Every year at WWDC, Apple always says that their latest update to iOS is the biggest one ever. To be fair, iOS has come a long way since we first saw it in the first Apple iPhone. It got an App Store a few generations later and never looked back. But the modern iOS is more than its app store, it is the updates that Apple has added to the iOS that makes it such a versatile interface we know today.

Apple is not technically wrong to say that the iOS 16 update is the biggest ever for the iOS interface. In terms of visuals at least, iOS 16’s interface could be the most visually distinct iOS ever. It also seems like Apple is finally going into a completely different direction with making the iOS better than ever. The update, technically, is the most feature packed major update ever.

Lock Screen – Not Just a Screen Anymore

Lock screens have always been the most plain looking part of the iOS experience. It is basically a transitional screen before you get to your main home screen. Most of the time, you probably use it as a sort of clock or watch replacement too, a quick glance to tell you the time of day and date.

The thing is, there is a lot more you can do with the lock screen. It is technically a blank canvas for quick glances. That is what they implemented on the iOS 16.

They say that it is an inspiration from the Apple Watch. The home screen is now an information throve but designed in such a way that you can absorb everything by just quickly glancing through it. It now updates you on your next calendar agenda, battery levels, the weather, upcoming alarms, time zones, and even your activity ring progress. Of course, your essential time and date information will always be the front and center of your lock screen notification center. Of course, there is only a limited amount of space for information as well, so you get to choose which widgets go on your lock screen.

At the same time, users get to work with multilayered effects to really personalize their lock screen. You can artfully choose a lock screen image and iOS can cleverly layer your clock and widgets behind the art subject to create this rather interesting 3D layering of your lock screen. It is not really a Live Wallpaper kind of thing, but it is still rather interesting to work with.

Focusing on the Important Stuff

Not much here, but Apple have claimed that they have improved Focus on the new iOS 16. To activate different focus modes, all you need to do is to swipe to differing lock screens you have on your iPhone. Different focus modes can also be customized to notify and show different notifications to ensure that users are given relevant information at whatever focus mode they choose to work with at any time.

A Shared Library

With the power of iCloud, you can now share your photo library with your family. The Shared Photo Library feature gives users the ability to collaborate or share the library with up to five other people. Each user can also share photos from their own personal library to be included in the shared library. Each user in the library can also add, delete, edit, and favourite their photos or videos in the library.

Unsend Stuff on Messages

Usually, when you send messages, once it gets through, you can hardly retrieve it. With the introduction of new messenger apps like Telegram, you can now unsend messages that you sent to unintended parties. WhatsApp also recently introduced the same “delete message” feature with a certain time limit to it. Now the feature to unsend a message is available of the iOS native messaging app. They did not stop there/

You can now mark messages as unread, just so that it still can appear on your message list as unread, just so you can come back to it later. You can also recover recently deleted messages if you accidentally delete an important message. SharePlay is also new on iOS Messages. You get to enjoy synced movies or songs and even control their playback all while through messaging via Messages.

Mail Better

With the Mail app, you can now schedule your emails ahead of time, just so that you have a lot more control over your working time. Just in case, the Mail app gives you time to cancel the delivery of emails before it hits the recipient’s inbox. With Remind Later and Follow Up features, Mail can remind users to follow up on emails they might have missed after a while. Search is also now better on the Mail app than ever. Apple claims that the Mail app’s search algorithm is much more accurate and relevant compared to its predecessors to help you find older emails.

More Intelligent, Even On-the-Go

Live text is now cleverer than before. You can use the feature in videos now by just pausing the video and interact with texts within the image or frame. You can even use Live texts as your personal translator or currency converter.

Beyond that though, Visual Look Up is also now improved. Instead of just recognizing a subject, users can now duplicate the subject and place it in other messenger apps. It also now recognizes birds, insects, and statues.

Apple’s Pay app is also improved at least in the United States (U.S.). They just introduced their very own microfinancing service in Apple Pay Later. If you have used Grab’s Pay Later wallet, it works very similarly there. The Pay Later feature also allows you to pay for your items in monthly instalments with no additional charges for now.

CarPlay is also improved with new features that makes it a powerful and versatile interface for in-car infotainment systems. CarPlay can now provide for multiple screens in a car to ensure that the CarPlay experience is consistent throughout a vehicle. There is more integration as well with CarPlay. Other than climate controls, CarPlay can also provide readings from multiple sensors in the car like fuel level, engine temperature, and even speed. Users can completely change what they see on their dash as well, if they choose to do so.

And more …

There are plenty of minor updates and improvements done on Safari, Apple maps, Siri, and even the Fitness app. For example, the Fitness App no longer requires users to own an Apple Watch to track their fitness goals. Apple News also now has My Sports section to allow users to easily follow their favourite sports teams in their favourite games. Spatial Audio is also improved on the iOS 16 to allow for a more precise and immersive audio with TrueDepth camera for a more personally tuned experience.

Availability

Apple’s iOS 16 is now available as a preview for members of Apple’s Developer Program. You can find it on their developer website. A public beta of the iOS will be available in the coming month. iOS 16 and its features will be available for iPhone 8 and later. For more information on iOS 16, you can visit their microsite for it.