Watch major new iOS 16 features in action in this hands-on video walkthrough of Apple’s next major update to the iPhone’s operating system.
Video: Here’s your first look at Apple’s iOS 16 software
iOS 16 includes several headline-worthy improvements to the core experience and a whole bunch of the little things and small touches in almost every app. We’re going to provide in-depth coverage of everything new for Apple’s software platforms in the coming weeks. In the meantime, our video guy Michael Billig (@michael_billig) has put together a quick-look video with our initial impressions of iOS 16. Watch the embedded top of post to get a sense of what’s new in iOS 16. And be share to share your own impressions with other readers in the comments down below.
iOS 16 completely revamps the iPhone’s lock screen
iOS 16 deepens the user experience by providing rich customization features along with new ways to share and communicate. Your revamped lock screen experience includes using custom fonts, lock screen widgets, a built-in editor to create multiple lock screens, per-lock screen Focus, a new way to display notifications on the lock screen, live activities and more. Read: How to clone an iPhone
The Messages app now lets you revoke sent messages or edit a sent message to fix typos. You can also mark a thread as unread to come back to it later. iOS 16 also brings Apple’s SharePlay feature to Messages so SharePlay sessions can now be initiated from either FaceTime or Messages. Emails can now be scheduled on the Mail app and there’s a new way to share images with family with iCloud Shared Photo Library. In the Photos app, the Hidden and Recently Deleted folders are locked for added security. You can now use your iPhone camera for video calls on a Mac.
Apple’s computer vision is getting continually improved with each major iteration of the iOS platform. So in iOS 16, Live Text now works with video. Almost every app in iOS 16 has been touched in one way or another, with additional enchantments available in Safari, Maps, Siri, Dictation, News, Home, Game Center and more. In Maps, for example, you can now plan out up to fifteen stops in advance. Apple Pay Later, order tracking and other new features are available in the Wallet app.
And CarPlay in iOS 16, picture above, brings a reimagined in-car experience that supports as many screens as your car has, with customizable dashboards, support for gauges clusters and the ability to control car functions such as air conditioning and seats using the redesigned CarPlay interface.
When will iOS 16 be released?
The list of enhancements, under-the-hood tweaks and quality-of-life improvements in iOS is simply too long to summarize here. If you’re curious to learn about everything new in iOS 16, Apple does a good job of rounding up the best new iPhone features in iOS 16 on its iOS 16 Preview webpage at apple.com/ios/ios-16-preview/.
The inaugural developer preview of iOS 16 was released at the WWDCC 2022 on June 6. The first iOS 16 beta is available to Apple’s registered developers via developer.apple.com. A public beta of iOS 16 will be available to everyone wishing to test drive it on their iPhone in July at beta.apple.com. iOS 16 will launch publicly for everyone in the fall. The update supports any iPhone from the iPhone 8 onward.