Apple today announced iOS 16 at WWDC 2022 with a focus on communication, data sharing, customization, and more. The company is completely reimagining the lock screen with the next major release of iOS 16.
Redesigned Lock Screen
iOS 16 will allow you to quickly change the style of the lock screen wallpaper by applying different filters, fonts, and more. You can simply tap on any lock screen element to customize it as per your liking. Additionally, it will be possible to place widgets on the lock screen so you can view all information important to you in just a simple glance. You can create different lock screen styles and switch between them easily.
With Live Activities, you can receive real-time information about your food delivery status or view the match score right on the lock screen.
Enhanced Notification Management
Apple is tweaking how notifications work in iOS 16. They will now show up from the bottom of the screen. The Cupertino company is also introducing Live Activities to help better curate notifications from apps that provide live information via push notifications.
Focus is also improving, and you can switch between them right from the lock screen in iOS 16. You can also have different system settings for different Focus modes. Apple is also introducing a new Focus mode API for developers to implement support for different profiles in their apps.
Messages Improvements
You can edit a sent message or undo send them within a certain time interval. Additionally, Messages will allow you to mark a thread as unread in iOS 16.
Dictation Enhancements
Dictation is being enhanced with on-device processing, thereby making the whole process faster. It will also be able to add punctuations in long sentences. The keyboard will also be visible when using voice typing, so you can seamlessly switch between two.
Live Text Comes to Video
Apple first debuted Live Text with iOS 15 in 2021. This year, it is expanding the feature to Live Video, so you can use it to extract text from videos. Additionally, Live Text can now be used to translate text, perform a Visual Lookup search, and more.
Apple is also introducing a Live Text API for developers to take advantage of.
Redesigned Apple Maps Coming to 11 New Countries
Apple debuted redesigned Apple Maps in iOS 15 last year in 10 countries. With iOS 16, it is expanding the new Maps to 11 more countries, including the Netherlands and New Zealand. Other enhancements include up to 15-stop routing, using Siri to add new stops, and more.
The MapKit API is getting a big update so developers can integrate more detailed maps into their apps.
Easily Manage Kids’ Accounts
iOS 16 will make it easier to set up a new device for your child. Parental controls are also being improved with more granular controls, including the ability to limit the type of content they can access, location sharing, and more.
Parents will be able to provide kids with additional screen time through requests in the Messages app.
iCloud Shared Photo Library
Photos of an event are usually clicked by multiple family members, so they are never in the same library. Apple is fixing this with iCloud Share Photo Library, which will allow you to create a shared library with your family members, so photos from an event are easily accessible by all.
Redesigned Home app
The Home app has been completely redesigned in iOS 16. It now shows more relevant information upfront and will allow you to control your smart home devices quickly. You can trigger scenes quickly and switch between different categories based on your requirement.
CarPlay Improvements
CarPlay is getting a massive upgrade in iOS 16. It will pack deeper integration with your car hardware and can power your vehicle’s instrument cluster and show all the important information using widgets and more. The next-gen CarPlay will automatically adjust its aspect ratio depending on the size of your car’s infotainment system.
Apple will also allow you to customize the different gauges based on your requirement. Vehicles with next-gen CarPlay support will debut next year from Audi, Ford, GM, and others. It will arrive next year.
There are a plethora of other new improvements in iOS 16. Read about the best iOS 16 features to know all about them.
Unlike iOS 15, iOS 16 drops support for some older iPhones, so you may have to upgrade to a new iPhone by the end of this year if you want to enjoy the new features in the upcoming iOS release. For now, if you have a compatible iPhone, consider installing the iOS 16 beta on it.
