While we await the fall release of iOS 16, iPad OS 16, macOS Ventura and more I am especially looking forward to the new version of iOS.
It’s a bumper version this time, with many improvements to features across the OS to a degree arguably not seen since iOS 8.
While some look forward to the Stage Manager on their iPads or the Weather app on macOS and iPadOSiOS 16 brings some features I’m looking forward to iPhone 13 pro.
With that in mind, here are seven features I’m excited about once iOS 16 is available to everyone.
1. A new lock screen
The lock screen improvements are at the heart of iOS 16 as you can choose from many colors, fonts and photos to make the lock screen your own – indeed, TechRadar spoke exclusively to Apple about this very topic.
Use of Focus feature of iOSwhich can restrict certain apps and notifications at certain times, it can change the lock screen depending on which profile you’ve selected.
Setting up these lock screens is reminiscent of creating a watch face on the Apple Watch where you can place similar-looking widgets around the date and time, e.g. B. Fitness, smart home and battery indicators.
2. Accessibility
These were confirmed by apple in Maythere are a number of accessibility features that are not only useful, but also provide clues to applications of Apple’s future AR headset.
There’s door recognition to help you locate doors, read signs around them and get instructions on how to open them.
Alongside this, there’s also the ability to show live captions in a FaceTime call, and you can control your Apple Watch directly from your iPhone, allowing you to interact across a larger screen.
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I use mail a lot, mainly because I have two addresses that I constantly manage, both on mine iPhone and my MacBook Pro. While some are switching between different email apps, I’ve always been happy with Apple’s attitude, but it was obvious that some updates were needed, especially when I’m using Gmail.
With iOS 16, most of the features I’ve seen from Google finally appear in Apple Mail, with scheduled sends, undo sends, and reminders to follow up on some emails, making the process that much richer.
Apple needs to make sure it keeps up with the feature set of competing brands, and it’s doing that in Mail this year.
4. News
This is another app that I use as often as Whatsappbut over the last year I’ve started to see Messages lagging behind in features as Meta’s app launched with new features almost every month in 2021.
However, iOS 16 brings with it some features that will help Messages catch up. For example, “undo send” has arrived, where you can delete a message up to 15 minutes after it’s been sent. Likewise, you can also edit messages for the first 15 minutes, but this only works for iPhone-to-iPhone messages.
SharePlay is also coming to the app, so if you’re watching an episode of Obi Wan Kenobi DisneyPlusfor example, you can then share it with someone via messages so they can watch along with you
5. Security
Arguably one of Apple’s most important features in recent years, Safety Check allows users to quickly and safely revoke all access to Messages and other apps they’ve granted a partner.
An emergency reset feature can allow users to stop sharing their location with others and easily sign out of iCloud on all their devices. They can also reset privacy permissions and limit messaging to only the device in their hands.
It also lets you generally review and manage which people and apps you’ve given access to your information, and revoke them when you’re in a hurry.
6. A better home
I have a few smart lights in my house, with timers and brightness settings set for each. So my wife and I use the Home app every day, but it hasn’t been without its problems.
The app can be slow to use and also slow to respond to our commands for some lights. Seeing the app finally get a redesign was great news for both of us, especially since it’s finally offering widgets, so you You don’t have to rely on a third-party app for that.
These changes were announced in conjunction with the new smart home standard from Matterand the new look allows you to easily get an overview of all your lights at once using the controls at the top of the app.
Whether this will temporarily stop the persistent problem of suddenly uncontrollable lights in the app remains to be seen.
7. AirPods finally have their own space
Finally instead of leaving Settings > Bluetooth > AirPods Prothere’s a direct menu once you launch settings where you can see the battery levels of the two AirPods and the case, alongside customizing the taps and Siri.
This also applies to other peripherals such as AirPods max, but it’s not clear if that will apply in the same way to Apple’s own Beats headphones. But if you are an AirPods owner at all, this will be a real win for you.
