here’s the Fix

This is the English edition of a video from my Japanese YouTube channel, iestaLife. I review gadgets and share tips from my home studio in Japan.

Quick take

In iOS 18, Control Center can have multiple pages, and swiping up to close it often takes you to the next page instead of back to your app. The fix is simple: remove every control from page two onward. With a single page, swiping up anywhere closes Control Center again, just like before. As a bonus, you can use a Shortcuts automation to set Orientation Lock automatically for each app.

iOS 18 Control Center with page icons along the right edge — The icons on the right edge mean Control Center has several pages

What I tested

iPhone 16 Pro Max on iOS 18 (as of the video)
Control Center with and without extra pages
Shortcuts app automations for Safari, YouTube, Photos and LINE

The fix: keep Control Center to one page

Open Control Center
Remove every control and widget on page two and beyond
Check that only one page remains

Once only one page is left, the page icons on the right disappear and an upward swipe anywhere takes you back to your app. The media playback controls from the second page were still available on the first page.

iOS 18 Control Center reduced to a single page — With one page, swiping up closes Control Center again

Bonus: automate Orientation Lock per app

I used to toggle Orientation Lock many times a day, mostly for YouTube. Since each app is usually either a portrait or a landscape app, I let Shortcuts handle it:

Open Shortcuts and go to the Automation tab
Tap + and choose App
Pick an app (for example, Safari), select “Is Opened” and “Run Immediately”
Add the “Set Orientation Lock” action
Set it to On for portrait apps (Safari, LINE) and Off for landscape apps (YouTube, Photos). Create one automation per app

Shortcuts automation that sets Orientation Lock when Safari is opened — The automation for Safari: Orientation Lock turns on when the app opens

What I found

One page is plenty for most people. I only keep what fits on one page, and even that is more than I need.
The automation makes a big difference. Even setting it up for just YouTube and Safari is worth it.
One unsolved quirk. With Safari set to On, a video embedded in a web page would sometimes snap back to portrait while I was watching it in landscape.

Who it’s for

Anyone who keeps landing on page two when trying to close Control Center
People who toggle Orientation Lock several times a day
Not for people who actually use lots of controls spread across several pages

Watch the video

【iPhone16の弱点を解消】iOS18の変なコントロールセンターを元に戻して、もっと使いやすく！

The video is in Japanese, but the swipes are easy to follow on screen. Useful moments: around 0:50 for the problem, 2:50 for removing the extra pages, and 4:30 for the Shortcuts automation.

Limitations

This is based on iOS 18 on an iPhone 16 Pro Max at the time of recording. Menu names may differ slightly by iOS version and language, and later updates may change how Control Center behaves.

More reviews in English