iOS16: Here are all the important features coming to iPhones this year

Apple unveiled its much-anticipated iOS16 at this year’s WWDC, offering a glimpse of what is to be expected from the new update. As expected, the announcement did not disappoint the iPhone users as iOS16 had some important and cool new features. In the new updates, iPhones will have an all-new LockScreen, iCloud Shared Photo Library, updates to Messages and Mail and more. iOS 16 will most likely be released in September alongside the upcoming iPhone 14 andwill be available for the iPhone 8 and above. However, developers can download the software now.

Here are all the important new features coming to iPhones later this year.

Messages

Add WION as a Preferred Source

It is unknown whether this new feature would sway people away from WhatsApp, but it can certainly pose problems for the Meta-owned messaging app.

"Embarrassing typos are a thing of the past," said Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi as he introduced three of the most requested features for the Messages app.

iPhone users can now edit and undo messages in iOS16. So, if you notice a typo after sending a message, you'll be able to edit it. A tiny "edited" appears in the status under the message.

The next new feature is that you can immediately recall a sent message. This feature works by long pressing the text which will then be prompted by many options. Among them, you have to press ‘Undo Send’ to prevent it from being read.

Lastly, you can now mark messages and threads as unread. It will help you to respond to a message sometime later.

New customisable lock screen

Taking a leaf out of the Android, iPhone users can now customise the lock screen in their iPhones, by adding more widgets. This much-needed feature makes it easy to get information at a glance, such as upcoming calendar events, the weather, battery levels, alarms, time zones, activity ring progress, and more. You can also change the colour of the background photo and also the font on the lock screen.

Lock Screen comes with newgallery

The new Lock Screen gallery will feature a range of options, from a weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions, an Astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, Moon, and solar system and more. Users can also create Lock Screens using their favourite emoji or colour combinations. With multiple Lock Screens, users can switch between their favourites with just a swipe.

Notifications and live activities

One of the problems that users faced were the clunky notifications that would pop up on the home screen.

iOS 15 introduced “summaries”, which went a long way towards helping the situation, but they pale in comparison to Android.

In iO16, Apple seems to have addressed the issue in a major way. Under the new software update, notifications have been moved to the bottom of your display. Once you receive them, instead of being compiled into a list, they appear like a vertical carousel. This not only looks better but should be a big help for one-handed use of your iPhone.

There’s also a cool new feature called Live Activities which makes it easier to follow sporting events, workouts or even the progress of an Uber ride.

Wallet and Apple Pay Later

ID cards from more states will be available in your Wallet app along with more security and privacy features. In iOS 16 you can also protect your identity and age. So rather than showing your exact birth date, the Wallet app will display your ID and that you're over 21.

iOS 16 makes sharing keys easier with apps like Mail and Messages.

Apple Maps gets multi-stop routing

Apple Maps is introducing multi-stop routing, so users can plan up to 15 stops in advance and automatically sync routes from Mac to iPhone when they’re ready to go. Maps is also bringing transit updates to users, making it easy for riders to view how much their journey will cost, add transit cards to Wallet, see low balances, and replenish transit cards, all without leaving Maps.

Siri gets the ability to run shortcuts

Siri adds the ability to run shortcuts as soon as an app is downloaded without requiring upfront setup. Users can add emoji when sending a message, choose to send messages automatically — skipping the confirmation step — and hang up the phone and FaceTime calls completely hands-free by simply saying “Hey Siri, hang up.”