WATCH: Apple iOS 16 – Here’s what’s new and how to get it

Tech giant Apple has released its big iOS 16 software update for iPhones with a plethora of new features.

What’s new in iOS 16

The new software update is available to anyone with an iPhone 8 or newer.

Apple said iOS 16 brings the biggest update ever to the Lock Screen, the ability to edit and collaborate in Messages, new tools in Mail, and more ways to interact with photos and video with Live Text and Visual Look Up.

Lock Screen

The Lock Screen gets reimagined, offering deeper personalization. Now users can add a depth effect to their Lock Screen photo, artfully displaying the photo subject in front of the time, and they can even customise the font and type style.

New widgets on the Lock Screen make it easy to get helpful information at a glance like upcoming calendar events, battery levels, alarms, time zones, Activity ring progress, and more.

The new Lock Screen gallery features a range of options. Users can choose an intelligently suggested photo from their personal library that will look great on the Lock Screen, or a dynamic set of photos that shuffle throughout the day.

Apple collections include iconic imagery from Apple; Pride and Unity wallpapers; a Weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions as they change throughout the day; and an Astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, moon and solar system.

Users can also create unique designs with their favourite emoji and colour combinations, and with multiple Lock Screens, users can switch between their favorites with just a swipe.

Redesigned notifications now roll in from the bottom to offer a clear view of the Lock Screen, and users can choose to view notifications in an expanded list, stacked, or as a count view.

Edit and unsend iMessages

Users can edit or unsend a message in iMessage within 15 minutes of sending it. The other user will be able to see that the message has been edited or removed.

With iOS 16, users can now invite friends and family to SharePlay via Messages, offering another way to enjoy synced content like movies or songs and shared playback controls.

When users choose to share files for collaboration through Messages, everyone in a thread will be automatically added, and when someone makes an edit to the shared document, activity updates appear at the top of the thread.

Schedule emails

Now users can schedule delivery of an email ahead of time or cancel delivery of a message before it reaches a recipient’s inbox.

Users can also set reminders to come back to a message at a later date with Remind me, receive automatic suggestions to follow up on an email if they haven’t received a response, and get automatic alerts when they’ve forgotten to include a recipient or attachment in an email.

Better group texting with Android users

Android users will finally see the Tapback reactions from iMessage users, like laughs, hearts and more, inside text chains. That means you won’t get the reactions sent as separate messages. It should be a huge improvement for iPhone users who text with Android users.

Smarter Dictation

Smarter Dictation lets you speak texts and automatically punctuates them with commas, periods, question marks and even emoji — say something like “happy face emoji” and it’ll get added.

Siri

Siriadds the ability to run shortcuts as soon as an app is downloaded without requiring upfront setup. Users can add emoji when sending a message, choose to send messages automatically — skipping the confirmation step — and hang up phone and FaceTime calls completely hands-free by simply saying “Hey Siri, hang up.”

Safety Check

This allows users to quickly turn off all services and apps, such as location, from being shared with others, such as family members. Apple said that Safety Check was designed in partnership with women’s groups and that it will make it easier for users to stay private or protect personal data and safety when they leave abusive relationships.

Control notifications

Notifications now appear at the bottom of the screen when your phone is locked, and you can easily hide them to keep them out of the way. Likewise, you can change your Focus mode, to silence certain notifications when you’re asleep, at work or on vacation, by tapping and holding the lock screen.

Add multiple stops in Apple Maps

Updates to Apple Maps enable further exploration of the world with improved driving and transit navigation, and multistep routing. Drivers can easily create routes with multiple stops and automatically sync routes from Mac to iPhone when they’re ready to go.

Transit directions will now display how much a journey will cost, and users can add transit cards to Wallet to see low balances — and replenish transit cards — all without leaving Maps.

Medication and sleep tracking in the health app

Apple’s Health app now allows users to enter their medications, and it will notify them when it’s time to take medicine. Apple Watch owners will also be able to monitor their sleep and heartbeats in the iPhone health app.

Photos

Artificial Intelligence automatically sorts, edits and translates photos

Apple is using artificial intelligence to translate text in photos or videos the user takes. You can also cut a subject out of a picture, like a person, and place it into images or other apps as a sticker. In a later update, iOS 16 will also automatically share pictures with people it recognises in the picture, such as friends or family members.

Apple Pay

This feature allows users to pay off purchases made with Apple Pay through four payments over six weeks. Apple Wallet in iOS 16 will also make it easier to share digital cards or home keys through messaging.

Apple Home app

Apple redesigned the Home app to better show such things as multiple cameras in and around your home. The company said it’s also supporting Matter, an open standard for smart home hardware such as locks, lights and blinds.

Use your iPhone as a webcam

Users can now use their iPhones as webcams in a feature called Continuity Camera with the right laptop mount and the new version of macOS. The new version of macOS is set to debut this fall, however, so this feature won’t work until that’s out.

More Secure Browsing in Safari With Passkeys

Browsing in Safari is even safer with passkeys, a next-generation credential that can’t be phished or leaked, making it more secure and easy to use.

Designed to replace passwords, passkeys use Touch ID or Face ID for biometric verification, and iCloud Keychain to sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV with end-to-end encryption.

Created as a joint effort in collaboration with the FIDO Alliance, Google, and Microsoft, passkeys will work across apps and the web, and users can sign in to websites or an app on non-Apple devices using just their iPhone.

Safari also adds shared Tab Groups to share a collection of websites with friends and family, making it seamless to add tabs and see what others are viewing.

Fitness+ on iPhone

You won’t need an Apple Watch to use Apple’s premium Apple Fitness+ subscription, which costs $9.99 per month. It offers lots of workout and meditation videos, including cycling classes, high-intensity interval training and more.

Handoff with FaceTime

This feature lets you move your FaceTime call from your iPhone to another device, such as your Mac or your iPad, without having to hang up. It’ll also automatically switch whatever Bluetooth headphones you have connected to your iPhone to the new device. It’ll require the latest updates to Mac and iPad, however, which are coming later this fall.

Apple News 

Apple News introduces a new My Sports section, where users can easily follow favourite teams and leagues; receive stories from hundreds of top publishers; access scores, schedules, and standings for the top professional and college leagues; and watch highlights right in the News app. Favourites will sync with the Apple TV app to offer a seamless sports experience.

Game Center 

Game Centre makes it easy for users to play with or compete against their friends through the redesigned dashboard that shows friends’ games activity and accomplishments all in one place.

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