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iOS 16 – What’s New – Is It Different From iOS 15 & Older Versions? (2022 Updated Guide)

Preeti Seth
Published 2022-06-07

At its WWDC – 2022 Keynote, Apple announced iOS 16, the next-gen version of its latest operating system for compatible iPhone models. The new update brings several improvements and new features like –

Today’s post will discuss these exciting features in detail with additional information like when the upgrade will be rolled out, how to get iOS 16 Beta to test the latest features, the list of compatible devices, and the difference between iOS 15 & iOS 16. So, keep reading the post to get answers to any questions related to iOS 16.

What’s New In iOS 16 – Features (2022)

Note: We have installed iOS 16 on our device, and most of the features are working as explained in the Keynote. However, some features, such as the Live update in music, and the album art, are not functional at the moment. We hope that with a subsequent beta release, we could be able to test these features as well.

Revamped Lock screen

With iOS 16, Apple overhauls the lock screen & makes it customizable for iOS users. iOS users can select different styles, to change the color filters, background, and font for time to personalize their lock screen. Users can also use Photos Shuffle, and Suggested Photos to choose a set of photos to appear on the lock screen for a day. To customize, the user just needs to tap any element of the Lock screen to go into the editor and style it the way they want. Moreover, users can apply different styles to photos, and add widgets to the lock screen like time, battery events, temperature, calendar, etc.

With the new improved lock screen, Apple has also changed how notifications will appear on the screen. With iOS 16, Notifications will pile up at the bottom of the Lock Screen once received, instead of covering your beautiful Lock Screen. Also, you can choose to hide it for the entire day.

Furthermore, the update also supports Live Activities, another feature that will help stay on top of things in real-time like food order status, workouts, game status, and more. All this will be accessible right from your lock screen. Isn’t it great?

Focus

With iOS 16, you can simultaneously change how your iPhone looks and functions by connecting the Lock Screen to Focus. To activate it, swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen, and iOS will suggest a relevant set of Lock Screens like Personal, Sleep, Work, and Do Not Disturb. As Focus is connected to the Lock screen, it is now easier to set up, allow, and silence apps. As you swipe and change the Focus mode, all the notification settings related to the mode will apply and extend to the home screen as well.

Moreover, with Focus filters, now the Focus modes can be applied to the apps that you use to filter distracting content, including Safari, Messages, Mails, and Calendar. The aim is to help you find balance in your life.

Smartly Share Photos – iCloud Shared Photo Library.

As Apple announces iOS 16, it is making sharing memories easy. You can share photos and videos seamlessly with up to five other people. Even if you are not the one who clicked the pictures, you will still have access. The photos can be shared instantly from the camera, & you can choose to share them automatically when a shared library member is nearby. Everyone will have equal permission to add, delete or edit the shared library.  With For You tab, you will get sharing Suggestions as well.

Edit & Undo Messages In Messages App

Some of the most awaited updates appear in the Messages app. First off, you can edit & unsend a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it. Mark messages as unread, recover recently deleted messages for up to 30 days after deleting them, send invitations to collaborate, and see activity updates on collaborations. Also, the SharePlay feature introduced in iOS 15 can now be directly used in the Messages app. Using it, you can chat and watch the content.

To edit or recall a message, tap and hold on to the message > select the option you want to use.

Mail

With iOS 16, Apple has paid attention to all that users want. You can easily unsend an email message before reaching the recipient’s inbox. Schedule an email, easily follow up on email, and get notified when you forget to add an attachment. Also, get reminded about the email you opened but didn’t get back to.

Safari Shared Tab Groups

Safari has always remained the favorite browser for iOS and macOS users, and with the addition of new features, it has moved one step forward. Even when your partner or friends are not around, you can share tabs with them and work in sync. Also, you can start FaceTime right from Safari, customize tap groups with pinned tabs, create web extensions, customize the start pages, and translate pages into new languages.

A New Way to Sign in – Passkeys

Remembering passwords is a tedious process; however, this will no longer be the case with Passkeys introduced in iOS 16the case. Now sign in securely and efficiently with Passkeys that are site-specific, making phishing impossible.

Live Text

One of the most interesting features added to iOS 15 was Live Text. With the help of this feature, users can easily interact with text from their phone’s camera app. Now with the release of iOS 16, the features extend to videos. To interact with a text in the video, pause the video and use functions like copy, paste, lookup, and translate. The feature works in Safari, Quick Look, and Photos; also, according to Apple, users will be able to convert currency from a captured image.

In a single tap, action can be taken on the detected data.

Also, you can experience a new on-device dictation feature that will allow adding specific words or punctuation.

Apple Maps

The upcoming update also adds some more features including Cycling, and Look Around in Apple Maps. By late this year, it will support eleven more countries like — Belgium, France, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. The Maps have also improved city experiences by determining land cover, roads, elevation, driving, and transit navigation. However, this is only limited to Las Vegas now and soon will extend to 15 or more cities.

Also, now users will be able to add multiple stops (up to 15 stops)  to their driving route in Maps and sync it. Maps will store your previous routes in Recents. Meanwhile, users will also be able to see transit cost and add transit cards to Wallet. You will also get a notification if your transit card balance is low within Maps. Users can take advantage of support for Look Around on other apps to see Street View-like views of specific areas on third-party apps.

Apple Wallet

With iOS 16, Apple Wallet will now help you store your Driver’s License and IDs. You will soon be able to use these Wallet IDs. These IDs can also be used to authenticate your identity and age verification while ensuring that only required information is shared.

Also, with a suite of keys in Wallet, users will be able to access their routine places easily. Moreover, they can share the keys with other iPhone users securely using messaging apps like Mail, WhatsApp, and Messages. However, Apple is planning to extend the sharing keys thing to other OS as well.

Pay Later With Apple Wallet

There is something new in store for Apple Pay as well. Apple is working on Apple Pay acceptance. Soon you will be able to tap to pay from your iPhone to iPhone for contactless payments without any hardware or payment terminal.

Furthermore, Apple Pay will soon start accepting different types of payments. With Apple Pay Later, you can now make payments at a later time (you can split the cost into four equal payments which can be paid over 6 weeks with 0% interest). Nothing can be better than splitting the purchase into equal parts and making a payment later over six weeks, right?

Though the feature is available in selected markets, it is beneficial as without having to pay any interest or a fee; you can pay at a later time.  The Wallet also shows your future payments to ensure you don’t miss out on payments while helping you stay within the budget.

Apple Pay Order

Placed multiple orders? Want to keep track of all? With Apple Pay Order, you can do that all in one place. With this feature, the merchants will give you a receipt, and tracking ID directly to your Apple Wallet.

Parental controls

Parental controls have also been improved with the iOS 16 upgrade. Parents will now be able to control their kid’s accounts as soon as they set them up, and they will receive recommendations for movies, apps, music, and other media based on age-appropriate limits.

Health

Apple has said that it will now determine calories burned using the device’s motion sensors. Users will be able to set a “move goal” and track their calories using the fitness app. The update also includes a new pharmaceutical tool that allows you to add and manage their continuing prescriptions.

Fitness

Yes, you read it right; the fitness app will be finally available for all iPhone users. Now even without an Apple Watch, you can meet your fitness goals and check your progress. The app will use iPhone motion sensors to calculate steps, distance, workout, etc.

Apple News

The Apple News app will now get an all-new section named My Sports. According to Apple, customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia will be able to follow their favorite teams and leagues and access scores, schedules, and standings for major professional and collegiate institutions. Meanwhile, the users can also see match highlights. According to the firm, Apple News+ members will also get access to premium sports content.

Safety Check

Apple revealed a new privacy function called Safety Check, intended to assist customers whose personal safety is threatened by domestic or romantic partner abuse. The Safety Check tool allows users to block access from others swiftly.

Users may quickly sign out of iCloud on their other devices, reset privacy permissions for all applications, stop sharing their location, and turn off messaging on all other devices; save the one in their hand by tapping the Start Emergency Reset button.

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing, you can share your purchases and subscriptions with up to 5 users, including Apple Music, Apple One, iCloud+, and more. Every member can personalize their account as per their preferences. You can also create an account for your kids with inbuilt parental controls and controlled screen time. A simplified method for setting age-appropriate restrictions for children and ensuring the right parental control settings are applied.

To apply the same parental control settings easily to a new device, bring your iPhone close to your iPad and choose to set up with Quick Start. With a few taps, the new device will be all set with customized parental control settings.

Moreover, if your kid needs more screen time, you may also provide screen time extensions using the Messages app.

Switch FaceTime Calls to Bigger Screen

When Facetiming on iPhone, bring your phone close to your MacBook or iPad and transfer the call to a bigger screen.

Home App

The home app is now re-designed, making it easy to navigate, organize, view, and control your accessories. Now you can see your home at a glance under the Home tab and access all accessories under different categories. Also, up to four camera view is displayed in the front and center of the Home tab.

Car Play

Apple is collaborating with automakers to revamp the CarPlay experience. This features a programmable odometer, buttons for controlling every aspect of the vehicle, and a uniform interface. The first vehicles with this unique experience will be unveiled in late 2022. Let us know more about when the upgrade will be available and what devices would be compatible with it.

When Will The Update Arrive?

The software update will likely come later this year, likely in September. Although the developer preview is available and the public beta will be available next month.

List Of Devices Compatible With iOS 16 Update:

How To Update To iOS 16?

Though iOS 16 has been revealed at WWDC 2022, it doesn’t mean the public version is out. At present, only the developer beta is out.

However, when the update is released to the public, go to iPhone Settings > General > Software Update > Download & Install Now. This will help update to iOS 16.

So, these are some extraordinary features that Apple has announced and is bringing to iPhone users with iOS 16. But should we update to iOS 16 as soon as it is released, or will iOS 15 be sufficient for the time being?

To answer this question, let’s know the difference between iOS 16 and iOS 15

iOS 16 VS iOS 15

So, how does the new version of iOS compare to the one it replaces? Let’s take a look below at the comparison table!

iOS 16 iOS 15
Hidden Albums Deleted and hidden albums in Photos will now be private. The albums will be locked by default. In iOS 15, finding such albums wasn’t accessible; however, they were unprotected.
Safety Check Safety Check is a new feature added to iOS 16. This will help users stay protected from people in abusive relationships as they will be able to revoke access to information shared with others. N/A
Lock Screen The Lock Screen in iOS 16 is entirely different than the Lock Screen in iOS 15. Lock Screen is revamped in iOS 16
Notifications No change The way notifications were sorted in iOS 15 remains the same
Messages Allows editing, undoing sent messages, and using SharePlay within the app. It wasn’t available in iOS 15.
Mail iOS 16 adds new features like calling back the news before it is delivered to the recipient’s inbox. Notification if you have forgotten to add an attachment. Only a handful of privacy features are available for iOS 15 users.
Maps Multistep routing N/A
Shared Photo Library In iOS 16, users can now share photos with up to 5 people N/A
Live Text Now, you can read Live text from the video too. Can read only from images.

These are some of the notable features of iOS 16 and the difference between iOS 15 and iOS 16. We hope you enjoyed reading the post, and we have made it easier for you to decide whether to update or not.

Must Read – All About Lockdown Mode – Apple’s Powerful Defense Against Advanced Spyware

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