Apple this week released iOS 16, the latest version of iOS with a new customizable Lock Screen, major new additions to Messages, and enhancements to Mail, Maps, and more.
Other than the headlining features, there are a number of quality-of-life changes, improvements, and new capabilities baked into iOS 16 that help improve the iPhone experience. We've listed 16 hidden features and changes from iOS 16 that you may not have known about below.
Get Rid of Duplicate Photos - The iOS 16 Photos app can let you know if you have multiple identical photos, giving you the opportunity to delete the extras to save space. Duplicate photos are listed in a new "Duplicates" album that appears if you have duplicates to deal with.
AirPods Updates - It's simpler to manage AirPods settings in iOS 16 with a dedicated section that pops up in the Settings app when AirPods are connected. iOS 16 also adds a Personalized Spatial Audio feature that uses the TrueDepth camera to scan your ears, providing a unique listening experience tuned just to you.
Face ID in Landscape Mode - iPhone models running iOS 16 support Face ID in landscape mode, making it easier to unlock the iPhone when it's not held in the standard portrait orientation. The feature is limited to the iPhone 13 and later.
Hidden and Deleted Photo Protection - In iOS 16, you need to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID before the Hidden and Recently Deleted photo albums can be accessed. This essentially locks these albums from view should someone gain access to your phone while it's otherwise unlocked.
WiFi Password - If you've ever been frustrated by an inability to access the WiFi password of the network you're using, that's changing in iOS 16. In the iPhone's WiFi settings, you can see the password of the network that you're connected to.
Haptic Feedback for Keyboard - There's a keyboard setting in iOS 16 that lets you enable haptic feedback that can be felt when you're typing. The vibrations are for each key tap, offering users a physical confirmation that a letter has been tapped.
Copy and Delete Screenshots - When you take a screenshot on iOS, alongside being able to save the screenshot to Photos, save as a Quick Note, and save to Files, you'll now be able to "Copy and Delete." The new option saves the screenshot to your clipboard and then deletes it from your Camera Roll, making it easier to use one-time screenshots without them being saved to your device and needing to be cleaned up later.
Ability to Delete Find My, Clock, and Health - With iOS 14, Apple allowed users to offload some of the apps that come pre-installed on the iPhone. With iOS 16, Apple is expanding the number of apps you can delete from your phone, which now includes Find My, Clock, and Health. Deleted apps can be redownloaded from the App Store later if needed.
Built-In Currency Converison - Thanks to new features in Live Text, iOS now includes built-in currency conversion within the Camera and Photos apps. Simply hold your iPhone camera up to a price tag, wait for the Live Text icon to appear, tap and hold on the price, and select "Convert." Live Text also supports translation and measurement conversion.
See Your Battery Percentage - In iOS 16, Apple is giving users the ability to display their battery percentage directly in the status bar inside of the battery icon, removing the need to swipe into Control Center to check on their battery level. The battery percentage toggle is not available on all iPhones.
Use Siri to Hang Up a Call - A new settings in iOS 16 lets users use Siri to hang up an active call. By heading into Settings > Accessibility > Siri and activating Call Hangup, users can now say "Hey Siri, hang up the call" to end an active call. Note that the other person/people on the call will hear your request to Siri before being hung up on.
Prevent Accidental Call Hangups - Users on iOS 16 will now have the ability to disable the side button from ending an active call. In prior versions of iOS, pressing the side button and locking the iPhone while in a call would instantly end it. In iOS 16, Apple allows users to disable that to prevent accidents by going into Settings > Accessibility> Touch and toggling on "Prevent Lock to End Call."
Sorting Options for Playlists - In Apple Music on iOS 16, users will now have the ability to sort playlists by title, artist, album, and release date. The new sorting option can be found by pressing the three dots in the upper right-hand corner when viewing a playlist.
Full-Screen Music Player - One major but possibly lesser-known feature of iOS 16 is that Apple is bringing back the full-screen Lock Screen music player. When listening to a song from Apple Music, Spotify, or other third-party music apps, press on the album art on the Lock Screen from Now Playing to enter the all-new player look. Tap the full-screen album art to minimize Now Playing.
Spatial Audio Just for You - With the latest AirPods and some Beats earphones, iOS 16 users can activate Personalized Spatial Audio. Personalized Spatial Audio uses the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, or the iPhone 14 Pro to scan the geometry of the user's ears in order to deliver a better Spatial Audio experience.
New Warning While Charging - On iOS 16, if your iPhone is warm, you'll get a new notification letting you know that charging will be paused until your iPhone's temperature cools down. This is done in order to prevent possible long-term damage to your iPhone's battery.
For the ultimate walkthrough of everything new in iOS 16, see our comprehensive roundup.
* Spatial Audio Just for You - With the latest AirPods and some Beats earphones, iOS 16 users can activate Personalized Spatial Audio. Personalized Spatial Audio uses the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, or the iPhone 14 Pro to scan the geometry of the user's ears in order to deliver a better Spatial Audio experience.
So much wrong on this part. You don’t need a pro phone to get this. It uses the TrueDepth camera that is used for Face ID, not the LiDAR Scanner. Also this is available for first gen AirPods Pro.
That seems like a weird feature to add. I have signed friends into my wifi network for them because I didn't want to share the password (and I use my guest network for IoT stuff). So, now they technically could go in and reveal the password if they wanted to know it. Not a big deal, but I'm not sure why making it possible to reveal passwords already typed in is every really a good idea from a security standpoint.
That was never a secure way to connect someone: if their keychains are synced across devices, they could have always accessed them in plain text from their Macs…
* WiFi Password - If you've ever been frustrated by an inability to access the WiFi password of the network you're using, that's changing in iOS 16. In the iPhone's WiFi settings, you can see the password ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/06/ios-16-wifi-network-password/') of the network that you're connected to.
That seems like a weird feature to add. I have signed friends into my wifi network for them because I didn't want to share the password (and I use my guest network for IoT stuff). So, now they technically could go in and reveal the password if they wanted to know it. Not a big deal, but I'm not sure why making it possible to reveal passwords already typed in is every really a good idea from a security standpoint.
Wednesday July 13, 2022 11:55 am PDT by Juli Clover
Set to come out this fall, iOS 16 is the next-generation version of iOS, and it is laden with tons of major changes, such as an all new customizable Lock Screen. There are also a number of smaller, lesser known features, and in our latest YouTube video, we highlight some neat additions that you might not know about.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Pinned...
Apple is adding the ability for users to lock their Hidden and Recently Deleted albums on iOS 16, requiring user authentication through Touch ID or Face ID to access.
Apple says that starting with iOS 16 this fall, both albums will be locked by default. Currently, both the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are exposed, allowing anyone who may grab access to your phone the ability to go...
Thursday December 8, 2022 7:05 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 16.2 is expected to be released next week following nearly two months of beta testing. With last-minute additions like Apple Music Sing and Advanced Data Protection, the software update now has over a dozen new features for the iPhone.
Below, we've recapped many of the new features coming with iOS 16.2, including Apple's new whiteboard app Freeform, two new Lock Screen widgets, the...
Tuesday October 11, 2022 6:39 am PDT by Sami Fathi
In a few weeks, Apple will release iOS 16.1 for all compatible iPhones, marking the first major update to the iOS 16 operating system since its public release in September.
With iOS 16.1, Apple is bringing several new changes, features, and bug fixes to iPhone users. We've highlighted five noteworthy changes below. iOS 16.1 is currently still in beta testing with developers and public beta...
Thursday December 1, 2022 8:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to publicly release iOS 16.2 for the iPhone in mid-December, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The update remains in beta testing for now, with at least eight new features and changes already uncovered so far.
iOS 16.2 introduces a number of new features, including Apple's new whiteboard app Freeform, two new Lock Screen widgets for Sleep and Medications, the ability to hide...
Wednesday September 28, 2022 2:02 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today explained why iPhone users who recently updated to iOS 16 may not see the new Duplicates album in its stock Photos app, and what they can do about it.
New to iOS 16, the Photos app will automatically detect any duplicate photos and videos in users' libraries and collate them together in a Duplicates album for inspection, giving users the option to merge duplicate sets and delete...
Wednesday September 14, 2022 12:28 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Though iOS 16 was just released on Monday, Apple is already moving on to testing the next update to the operating system. iOS 16.1 was seeded to developers today, and it introduces a handful of new features that are worth noting.
Lock Screen/Home Screen Customization
When tapping on the "Customize" interface on the Lock Screen, there's now an option to choose between customizing either the...
Monday September 12, 2022 9:58 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 16, the newest operating system designed for the iPhone. As with all of Apple's software updates, iOS 16 can be downloaded for free. iOS 16 is available on the iPhone 8 and later, with Apple this year dropping support for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, and the original iPhone SE.
iOS 16 is typically accompanied by iPadOS 16, but Apple is still working on iPadOS 16 features ...
Monday December 5, 2022 11:44 am PST by Juli Clover
Due to production issues at Apple supplier factories in China, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are backordered and basically out of stock at every store. If you were planning to gift or receive an iPhone 14 Pro model for the holidays and didn't already get one, you're basically out of luck because they're gone until late December.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Thursday December 8, 2022 2:45 am PST by Sami Fathi
Apple yesterday announced that end-to-end encryption is coming to even more sensitive types of iCloud data, including device backups, messages, photos, and more, meeting the longstanding demand of both users and privacy groups who have rallied for the company to take the significant step forward in user privacy.
iCloud end-to-end encryption, or what Apple calls "Advanced Data Protection,"...
Thursday December 1, 2022 8:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to publicly release iOS 16.2 for the iPhone in mid-December, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The update remains in beta testing for now, with at least eight new features and changes already uncovered so far.
iOS 16.2 introduces a number of new features, including Apple's new whiteboard app Freeform, two new Lock Screen widgets for Sleep and Medications, the ability to hide...
Wednesday December 7, 2022 12:24 pm PST by Juli Clover
With the iOS 16.2 release candidate that came out today, Apple added the new Apple Music Sing feature that was announced earlier this week. We thought we'd check out the new karaoke feature to see how it works.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple Music Sing is available on modern iPhones and iPads, as well as the newest Apple TV 4K. It's built in to the Apple...
Tuesday December 6, 2022 2:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is aiming to launch an Apple-branded consumer-oriented vehicle by 2026, and its goal is to hit a price point under $100,000 to make the car appeal to a wider range of customers, reports Bloomberg.
Apple initially planned to design a car that might look similar to Canoo's Lifestyle Vehicle, where passengers could face one another in a limousine-style car with no steering wheel or...
Thursday December 8, 2022 7:05 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 16.2 is expected to be released next week following nearly two months of beta testing. With last-minute additions like Apple Music Sing and Advanced Data Protection, the software update now has over a dozen new features for the iPhone.
Below, we've recapped many of the new features coming with iOS 16.2, including Apple's new whiteboard app Freeform, two new Lock Screen widgets, the...
Tuesday December 6, 2022 7:09 am PST by Sami Fathi
Apple today announced Apple Music Sing, a new feature in Apple Music that lets users sing their favorite songs with adjustable vocals and more.
Apple Music Sing will utilize Apple Music's real-time lyrics to allow users to sing to their favorite songs using adjustable vocals, background vocals, and duet view to allow more than one singer.Apple Music Sing includes:
Adjustable vocals: Users...
Wednesday December 7, 2022 6:47 pm PST by Juli Clover
Twitter plans to charge $11 per month for a Twitter Blue subscription on the iPhone in order to account for the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from in-app purchases, reports The Information. On the web, Twitter Blue will be priced at $7 per month.
Prior to when Twitter Blue was paused, Twitter was charging $7.99 for a subscription, but the pricing will change before it relaunches. According ...
Wednesday December 7, 2022 10:00 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today announced it is expanding end-to-end encryption to many additional iCloud data categories on an opt-in basis for enhanced security.
iCloud already protects 14 data categories using end-to-end encryption by default, including the Messages app when backups are disabled, passwords stored in iCloud Keychain, Health data, Apple Maps search history, Apple Card transactions, and more,...
Top Rated Comments
So much wrong on this part. You don’t need a pro phone to get this. It uses the TrueDepth camera that is used for Face ID, not the LiDAR Scanner. Also this is available for first gen AirPods Pro.