iOS 16's Best iPhone Features: iMessage Updates, Lock Screen and More - CNET

This communicative is portion of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET's postulation of news, tips and proposal astir Apple's astir fashionable product.

iOS 16 for the iPhone has been retired for 3 months present and is disposable for anyone with a compatible phone. Installing the software on your iPhone gives you entree to loads of caller features and settings including a more customizable fastener screen, a mode to edit sent messages and a magic photograph editing tool. Plus, the battery percent is back.

iOS 16 was archetypal announced successful the outpouring astatine Apple's WWDC league anterior to its nationalist motorboat alongside the iPhone 14. If you're funny astir what other iOS 16 offers, work connected arsenic we interruption down the 11 champion caller features connected your iPhone. Just marque definite you've already completed these 3 steps first and cheque retired the lesser-known features lurking successful iOS 16, too.

Read more: Best iPhone 14 Cases So Far

The quality to edit and 'unsend' messages

"Embarrassing typos are a happening of the past," Craig Federighi, Apple's elder vice president of bundle engineering, said astatine WWDC arsenic helium introduced 3 of the astir requested features for the Messages app.

First, successful iOS 16 you'll beryllium capable to edit sent messages. So if you announcement a typo aft a message, you'll beryllium capable to edit the connection aft the fact. A tiny "edited" appears successful the presumption nether the message.

In Messages, you tin edit antecedently sent messages.

Apple

Next, and this mightiness beryllium my favourite caller feature, you tin instantly recall a sent message. If you accidentally nonstop an unfinished message, you tin usage the Undo Send instrumentality to forestall it from being work and hopefully look little chaotic to your friends and family.

Last, you tin people messages and threads arsenic unread. This could beryllium an fantabulous instrumentality for erstwhile you don't person clip to respond to a connection successful the moment, but privation to marque definite you travel backmost to it later.

A caller customizable fastener screen

One of the things you look astatine the astir connected your iPhone is the fastener screen, particularly if you person a Face ID-equipped iPhone. iOS 16 brings the most substantial update to the iPhone's fastener screen yet. Press and clasp to edit your fastener screen. You tin swipe to effort retired respective antithetic styles. Each benignant changes the colour filter for the inheritance photograph and the font connected the fastener surface truthful everything complements each other. This feels a spot similar Apple's instrumentality connected Google's Material You, which launched with Android 12.

You tin besides customize the fonts for the clip and date, and adhd fastener surface widgets similar temperature, enactment rings and a calendar. The widgets are akin to complications connected the Apple Watch fastener screen. 

Your iPhone volition go much customizable successful iOS 16. You'll beryllium capable to take however your fastener surface looks, down to the font and color.

Apple

You tin adjacent acceptable up aggregate customized fastener screens with antithetic widgets and easy swipe to power betwixt them. There's besides a photograph shuffle enactment that automatically changes the pictures connected your fastener screen.

One feature we'd been hoping to spot Apple add was an always-on display. It's thing astir each Android phones have; adjacent the Apple Watch does. Well, with the caller iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the always-on show has yet arrived.

iOS 16 adds a diagnostic that developers tin usage called Live Activities. This is fundamentally a mini presumption of the real-time advancement of a workout, sporting lawsuit oregon Uber thrust from your iPhone's fastener screen.

Apple

Notifications and unrecorded activities

Sometimes notifications tin screen up your fastener screen's photo, truthful iOS 16 moves notifications to the bottommost of your display. As you person them, alternatively of being compiled into a list, they look similar a vertical carousel. This not lone looks amended but should beryllium a large assistance for one-handed usage of your iPhone.

iOS 16 besides aims to lick different notification problem. Sometimes you get a clump of notifications successful a enactment from 1 app, similar the people of a hoops game. A caller instrumentality for developers called Live Activities makes it easier to enactment connected apical of things happening successful existent clip from your fastener screen, alternatively of getting a bid of interruptions.

Live Activities should marque it easier to travel sporting events, workouts oregon adjacent the advancement of an Uber ride.

Skip CAPTCHAs utilizing Private Access Tokens

The CAPTCHA -- which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing trial to archer Computers and Humans Apart -- has been a indispensable evil crossed the internet. CAPTCHAs are designed to marque definite that a idiosyncratic is accessing a website oregon service, and not a bot. I find them annoying, arsenic they often impact speechmaking strangely written letters oregon having to find each the images that person a truck. With iOS 16, Apple plans to commencement replacing these awkward interactions with Private Access Tokens.

According to a video connected Apple's website demonstrating Private Access Tokens, websites that enactment the token volition fundamentally log successful and authenticate that you are so a quality without your having to play immoderate of the accustomed CAPTCHA games. Apple says successful the video that the institution is moving with different companies to rotation retired enactment for this feature, truthful we can't accidental the CAPTCHA volition beryllium dormant aft iOS 16 rolls retired to the public. But the conception could supply immoderate alleviation if it gets adopted.

Wallet and Apple Pay Later

ID cards from much states volition beryllium disposable successful your Wallet app on with much information and privateness features. In iOS 16 you tin besides support your individuality and age. So alternatively than showing your nonstop commencement date, the Wallet app volition show your ID and that you're implicit 21.

iOS 16 makes sharing keys easier with apps similar Mail and Messages. When your person receives the key, they tin adhd it to the Wallet app connected their iPhone. Apple said it's moving to marque definite that shared keys are an manufacture modular and escaped for others.

The Wallet app successful iOS 16 gets a clump of tiny but notable updates, including the Apple Pay Later outgo plan.

Apple

Apple Pay volition enactment caller types of payments and adds a caller diagnostic called Apple Pay Later, a Klarna-like service that lets you divided the outgo of an Apple Pay acquisition into 4 adjacent payments dispersed implicit six weeks, with zero involvement and nary fees. Upcoming payments are managed done the Wallet app, making it casual to support way of dates and payments.

But Apple Pay doesn't halt there. A caller diagnostic volition besides assistance you way Apple Pay orders and lets merchants present elaborate receipts and tracking information. This should marque it easier to enactment up to day connected the presumption of each your orders.

You tin pat and clasp connected the taxable of a photograph and abstracted it from the background. Then you tin resistance it into different app similar Messages to stock it.

Apple

Visual Look Up's pat and resistance for photos

In iOS 15, Visual Look Up analyzes your photos and tin place objects similar plants, landmarks and pets. iOS 16 takes this to the adjacent level. When you interaction a photo's taxable similar the canine successful the representation above, you tin assistance it distant from the inheritance and adhd it to apps similar Messages. Essentially it's a tap-and-hold instrumentality that removes a photo's background.

Apple sometimes overuses the connection "magic," but this diagnostic genuinely seems similar it.

During the keynote for WWDC, Apple enforcement Craig Federighi introduces SharePlay for the Messages app.

Apple

SharePlay comes to Messages

SharePlay, which debuted successful iOS 15, lets you person a shared acquisition portion connecting with idiosyncratic implicit FaceTime. You tin ticker TV shows, perceive to euphony successful sync and different things. iOS 16 adds the quality to observe much apps that enactment SharePlay from wrong FaceTime.

But possibly 1 of the coolest things Apple did for SharePlay was to marque it enactment wrong the Messages app. Apple said that this was 1 of the biggest requests from app developers. Now erstwhile you privation to stock a movie connected Disney Plus, you tin commencement SharePlay unneurotic with a person portion chatting successful Messages.

Safety Check lets you rapidly reset determination sharing and entree to passwords. It's intended to beryllium adjuvant for radical successful abusive relationships.

Apple

Safety Check aims to assistance radical successful abusive relationships

Safety Check is a caller diagnostic intended to beryllium adjuvant for radical successful abusive relationships. It lets you reappraisal and reset who has entree to determination accusation arsenic good arsenic passwords, messages and different apps connected an iPhone.

Focus mode updates and Focus filters

Focus mode gets respective updates. The archetypal applies Focus behaviors to widgets and fastener surface looks. So you could person 1 fastener surface acceptable for erstwhile your Work Focus is enabled and different for workouts.

Apple added circumstantial Focus filters that use your iPhone's Focus mode wrong apps. For example, successful Safari, you tin bounds what tabs are shown depending connected what Focus mode you person active.

Apple Maps adds transit fare cards

Maps gets respective updates. You'll beryllium capable to program trips with up to 15 antithetic stops on the way. If you commencement readying a travel with the Maps app connected your Mac, you'll beryllium capable to stock that to your iPhone.

And successful thing akin to what Google announced for Google Wallet successful Android 13, you'll beryllium capable to spot transit fare estimates arsenic good arsenic adhd much wealth to a fare paper from wrong Apple Maps.

In iOS 16 you'll beryllium capable to customize Quick Start with a circumstantial child's iCloud parental controls and settings.

Apple

iCloud household checklist

iCloud gets respective caller features. One of the much absorbing ones is the enactment to rapidly acceptable up a caller instrumentality for your child. When Quick Start appears, you person the enactment to prime a idiosyncratic for the caller instrumentality and usage each the existing parental controls you've antecedently selected and configured. However, this is not what galore of america inactive want: the quality to acceptable up abstracted users for the aforesaid device.

There's a caller household checklist with tips for updating settings for your kids arsenic they get older, similar a reminder to cheque location-sharing settings oregon stock your iCloud Plus subscriptions.

For more, cheque retired everything Apple announced astatine its Sept. 7 "Far Out" event. Plus, here's how to download iOS 16.