After a feature-packed iOS 16 release in September, Apple is already hard at work with the upcoming iOS 16.1 update. Slated to release on October 24, iOS 16.1 aims to fix iOS 16 glitches and add a few useful features. Here are all the new features coming to your iPhone with iOS 16.1.
1. Tweaked Battery Indicator
Apple finally implemented battery percentage to the battery icon in the status bar. But it’s a hit-and-miss. The battery icon remains visually full, regardless of current battery percentage, and it was missing from iPhone 12 mini, iPhone XR, and iPhone 13 mini. iOS 16.1 brings a tweaked battery indicator that precisely shows battery indicator with charge levels, and it will be available for the iPhone Mini models too.
2. Live Activities
Live Activities was a major part of the iOS 16 announcement at WWDC 2022. However, the feature never saw the light of day with the public release of iOS 16. As the name suggests, Live Activities allow you to glance over real-time progress right from the redesigned lock screen. For example, you can track your upcoming Uber ride, live NFL score via ESPN, or pizza from Uber Eats without unlocking the phone.
Live Activities also neatly integrates with the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models. Apple has already released Live Activities APIs for developers, and we can’t wait to see how they utilize it with third-party apps.
3. Clean Energy Charging
Clean Energy Charging is yet another environment-friendly push from Apple to reduce carbon footprint. The option selectively charges when lower carbon emission electricity is available. It’s enabled by default and won’t affect how you use your iPhone daily. After downloading iOS 16.1, you can access Clean Energy Charging from Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging option.
4. Pre-Load In-App Content
When you enable the In-App Content toggle in the App Store settings, it will automatically run apps in the background to download content before launching them.
Let’s say you uninstalled Spotify and want to download it again before the next road trip. When you download Spotify, the In-App Content function will automatically start downloading playlists to keep them ready when you hit the road.
5. Redesigned Wallpaper Menu
iOS 16.1 also brings a completely redesigned wallpaper menu to iPhone. With multiple lock screens, the current wallpaper menu might get confusing for some.
6. Fitness+ Without an Apple Watch
With iOS 16.1, Apple’s workout program – Fitness+, no longer requires an Apple Watch to get started. Anyone with an iPhone running iOS 16.1 can subscribe to Fitness+ and get in better shape. Although, for a better experience, we recommend using an Apple Watch for astute health and fitness measurements. Fitness+ isn’t available in most regions worldwide.
Apart from the above-mentioned headline features, iOS 16.1 brings fixes to numerous bugs like SIM card support, constant Copy and Paste prompts, and more. Apple is laying the groundwork for smart home standard Matter and emergency SOS via Satellite in iPhone 14 models. iOS 16.1 also allows you to uninstall the default Wallet app.
Despite being a point release, iOS 16.1 packs several new features and changes. iOS 16.2 should also pack some new features, and we should see its first beta arrive in the next few weeks.
