Apple Launched iOS 16 this week. What’s in it for iPhone Users?
Earlier this week, Apple launched the new iOS 16, which is chock full of customization features. Apple in the past has never been forthcoming with personalization features, but for iOS, this may be the breaking of a new dawn.
The lock screen received an update in this iOS version; a complete overhaul of what used to be the standard lock screen on the iPhone over the last decade. In iOS 16, you can change the wallpaper, clock style, color, and font as you wish. There’s also an option to add and customize widgets. The personalization options are vast, and the revamped Wallpaper Gallery comes with the option to create and save multiple preset lock screens. You can easily switch to a different lock screen you desire at any point in time.
The lock screen can be linked to Focus mode, which means you can have a different preset lock screen for the different focus modes. You can have one each for Sleep mode or Work mode.
Notifications now do not take up the lock screen like in previous iOS versions. They are hidden and will only show when you swipe up on the lock screen. You can also swipe down to hide the notifications after viewing them.
iMessage Updates
iMessage also received major updates and overall quality of life improvements in iOS 16. You can now edit sent messages in iOS 16. There’s no need to panic after realizing you made a mistake in an already-sent message. I wonder how it is going to work out. Hopefully, there will be an indication that a message has been edited. You can also “unsend” a message, which will be deleted on both devices. This should come in handy when you text the wrong person.
You can also mark messages as read without scrolling through hundreds of group chat messages.
Dictation
The new iOS saw a massive improvement in the on-device dictation system. The dictation app will type out everything you say with incredible accuracy. The biggest plus is that the app will fix punctuations where the AI thinks it needs one using machine learning. You can also switch between typing and talking seamlessly in one document. These changes overall take text-to-speech to another level.
Other Updates
- Live Texts is now available for video formats. Users can now copy texts that are seen in videos.
- Ability to select objects from pictures to use as stickers. It does a good job of cutting the object from the background. The object can now be copied and pasted in chats, documents, etc.
- The in-built keyboard now has a haptic touch.
- General Apple Maps improvements
- Quick Search on the home screen to search apps on your phone.
- Newly revamped Wallpaper Gallery
Apple finally embracing and including more personalization options is good to see. That was one knock Android users never forgot to remind iPhone users. It’s still not to the level of Android 12 or even older versions, but I think Apple will gradually get there.
