iOS 16 Beta 2 Tidbits: New Wallpaper Colors, Backup Over LTE, SMS Filtering and More

Apple today seeded the second betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 to developers for testing purposes, and the new betas introduce new features and refine some of the changes that Apple made with the first iOS 16 release.

Lock Screen Photo Wallpaper Customization

When customizing a photo on the Lock Screen, there are two new DuoTone and Color Wash overlay options to change the look of the photo.

customize wallpaper setting ios 16

Wallpaper Photo Editing

If you set a photo as your wallpaper, Apple lets you know that you can use pinch gestures to adjust the crop of the image.

ios 16 pinch to crop

Back Ups Over LTE

iPhone and iPad users can back up their devices over an LTE cellular connection, in addition to a 5G or WiFi connection. Apple introduced support for 5G backups in iOS 15, and has expanded it to LTE in iOS 16.

Astronomy Wallpaper Location

The Astronomy wallpaper now shows a green dot to let you know where you are located. The dot appears in the Earth wallpaper options, but it does not stay on the wallpaper at all times and is instead only visible when editing the wallpaper. These dynamic wallpapers are also now available on older iPhones.

astronomy wallpaper location ios 16

Wallpaper Editing

In the Settings app, the Wallpapers section has been tweaked to make it easier to customize the different wallpapers that you set for the Home Screen and Lock Screen. There are new "Customize" options under the Lock Screen and ‌Home Screen‌ options to make it clearer that there are settings that can be adjusted.

customize wallpaper setting ios 16
When you choose your look, there's also an option to "Set as Wallpaper Pair."

Apple Cash and Apple Card

The Apple Cash "Send and Request" interface has been changed in the second beta of iOS 16. It's now a single merged button instead of two separate buttons, and the balance is shown more clearly.

apple cash send request ios 16

For Apple Card, the "Weekly Activity" section also lets you know how much Apple Cash you've earned for the week. t

Screenshots

There's now a "Save to Quick Note" option when saving a screenshot, which joins the Save to Photos, Save to Files, and Delete Screenshot options.

ios 16 quick note screenshot

Delete Lock Screens

It's now easier to delete a Lock Screen by swiping upwards.

delete lock screen ios 16

SMS Filtering

According to Apple's release notes, developers are able to classify incoming SMS messages from unknown numbers into 12 sub-categories with Transaction and Promotion categories for improved organization.

For Indian users, Messages supports event extraction from SMS. EVent and appointment messages are shown as Siri suggestions and are also presented to users in Messages thread and the Calendar inbox.

iPadOS 16 Stage Manager

In iPadOS 16 beta 2 on compatible iPads, there is a new Stage Manager setting under the "‌Home Screen‌ and Dock" section of the Settings app. It displays options for hiding recent apps and hiding the dock while using ‌Stage Manager‌.

Messages Junk Reporting

For some U.S. carriers, Messages in iOS 16 beta 2 extends the "Report Junk" feature to allow users to report SMS/MMS junk to carriers.

report junk message ios 16

Translate

The Translate app now supports Turkish, Thai, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch.

HealthKit APIs

For developers, HealthKit workout APIs support multisport workouts with activities that include swimming, cycling, and running.

iOS 16 beta 2 also adds HealthKit support for the new running workout metrics that Apple announced at WWDC. Workout metrics include running power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, running speed, and stride length.

Other New Features

Know of a new feature in iOS 16 that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

IMPOSSIBLEMAN Avatar
39 months ago
Always-on numbers row in the default keyboard, please Apple. ?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twocents Avatar
39 months ago
Why delete the Pride wallpaper.. it’s still June
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
39 months ago
Nice changes - Love the layout of the new Lock Screen. It looks stunning!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
39 months ago

Tempted to install the public beta... wonder when it will be out?
Suppose to be out in July. Next month. I say within the next 3 weeks.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
39 months ago
Excited for that new Lock Screen
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
srbNYC Avatar
39 months ago

The Astronomy wallpaper now shows a green dot to let you know where you are located.
I can't get the wallpaper to locate me. Help!

UPDATE: Found the "Astronomy" toggle in Location Services. (Not sure why folks found this post funny. I wasn't kidding. ? )
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)