Just in case you haven’t heard, iOS 16 has finally been released by Apple. This is now officially the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system which was spoken about at their developer conference in June.
One thing Apple has lacked over the years is customization, and whilst you don’t get complete customization it is definitely a step in the right direction.
My top 5 features:
- Brand new lock screen style
- Manage messages with ease
- Focus mode improvements
- Battery percentage has finally returned
- Cut subject from a background in Safari, Files, and the Photos app
1. Brand new lock screen style
The biggest change in iOS 16 is the lock screen. This is the biggest and most exciting change for most users in this new update. iOS 16 comes with a completely new style of lock screen for iPhone users, giving you a bit more customization to make your lock screen more personal to you. You now have the option to display up to 4 widgets, whether this is Bluetooth device battery status, calendar appointments, different clock timezones, the weather, and much more.
You can now even pick the font and color for the date and time, and you can even have part of your lock screen image overlap the time slightly, which looks very cool and provides more depth to your lock screen. This is made possible by another new feature that allows you to cut out the subject of an image by holding it down, which I will cover later on.
If you own an iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max these features and widgets will always be visible now due to the all-new always-on-display feature.
2. Manage messages with ease
With the new feature of editing and un-sending messages, typos and accidental messages should become a thing of the past.
iOS 16 allows you to completely delete a sent message for both users, this is great if you accidentally send the wrong message to someone. If you do delete a message both users will have a small message notifying you that a message has been removed, and apart from this small message there will be no previous evidence of the contents of the message.
If you send someone a message and you notice a typo, or you’d like to simply add something in, you can. With iOS 16 you can edit sent messages with ease. The message will be made into an interactive widget where both users can see the edit history.
3. Focus mode improvements
This new feature goes hand in hand with the new lock screen redesign. If you’re someone that likes to stay organized and productive in different situations, this feature is great. It allows you to set different lock screens for different focus modes.
With this new iOS feature it’ll even allow you to set a different home screen and Apple watch face as part of that focus mode, ensuring that none of your devices will distract you from the task at hand.
4. Battery percentage has finally returned
This is a small change, but it is something we all wanted. The battery percentage is finally back with the new iOS 16 update. This is something I personally turned on straight away, it saves you wasting time having to drag down the screen to see the battery percentage, it is now always visible within the battery icon.
5. Cut subject from a background in Safari, Files, and the Photos app
This feature is brilliant, and honestly, as a graphic designer, I would say it works really well considering how smooth and easy it is to do!
To lift a subject from a background, simply hold and drag on the subject to lift the png so you can drag it into a message, email, or notes. Or you can hold on to it rather than dragging it so you can copy and paste the png.
Summary
These are the 5 iOS features that I consider to be the most important and impressive. To find out if your device is compatible with iOS 16 read our other blog post.
If there are any more stand-out features that you like, let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
One Response