Here are all the iOS 16 features you should know. Also check out the newly announced Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and iPhone 14.
Apple’s big fall software update for iOS 16 is now available for download on your iPhone. This brings new software features, tweaks, and upgrades to the phone’s behavior. Apple’s new mobile operating system is available for compatible iPhones, including the 2017 iPhone 8 and newer phones. The new iOS includes updates to Messages, a new customizable lock screen, and a new CAPTCHA privacy update for more secure logins. Wallet is getting big changes too, but it’s worth checking out the lesser-known features lurking in iOS 16.
Highlights
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This helps keep your messages from appearing cluttered to your friends and family. Finally, you can mark messages and threads as unread. This is a great tool if you don’t have time to reply to a message right now and want to make sure you do so later.
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Ability to edit and “reset” messages. “Embarrassing typos are a thing of the past,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said at WWDC as he unveiled his three most-requested features for his app. First, iOS 16 lets you edit sent messages. So if you notice a typo after your message, you can edit it later. A small “processed” will appear below the status message. Second, and this might be my favorite feature, it lets you instantly undo messages you’ve sent. If you accidentally send an unfinished message, you can use the unsend tool to prevent your message from being read.
You can also customize the time and date fonts and add lock screen widgets such as temperature, activity rings, calendar and more. Widgets are similar to Apple Watch lock screen complications. You can even set up multiple custom lock screens with different widgets and switch between them with a swipe. There is also a photo shuffle option that automatically changes the lock screen image. One feature Apple was hoping to add was an always-on display. This is a feature that almost all Android phones have. Even the Apple Watch does. Well, the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max finally have an always-on display.
New customizable lock screen
One of the most common things you see on your iPhone is the lock screen, especially if you have an iPhone with Face ID. iOS 16 brings the biggest update yet to the iPhone lock screen. Long press to edit lock screen. You can swipe to try different styles. Each style changes the color filter of the background photo and the font of the lock screen, so they all complement each other. This is a bit like Apple’s version of Google’s Material You released with Android 12.