Apple’s keynote at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) began with the announcement of iOS 16. This is a significant update that adds even more personalization options to the Lock Screen, as well as enhancements to Messages, Mail, Family Sharing, and other areas. 

Redesigned, customizable Lock Screens with widgets, the option to edit and delete messages, enhanced Focus modes, an iCloud Shared Photos Library for families, significant upgrades to applications like Mail and Wallet, and much more are all part of iOS 16. 

Tools for the Mail App 

During the keynote, Apple demonstrated new capabilities for the Messages app that have been requested for years: the ability to modify and undo outgoing messages, as well as the ability to flag whole discussion threads as unread to return to later. Apple, on the other hand, didn’t show off the new features in the Mail app, which will undoubtedly help you become more efficient with email. 

New features in Mail include the ability to schedule emails in advance, so you won’t wake up someone in the middle of the night, or even if they’re in a different time zone around the world. The option to cancel the delivery of a message before it reaches the recipient’s inbox is another handy feature in the Mail app. This is something you can do in the Gmail app, but now you can do it on your greatest iPhone with Apple’s Mail app. Remind Later is another new function that allows you to resurface a message at a later date and time. This function has existed as “Snooze” in several third-party email programs. 

Better Wi-Fi Management 

There are some nice adjustments coming to Wi-Fi choices as consumers dig into the iOS 16 beta. For starters, you’ll be able to see Wi-Fi passwords for existing networks for the first time. You’ll be able to see that information on your iPhone instead of needing to travel to your router or wherever else you maintain that information. Furthermore, that password may be copied and pasted just like any other piece of text. 

Personalized Spatial Audio 

While it made a brief appearance in the overall iOS 16 feature tiles, the new Personalized Spatial Audio feature may have easily been overlooked. This brand-new feature will make use of the iPhone’s TrueDepth camera to develop a distinct Spatial Audio profile for the user, resulting in a personalized listening experience. If you want to watch or listen to music using a pair of headphones like the AirPods Max, this will be ideal. 

Management of Duplicate Contacts 

Duplicate contact cards on our iPhones are something we’ve all experienced. It happens over time, and deleting the duplicates may be too much of a headache at this point. The Contacts app in iOS 16 will offer system-level management to help you eliminate duplicate contacts. It will identify duplicate contacts and combine them together, which should help you clean up your digital phone book. 

The Health app now has additional medication capabilities, while the Fitness app is now available to anyone without an Apple Watch. Safari now offers passkeys and shared Tab Groups, and the Home app has been completely revamped and re-engineered. 

New Lock Screen 

The redesigned lock screen experience includes new layouts, color schemes, and quick-glance information that feels inspired by the Apple Watch. This will undoubtedly be the main feature for most iPhone owners. 

Customization is a major focus. With numerous typefaces and color options for the time and date, you can not only customize the look of the lock screen, but you can also add amusing effects with a swipe. Those effects are produced automatically based on your background to keep things neat and on-theme, but they may be tweaked if necessary. 

Apple is releasing a new wallpaper gallery with millions of options, as well as a Photo Shuffle mode that shuffles between your library photographs throughout the day. New interactive wallpapers, such as live weather wallpaper with fluid animations, are also available. 

Smooth Notification System 

What good is a snazzy new lock screen if it’s continually flooded with notifications? Apple has announced a new notification system that shows incoming alerts at the bottom of the lock screen menu for a less crowded experience in iOS 16, so that shouldn’t be a problem. 

Live Activities 

Live Activities is a new feature in iOS 16 that gives real-time alerts on the iPhone’s Lock screen. Staying on top of live events or other chores, such as keeping track of the score of a sporting event, watching the progress of an Uber journey, checking the status of a Starbucks order, seeing a timer, and more will be possible with Live Activities. 

Live Activities will be accessible in an iOS 16 update later this year, according to Apple, thus it won’t be available when iOS 16 is first launched to all users. Developers will be able to use an API provided by Apple to include Live Activities in their third-party apps.

Edit/ Unsend an iMessage 

iOS 16 adds the option to modify or unsend recently sent iMessages, as well as the ability to flag iMessage chats as unread after they have been opened. For up to 15 minutes after sending an iMessage, Apple enables users to amend or unsend it. 

Users only need to press and hold on a bubble and choose the relevant option from the menu that displays to modify or unsend a message. Modified or unsent iMessages are still available in their original form to users using earlier software versions like iOS 15, and edited or unsent messages are indicated as “edited” underneath the message bubble. 

Improved Accessibility  

iOS 16 will include new capabilities that will help customers with disabilities “browse, interact, and get the most out of Apple devices.” 

 It all starts with Door Detection, a new tool that uses a mix of LiDAR, the iPhone’s camera, and machine learning to assist users to identify a door when they arrive at their location. It can also read signs and symbols such as door numbers around the door. Live Captions, a new feature in iOS 16, will be especially useful for the deaf and hard-of-hearing people. 

Furthermore, a Quick Actions feature is coming to the Apple Watch, which will allow users to dismiss notifications, snap photographs, listen to music, and more with a double pinch motion. 

Enhanced Safety Feature 

Safety Check enables users to swiftly and securely withdraw all access to Messages and other applications that they’ve authorized to a partner. Users may utilize an emergency reset tool to stop sharing their location with others, sign out of iCloud on all of their devices, reset privacy permissions, as well as limit messages to just the device in their hand. It also allows you to review and control which persons and applications have access to your information, as well as remove access if necessary. 

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The iPhone 8 and later are compatible with iOS 16. Developers may get a beta version of the upgrade now, and the public beta will be available in July. The release of iOS 16 is in the fall.