Your iPhone gets its biggest ever update as Apple reveals new iOS 16

Apple’s WWDC Developer Conference has just kicked off in Cupertino, California, with the US technology giant lifting the lid on a swathe of software upgrades including its all-new iOS 16 update. This release, which will arrive on devices later this year, comes packed with upgrades with Apple promising the biggest ever change to the lock screen.

Yes, what’s on the display each time you pull your iPhone from your pocket is getting a blockbuster upgrade which will allow you to customise the experience and make things look far more personal. When iOS 16 arrives you’ll be able to edit the whole design of the lock screen with different fonts, styles and colours all available at the touch of a button. There are easy ways to add a colour wash to your images and you can move things around so your iPhone won’t the same as anyone else.

There’s also the option to automatically shuffle photos throughout the day so you’ll get a different look in the evening compared to when you wake up.

Another nice addition arriving in iOS 16 is the ability to add widgets to the lock screen. This is the first time Apple has allowed users to add extra info without unlocking things and it will you to easily see things such as daily weather reports and activity data.

Apple is also opening things up to developers so your things such as your Uber ride will appear on the lock screen or you’ll be able to check the football scores without unlocking the phone.

Finally, notifications have been redesigned to roll up from the bottom, ensuring that users have a clear view of their personalized Lock Screen.

It’s not just that lock screen that’s getting updated with iOS 16 also adding extra features to Messages that users will find hugely useful.

Apple says this update will allow users to edit messages they’ve sent with a quick tap opening the original text and then bringing up the keyboard to tweak things.

Along with editing, iOS 16 will also offer the option to undo a send so the message gets removed and you can mark messages as unread which will help you to remember to respond to them at a later date.

Another nice change coming to messages is the ability to lift a object, such as your pet dog, from a photo and place it straight into a message thread as a fully cut out object.

Next up, Apple is adding a new way to pay for products with the option to buy now and pay later via Apple Pay. The US firm says this feature will be available in any stores that accept this form of payment and will be totally interest-free. It will launch in America first with no word on where other areas will get this option in the future.

For anyone who loves snapping photos, there’s a new way to share images with family members thanks to the new iCloud Shared Photo Library. This gives families a new way to share photos seamlessly with a separate iCloud library that up to six users can collaborate on. Users can choose to share existing photos from their personal libraries or share based on a start date or people in the photos.

“iOS 16 is a big release with updates that will change the way you experience iPhone,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We have reimagined how the Lock Screen looks and works with exciting new features that make it more personal and helpful, introduced iCloud Shared Photo Library for families, streamlined communication through new capabilities in Messages and Mail, and harnessed enhanced intelligence with updates to Live Text and Visual Look Up.”

• Apple’s WWDC is ongoing and we’ll update this story as more features are announced.