Apple iOS 16: Top 5 New Features coming to iPhones

At WWDC 2022, Apple announced their latest iteration of the iOS operating system for iPhones, iPads and WatchOS. With this update, it’s clear that Apple is listening to user feedback and implementing features we’ve been asking for ages.

What are the latest features coming to iPhones this fall? What are we most excited about? When will iOS 16 be released?

Today, we’ll tell you all you need to know about the top features coming to iPhones in the iOS 16 update. Let’s go!

Customizable Lock Screens

With iOS 16, Apple is implementing the biggest change to the look of the lock screen since iOS 7 in 2013. iOS is notorious for limiting the customizability of its operating system – and the bland, one-size-fits-all lock screen was one of the most notable examples of this ethos. Apple has fixed that once and for all!

Finally, iPhone users can add widgets to their lock screen – including fitness information like step counts, reminders, flight information, world clocks etc. Users can change the font of the clock and date and even replace the full date with sunset information or weather.

Developers will be able to make widgets for lock screens using the WidgetKit API.

Live Activities

Live Activity panels are essentially larger activity-based widgets for apps that are currently running.

We’ve had something similar to this for a while with media playback – but in iOS 16 live activities have been expanded to third-party services like delivery services, workout information etc.

Live Text & Visual Look Up

To rival Google Lens – Apple has added a live lookup and text recognition feature. Need to translate or take down certain text. Open the camera app and hover over the text you need to look up. Visual lookup is great if you’re not sure about the currency conversion on a label or need text translating,

Continuity Camera

The brand-new Camera Continuity feature will allow you to use your iPhone as a webcam for FaceTime, Zoom and more. This is a brilliant feature for those unhappy with the 720p webcam found on older MacBooks.

Using the high-quality iPhone camera will give you a crisper image overall. This isn’t just for Apple video apps like Facetime. Apple will be releasing an API for developers to take advantage of Camera Continuity.

This has been possible before with third-party apps like Iruin Webcam. But we’re glad that Apple has implemented a seamless, free option here. This won’t work with Android phones, however – you guys will still need to use a third-party app.

Buy Now Pay Later in Apple Wallet

Buy Now, Pay Later short-term loans like Klarna is all the rage now. Apple is now offering their own BNPL short-term financing options through their Apple Wallet app.

The feature is called Apple Pay Later and can be used whenever users are checking out with Apple Pay or through the Wallet app. Apple Pay Later uses the Mastercard network and so can be used wherever Mastercard is accepted (which is everywhere!)

When will iOS 16 be released?

The iOS 16 developer preview is available to download and install on your iPhone right now. However, we don’t recommend doing this for your daily driver as beta versions of OS updates can be unstable.

Apple plan on releasing iOS 16 in the fall.

Will my device support iOS 16?

Here is the full list of devices that will be getting the iOS 16 treatment:

It is unfortunately the end of the line for the iPhone 7. Although, considering that this phone was released in 2016, we don’t think that will be an issue for most people. To still be supporting a 6-year-old phone would be crazy!

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