Apple unveils iOS 16 with major updates on lock screen, notifications, system apps
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Apple on Monday officially unveiled iOS 16, the next-generation version of its operating system for compatible iPhone models.
And the latest update has a slew of new features and enhancements.
As per Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of software engineering, iOS 16 is a big release with updates that will change the way users experience iPhone.
The upcoming iOS 16 — which will be generally released this fall for iPhone 8 models and later — includes a new privacy tool: Safety Check.
According to Apple, the feature is designed for users "whose personal safety is at risk from domestic or intimate partner violence" and can instantly disable information-sharing access to specific users.
In addition to providing new tools to people in imminent danger, Safety Check also is designed to let users manage which people and apps they've given access to.
Another major feature in iOS 16 is the ability to make new customizations to the Lock Screen, letting users change the look of the date and time with different type styles and color choices; create multiple Lock Screen iterations; and add widgets to provide at-a-glance access to things like upcoming calendar events, weather, battery levels, and alarms.
In addition, iOS 16 introduces iCloud Shared Photo Library to allow sharing of photo collections with up to five friends and family members; enhances Live Text to be able to recognize text in the video; and updates Apple Maps with multistop routing to let you schedule up to 15 stops in advance.
On the texting front, iOS 16 will let users edit or recall recently sent messages (up to 15 minutes after sending them), recover recently deleted messages, and mark conversations as unread so they can come back to them later.
Apple's SharePlay is coming to Messages, to let users synchronize content like TV shows, movies or songs with shared playback controls while chatting with others.
The company also announced Apple Pay Later, a feature that will let U.S. users split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks (without any interest charges or fees).
The tech giant previewed the next generation of CarPlay, which will be able to provide content on multiple screens and provide tighter integration with vehicle hardware to do things like control the radio or change climate settings directly via CarPlay as well as display speed, fuel level, temperature and other info on the instrument cluster.
The company unveiled the iOS 16 features at its Worldwide Developers Conference virtual streaming event Monday. WWDC22 runs from June 6-10. It also showed off a next-generation MacBook Air, powered by its power-efficient M2 silicon, as well as updates for watchOS and macOS.
According to Apple, the developer preview of iOS 16 is available starting today (June 6), and a public beta will be available to iOS users next month at beta.apple.com.