Nishant Chaudhary
Apple has begun rolling out the iOS 16 developer preview to compatible devices. The next-generation version of the OS features several tweaks and improvements; the company revealed at its annual WWDC keynote event. The iOS 16 will arrive at the device later this year, possibly in September for iPhone 8 and later models. The forthcoming Apple iOS variant will bring several key improvements, including a new lock screen, notification system, and system apps.
What’s more, the developer preview will be available to eligible users by this week, followed by a public beta next month. Finally, the stable version will release later this year, as already discussed.
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Apple iOS 16 features
An improved Lock Screen support
The most significant update that iOS 16 will be bringing is the new iOS lock screen. For the first time, Apple has redesigned the lock screen with multi-layered customization options. Users can access wallpapers with a widget-like functionality. In addition of that, users will get to choose from different typefaces and color filters while customizing their setup.
Moreover, users can add widgets for upcoming events, workout status, and select multiple widgets.
iOS 16 also includes a Photo Shuffle mode. It allows users to automatically switch up their lock screens. The new update will also make the lock screen compatible with Weather wallpaper that will display live weather conditions on the lock screen. Plus, users can also choose an Astronomy wallpaper.
Apple has also tweaked notifications on iOS 16 to make sure they don’t affect the personalized locked screen in any way. With iOS 16, all the notifications will scroll in from the bottom of the screen. This will make it easier to access the notifications with one hand.
Focus Modes
Apple introduced the Focus modes in iOS 15. Now, the company is focused on bringing the mode to the lock screen with iOS 16. Moving forward, users can activate the focus mode just with a swipe on the lock screen. What’s more, users can even tie a lock screen wallpaper and widgets to a particular focus mode. It all will promote ease in switching between different Focus modes by simply swiping to a particular lock screen.
Besides, Apple is also looking to bring deeper integration for Focus modes to its own apps. In other words, it will allow users to filter accounts, emails, and more from apps, including Calendar, Mail, Messages, and Safari. Plus, this functionality will not remain limited to Apple apps, it will extend to third-party apps as well.
Messages
The messages app is also getting a significant update; users can edit messages. Earlier, specific apps like Telegram offered this feature. Plus, users will also get the ability to unsend messages. Again, this is one feature that most messaging apps are already offering to the users.
Furthermore, users also have the option to mark any message as unread, so users can come and read it at some time in the future. Apple is also adding SharePlay to messages in iOS 16. It will let users watch synced content while sharing playback controls in a Messages chat.
Apple has also added Scheduling for emails features in the Mail app on iOS 16. Users can also cancel sending of an email before it is delivered to the intended recipient. This is something similar to what Google offers in Gmail. Users will also receive a notification if they have missed adding an attachment to their emails. Plus, users will also receive reminders with Follow up suggestions.
As discussed earlier, the main competitor for Apple mail Gmail already offers most of these features. Additionally, Apple is trying to update the search feature in the Mail app.
Improvements to Dictation, Live Text, Visual Look Up
Apple is also bringing a new device dictation system with iOS 16. It will allow users to dictate text while leaving their keyboard open. The dictation system will be entirely processed on the device. Interestingly, the system will automatically add punctuations and emojis wherever required. Though, you want to double-check as we cannot blindly believe the AI, at least for now.
iOS 16 also includes an update to the Live Text feature. Earlier, this feature was limited to the camera app and camera roll. Now, it is expanded to videos as well. Users can now pause videos and copy text. That’s not, Apple is also trying to add translation support for the new feature. It means that users can translate the text with their Apple iPhone cameras. One such use case for this new feature is, that users can quickly convert currency from an image captured with their camera or their camera roll.
The company is also updating the Visual Look Up. Specifically, it is getting a handful of new features. For instance, users can tap and hold on to a subject to lift it from the image and place it on another app. Additionally, this feature could not detect birds, insects, and statues. Earlier, it could only identify plants and pets.
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Apple Wallet
Apple Wallet is also getting expanded support for sharing keys and IDs. As a result, users can share IDs for identity as well as age verifications. Moreover, they can also share their home, official, and car keys with messages and mail apps. They can also access the same keys directly in their Wallet Apps. Apple also revealed that is also working on the IETF industry standard for support to share keys with non-Apple users.
Further, the American-tech giant has also announced support for Apple Pay Later. The new system will let users pay four installments with zero interest and no fees, spread over six weeks. The new functionality will be of use anywhere there is support for Apple Pay.
Apple Maps
Apple is rolling out Apple Maps support for eleven more countries, including Belgium, France, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. Apart from that, users can add up to 15 stops on Apple Maps in advance.
For users that travel by public transport, they will be able to see transit updates. They can access the cost of traveling and transit card support in Apple Wallet.
Parental Controls
Apple is also bringing parental controls to iPhones so parents can monitor and manage their kids’ accounts. Parents will receive notifications regarding age-appropriate restrictions for apps, movies, books, and music. Plus, kids can ask their parents to increase screen time on Messages; parents won’t have to leave messages to approve or decline these requests.
Safety Check
Apple also introduced Safety Check at WWDC 2022. It is a new privacy tool that will help users who are at risk of facing domestic or intimate partner violence. This feature will quickly remove access for other users by pressing a button called Start Emergency reset. Once the button is pressed, it will reset privacy permissions for all apps, stop sharing location, and shut down messaging on all devices except the one they are using at that moment.
Besides the feature mentioned above, Apple is also updating Apple News, Fitness and Health, and iCloud shared photo library.
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Apple iOS 16 release date
Apple has already started rolling out a developers preview of iOS 16 to members of its Apple Developer Program. The public beta will arrive for iOS users in July; users have to sign up at Apple’s official website to be a part of that. Whatever features Apple demonstrated at WWDC will arrive on iPhones later this year, most likely in September. However, we will have to wait for an official confirmation. It is worth mentioning that iPhone 8 and later models will receive the update, according to Apple.
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