Today, Apple is releasing iOS 16, the next major version of the iPhone operating system. Based on past practices, I expect it to become available around mid-day today. I discussed many of the features of iOS 16 in this post from three months ago, when Apple first previewed the update. Over the last three months, Apple has revised some of those features, but the large majority of that post remains relevant today.
Here is a quick recap of the top new features that you will see on your iPhone once you update:
- New Lock Screen: This will be the most visible change in iOS 16. The lock screen will look different, you can have multiple Lock Screens and easily switch between them, notifications will look different on the Lock Screen, the Lock Screen can hold widgets, when you play music you can see the album art on the Lock Screen, and more.
- Messages: You can edit or delete a text message after you send it, assuming that the other person is also running iOS 16 or later.
- Mail: You can put aside an email in your inbox and have the system remind you of it later, search is improved, you can schedule an email to be sent at a later time, you can configure the Mail app so that when you hit send the message won’t actually be sent for a short period of time so that (if you act quickly enough) you can unsend the message, etc.
- Maps: You can use multistop routing for driving directions.
- Home app: There is a new interface.
- Siri dictation: You can dictate and use the keyboard at the same time.
- Medications: The Health app can keep track of your medications and remind you of what you need to take and when.
- Apple Pay Later: Purchase an item now and pay for it over six weeks with no interest and no fees.
- Tap and drag photos: You can tap an object in many photos (like a dog) and drag it to another location—just the dog, without the rest of the picture around it.
If you want a very detailed look at everything that is new in iOS 16, Federico Viticci is preparing a comprehensive guide to iOS 16, as he has done for many years now. It will be available at some point today on MacStories.net.
Although the iPhone update is coming today, iPadOS 16 is still about a month away, and macOS Ventura is also probably a month away. For that reason, there are some features in iOS 16 that will have limited utility. For example, if you delete or edit a message in Messages, another person using an iPad or a Mac will still see the original message. Also, a new family photo sharing feature in Photos will have limited usefulness if you and your family have not yet updated all of your devices.
Moreover, because iOS 16 is such a major update, you might decide to wait a little bit before you install it just to let other folks figure out if there are any major bugs in the initial release. The latest versions of the beta versions of iOS 16 have been quite stable, so I do not expect that to be a problem, but you never know.
