I have a lot of problems with iOS as an operating system, but I'm also a pretty big fan of my iPhone 13 Pro. While the software isn't perfect, I like it overall, and Apple has been rolling out improvements to it over the years. There are a lot of features I really wish it had, but there are also some things it does do better than Android, and even more of those have been brought in with the release of iOS 16.
If you want to use iOS 16, you'll have to wait for a few more months before it's rolled out to iPhones, as this is currently the very first developer beta. iOS 16 is much more packed when compared to iOS 15, though, and it comes with new customizations, features, and changes that further enrich the operating system. Here's everything we've been able to spot so far.
About this Hands-on: This article includes input from XDA's Senior Editor Adam Conway.
Redesigned Lock Screen
Given that Apple opened its iOS-portion of the keynote talking about the lock screen, it's a pretty big deal. It's the first thing you see on your phone whenever you turn it on, and it's the first place you see your phone's notifications. It hasn't really been changed on iPhones in years, but it's pretty drastic. It's a complete overhaul of your phone's lock screen, and you can edit practically everything that's shown.
My favorite wallpaper is the Astronomy wallpaper, as it zooms in over your home country and shows clouds overhead. You can add an air quality indicator, the sunrise/sunset times, another clock for another time in the world, and the status of your fitness rings. It also complements the same watch face on the Apple Watch on watchOS 9 (Dev Beta 1).
Apple will provide developers with a lock screen widget API, allowing them to build their own widgets that can be added. You won’t be limited to utilizing first-party ones only, and you can really personalize it to fit you as a result. You can also create multiple lock screens and quickly and easily swipe through them by pressing down.
What's interesting too is that it appears Apple has taken a page out of Google's book, as it's very Material You inspired. The text on the lock screen will change based on the colors in your lock screen, and will even hide things like the time on your lock screen behind the subject of your photo to create a sense of depth.
One thing we've spotted though is that Apple has killed live wallpaper on the lock screen. It's unclear if this is a feature that will return in the future and was just forgotten about, or if it's gone for good. We'll need to wait for future updates to see.
Notifications and Focus improvements
Notifications have been the bane of most people's existence on iPhones for years. They're just not well made, and there are a ton of issues with them. While they're still not fixed (in my opinion, anyway), there have been some major changes that improve them from a usability perspective. They start from the bottom of the display now, so that they can be easily reached, and there are now also "live" notifications -- called Live Activities -- that can update over time.
As well, certain lock screens will be able to have Focus mode applied, though I don't believe it's active yet. Focus will also be better integrated into apps — even third-party ones. Users will be able to hide certain elements or filter content they don’t want to see inside an app when using a certain Focus mode.
Hybrid Dictation
Voice dictation is all the rage recently, and Apple implemented its own version for iPhones many years ago. I first experienced an actually good voice dictation on the Google Pixel 6 Pro, and it's something that changed how I text. Apple's own one isn't quite as good as what I've found on the Pixel 6 Pro, but it's good enough that it's very likely that I'll be using it quite a bit.
iOS 16 takes Dictation to the next level and allows users to type while speaking -- an hybrid input, basically. Prior to that, users were limited to either kind of input at a time. Additionally, Dictation is now capable of inputting emojis and punctuating your input automatically.
iMessage: Unsend, edit, and mark as unread
iMessage is a pretty basic messaging service when compared to competitors, and it's always faltered behind in terms of features. However, Apple added a few new quality of life changes and improvements that were much needed and have been available on competing platforms, such as Telegram, for years.
First and foremost, users that are on the latest version of iMessage can both edit or unsend messages sent via iMessage within 15 minutes of sending the message. These features don't currently work when texting someone using an older version of the app, and iMessage will warn you that the changes you make or unsending a message may not come through for the other person.
Additionally, they can also mark a chat as unread to essentially bookmark it in order to come back to it later. Finally, Messages catches up with other Apple apps and introduces a trash bin. Those on iOS 16 can retrieve deleted messages within 30 days of binning them. As well, users can now use SharePlay through iMessage — not just FaceTime. This allows you to consume digital goods with others without being in an audio/video call.
Social Safari
Safari has added a massive social feature that will help make things a lot easier when planning something with friends. You can create a shared tab group that anyone can contribute to and navigate within so that you can plan things effectively. Above, I created a tab group titled "Vacation" and shared it with my colleague Aamir. I was able to add links to it that were relevant to a vacation in Dublin and share them with him on iMessage. When I made changes to the tab group, it was even reflected in iMessage with a notification at the top of our conversation saying that I had made changes. I could additionally see which tab Aamir was viewing live.
Tweaks to media controls
As spotted by /u/SkyGuy182 on Reddit, the media controls will now show an icon in the top right to tell you what device it's currently playing on. You can see this in the above screenshots, where it will show it casting on both Apple TV, and over a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. Prior to iOS 16, it only showed a generic AirPlay icon.
Upgrades to Photos
As spotted by /u/alias3800 on Reddit, you can now copy and paste edits between pictures in the Photos app, so you can make the same adjustments to multiple photos quickly and easily. Additionally, you can lock the Hidden and Recently Deleted folders using Face ID or Touch ID.
In addition to that, users can now select elements in a photo and drag or copy them to a different app. This removes the background and other subjects -- making it easy to come up with creative photo outputs. Lastly, the Photos app can now detect visually similar photos and mark them as duplicates to easily merge them.
Contact lists
As spotted by /u/SkyGuy182 on Reddit, you can now create groups of contacts on the device. Previously, the only way to do this was to do it on the iCloud website or on a Mac. The Contacts app can also detect duplicate cards and offer you the option to merge them.
Apple Music tweaks
We've been hoping for Spotify Connect on Apple Music for years now -- and iOS 16 still fails to deliver this basic continuity feature. Nonetheless, Apple has introduced some minor changes to its streaming service. These include an option to favorite artists for more accurate recommendations, more rounded album art in lists, and a new Now Playing UI on the Lock Screen that utilizes the latest Live Activities API.
Developer Mode
There's a new Developer Mode toggle in Privacy settings that allows devs to launch their side-loaded apps for development purposes. The specifics of this mode remain unclear for the time being.