At WWDC 2022, Apple announced iOS 16, the successor to iOS 15, as its newest update to the iPhone.
The lock screen is the big focus for this release, with new fonts, colors and themes.
This is breaking news, we will update as soon as we hear more details.
iOS 16: Cut to the chase
- What is it? The latest big update for iOS
- When does it come out? TBC
- How much does it cost? It’s free
Features
The new lock screen enables you to tap in any area to change the fonts, its colors, use portrait mode for your photos, and more to set apart your lock screen with others.
Complications can also be enabled here too, lifting from the Apple Watch.
Notifications are seeing improvements, with ‘Live Activities’, where you can create new widgets to follow news, an Uber ride, workouts and more.
Focus is seeing improvements, with it being extended to your lock screen. These can change to the focus that you’ve set it to, so ‘Meeting’ could make your lock screen change to a wallpaper and widget that involves that focus.
‘Focus Filters’ also block out tabs in Safari, accounts in Mail, events in Calendar, and more to bring in more boundaries to your workflow.
Messages
For iOS 16, ‘undo send’ has arrived for Messages to avoid the embarrassing message you were about to send, but this is iPhone to iPhone only.
SharePlay is also coming to the app, so you can play a movie in Disney Plus, and share it with someone in Messages.
Dictation has moved to being offline, which means that you can speak out a message at a much faster rate than before.
Live text is seeing improvements as well, where you can copy and paste text in video, alongside being able to copy text when translating a video.
Wallet
Wallet is seeing privacy improvements, with In-app ID verification being enabled for third-party apps.
Tap to pay on iPhone is also arriving for iOS 16, removing the need for any point of sale terminals.
There’s also Apple Pay Later, which splits purchases into three payments, and you can track this in Wallet.
There’s also Order Tracking, so you can see the latest information on your Apple Pay orders.
Maps
Maps will finally store recent trips in the app, and you can send them from a Mac or iPad device.
While on a journey, you can ask Siri to add another destination, hands-free, in case another errand pops up.
‘Look Around’, Apple’s take on Google Street View, is being opened up to third-party apps.
Sports
iOS 16 is seeing a big push of sports, with Apple News and the TV app seeing schedules, standings and scores being readily available, alongside as a widget for your new lock screen.
Family Sharing
A feature introduced in iOS 9, this enables you and your family to share an account, such as content, photos, videos, and approve some purchases.
In iOS 16, it’s getting easier to set age-appropriate content for your kids, with time away settings, and a quick start for your iPad. Here, you can bring your iPhone close to the tablet, and all the settings you’ve configured, will move over to the iPad.
You can also respond to Screen Time requests in Messages.
There’s also a Family Checklist, making it easier for you to be confident that all of the content is secure and child-safe.
iCloud Shared Photo Library is something that’s been long-requested, where you can share up to five other people. You can either share all your content, or specific photos. Perhaps photos that had tags of you and your family, or from a specific date.
There’s other benefits, such as captions, comments and filters that your kids may create for existing photos, so these will sync over to your device.
Safety Check
Coming to iOS 16, Apple is introducing this feature to help those in need, where users can check granted access with others for your account, and can quickly revoke access to those who have been allowed to view your content.
You can also stop sharing your location, and protects access to your messages.
Home
Alongside a partnership with Matter, the Home app is finally seeing a redesign, with a better view for your rooms and smart appliances.
You can see all your rooms in a single view, alongside categories for lights, climate, security and more.
When you tap on a category, you see more detailed status information, and up to four cameras to view at once.
Tiles are also redesigned, with better ways to tell which light is what.
