iOS 16: New iPhone features we can’t wait to try

This story is part WWDC 2022CNET’s full coverage with and about Apple’s annual developer conference.

Apple’s iOS 16, the next major iPhone software upgrade, looks fresh and modern on paper. Scheduled at the company’s annual WWDC, iOS 16 will introduce enhancements aimed at facilitating communication, personalization and privacy. This includes a number of significant updates for your iPhone’s lock screen, Messaging app, and Wallet.

The iOS 16 developer beta is currently coming out, and a public beta is coming in July. iOS 16 will be launched this fall, probably along with about the much talked about iPhone 14. The new software will continue to work iPhone 8 models and newer.

Here’s every iOS 16 feature you should know about.

Edit and ‘cancel’ sending messages

“Shameful typing errors are a thing of the past,” said Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, as he presented the three most sought-after features for the Messages app.

First, in iOS 16 you will be able to edit the sent messages. So, if you notice a typing error after the message, you will be able to edit the message afterwards. A little “edited” appears in the status below the message.

Next, and this could be my favorite new feature, you can now revocation sent message. If you accidentally send an unfinished message, you can use the Undo Send tool to prevent reading and hopefully make your friends and family look less chaotic.

Finally, you can mark messages and threads as unread. This could be a great tool when you don’t have time to reply to a message at this time, but you want to make sure you come back to it later.

New customizable lock screen

One of the things you watch most about your iPhone is the lock screen, especially if you have an iPhone equipped with a Face ID. iOS 16 brings the most important update to the iPhone lock screen so far. Press and hold for edit your lock screen. You can swipe to try a few different styles. Each style changes the color filter for the background of the photo and the font on the lock screen so that everything complements. This is a bit like Apple’s view of Google’s Material You, which was launched with Android 12.

You can also customize fonts for time and date and add lock screen widgets such as temperature, activity rings, and calendar. The widgets are similar to the complications on the locked screen of the Apple Watch.

You can even set up multiple custom lock screens with different widgets and easily swipe to switch between them. There is even a random image option that automatically changes the images on the lock screen.

One feature we were hoping Apple would add was constantly involved. This is something that almost all Android phones have; even the Apple Watch works. There is hope that he will come out with it iPhone 14.

Live notifications and activities

Sometimes notifications can overwrite a photo of your lock screen, so iOS 16 moves notifications to the bottom of your screen. As you receive them, instead of being assembled into a sheet, they appear as a vertical carousel. Not only does this look better, but it should be a great help for one-handed use of your iPhone.

iOS 16 also aims to solve another problem with notifications. Sometimes you get a bunch of notifications in a row from one app, like the results of a basketball game. A new tool for developers called Live Activities makes it easier to keep track of things happening in real time from your lock screen, instead of getting interrupted.

Live activities should make it easier to follow sporting events, training or even the progress of an Uber ride.

Wallet and Apple Pay later

Multi-country IDs will be available in your Wallet app along with more security and private features. In iOS 16 you can also protect your identity and age. So instead of showing your exact date of birth, the Wallet app will show your ID and that you are over 21 years old.

iOS 16 makes it easy to share keys with apps like Mail and Messages. When your friend receives the key, they can add it to the Wallet app on their iPhone. Apple said it is working to make shared keys industry standard and free for others.

Apple Pay will support new types of payments and adds a new feature called Apple Pay later, a Clarney-like service that allows you to divide the cost of buying Apple Pay into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with no interest and no fees. Upcoming payments are managed through the Wallet app, which makes it easy to keep track of dates and payments.

But Apple Pay doesn’t stop there. The new feature will also help you track Apple Pay orders and allow merchants to provide detailed invoices and tracking information. This should make it easier for you to keep up to date with the status of all your orders.

Tap and drag the visual search for photos

In iOS 15, Visual Look Up analyzes your photos and can identify objects such as plants, landmarks and pets. iOS 16 takes this to the next level. When you touch a photo object like the dog in the picture above, you can separate it from the background and add it to apps like Messaging. In essence, it is a tap and hold the photo background removal tool.

Apple sometimes overuses the word “magic,” but this feature really does look that way.

SharePlay comes in Messaging

SharePlay, which debuted in iOS 15, gives you a shared experience while connecting to someone via FaceTime. You can watch TV shows, listen to music in sync and other things. iOS 16 adds the ability to detect multiple supported apps SharePlay from FaceTime.

But perhaps one of the best things Apple did for SharePlay was that it works in the Messages app. Apple said this is one of the biggest demands of app developers. Now that you want to share a movie on Disney Plus, you can start SharePlay with a friend while chatting in messages.

Safety Check aims to help people in violent relationships

Security check is a new feature designed to help people in violent relationships. Allows you to view and reset who has access to location information, as well as passwords, messages, and other apps on iPhone.

Focus mode updates and focus filters

Focus mode received several updates. The first applies focus behavior to widgets and the lock screen layout. So, you can set one lock screen when your work focus is enabled and another for training.

Apple has added specific Focus filters that apply the way your iPhone focuses within applications. For example, in Safari, you can limit which tabs are displayed depending on which focus mode you have active.

Apple Maps adds transportation tickets

The maps will get several updates. You will be able to plan trips with up to 15 different stops along the way. If you start planning a trip with the Maps app on your Mac, you’ll be able to share it on your iPhone.

And in something similar to what Google announced for Google Wallet in Android 13, you’ll be able to see transportation cost estimates as well as add more money to a map ticket from Apple Maps.

iCloud Family Checklist

iCloud gets several new features. One of the more interesting is the ability to quickly set up a new device for your child. When Quick Start appears, you have the option to select a user for the new device and use all existing parental controls that you have previously selected and configured. However, this is not what many of us still want: the ability to set up separate users for the same device.

There’s a new family checklist with tips for updating settings for your kids as they get older, such as a reminder to check location sharing settings or share your iCloud Plus subscriptions.

For more, take a look everything Apple announced at WWDC 2022.