IOS 16

iOS 16

Version of the iOS operating system
Logo of iOS 16
iOS 16 home screen
Developer	Apple Inc.
Written in	C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, assembly language
OS family	Unix-like, based on Darwin (BSD), macOS
Source model	Closed with open-source components
Latest release	16.7.10 (August 7, 2024 (2024-08-07)) [±]
Marketing target	Smartphones
Available in	40 languages
Update method	Software Update
Package manager	App Store
Platforms	iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone X iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone SE (2nd generation) iPhone 12 Mini iPhone 12 iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 13 Mini iPhone 13 iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Kernel type	Hybrid (XNU)
Default user interface	Cocoa Touch (multi-touch, GUI)
License	Proprietary software with open-source components
Preceded by	iOS 15
Official website	www.apple.com/ios/ios-16-preview/
Support status
Presupported (beta)
Articles in the series
iPadOS 16 (derivative for iPad)

iOS 16 is the 16th and upcoming major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone line of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2022, as the successor to iOS 15.

The public version of iOS 16 is expected to be released in late 2022, while the public beta is expected to become available in July 2022.

History

Further information: iOS version history § iOS 16 / iPadOS 16

Updates

The first developer beta of iOS 16 was released on June 6, 2022.

Version	Build	Codename	Release date	Notes
16.0 beta	20A5283p	SydneySeed	June 6, 2022	iOS & iPadOS 16 Beta Release Notes

Legend:   Past   Current   Beta

System features

Lock screen

• The Lock Screens appearance is now customizable and it can host Widgets. The font and text color for the date and time can be customized and color effects can be applied to the entire Lock Screen. The date is now above the time and a small widget can be added next to the date. Other widgets can be added and arranged horizontally on the third row, below the time. The time can be partially overlapped behind the objects recognized in the photo set as a wallpaper, while remaining readable, creating a depth effect.
• Multiple Lock Screens can be set up.

Live Activities

They are special widgets on the lock screen that can show data in real time, allowing the user to follow events continuously without being flooded with separate notifications. They take advantage of the new Real-time Notifications introduced with iOS 16.

When you create a Timer, a corresponding widget appears on the lock screen that shows its status in real time and you can also control it because the widget is interactive.

Improved focus mode

• Different Lock Screens can be set up based on the active status.
• Focus filters allow apps to show different content based on the active status. For example, Safari can only show opened tabs related work if the user is in the Work status, the Mail app can only show email messages that don't come from work contacts if they are not in the Work status, etc.
• It is now possible to create lists of apps and contacts to be silenced, in addition to those to be allowed.

Notifications

• Notifications can now appear from below the Lock Screen, rather than above.
• It is possible to show notifications in three different styles: counter, stack or list. Notifications can be grouped together with two fingers to reduce them to a counter.

Control Center

A new drop-down menu in Control Center shows all apps that have recently accessed the camera, microphone or location.

Improved dictation

During text dictation the keyboard is always present and allows the user to switch from speech to manual typing and vice versa without interruptions. It is also possible to insert emojis through dictation. Auto-Punctuation automatically inserts a period when there is a pause in the dictation.

Improved Live Text

• Ability to select and manipulate text in videos.
• Quick actions are commands available directly on the Live Text. It is possible to make price conversions to another currency or translate text on the fly.
• Support expanded to Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian.

Improved Visual Search

• Visual Search is now able to extract objects and people recognized in photos; they can be interacted with to do things such as drag and drop them into other apps.

Siri improvements

• It's possible to end cellular and FaceTime calls by simply saying "Hey Siri, Hangup".

Spotlight

• A new button to access Spotlight directly from the Home Screen.
• The search input text box is now anchored to the keyboard, instead of being at the top, in order to be more accessible using the phone with one hand.
• More image results from apps like Messages, Notes, and Files.
• Quick actions like starting a timer or running a shortcut.

Translate

• Now allows the user to activate the Camera to translate text that is recognized live.
• Adds support for Dutch, Indonesian, Polish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Improved accessibility

• Door detection is a feature that allows visually impaired people to be guided by the camera. It is able to recognize the presence of a door and signals how many meters away it is and how to open it.
• Block to end call: it is a new accessibility setting that allows you to disable or enable the interruption of the call by pressing the side button of the phone.
• Apple Watch Mirroring to the iPhone: the Apple Watch display is shown on the iPhone so that it can be controlled from the iPhone.

Wi-Fi network improvements

Previously saved Wi-Fi networks are now shown which can be edited, deleted, or selected to view the network password after authentication via Face ID or Touch ID.

Cellular network improvements

During the configuration of the Cellular Network, the eSIM from another iPhone can be transferred via Bluetooth.

Face ID

Face ID now works even when the phone is oriented horizontally. It's limited to the iPhone 13 models.

Keyboard

Haptic feedback can be enabled for the keyboard; while typing text a small vibration can be felt which simulates the pressing of mechanical keys.

Controller support

iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and tvOS 16 now support connecting Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controllers.

Augmented Reality

A new framework dubbed RoomPlan will allow apps to quickly create 3D floor plans of rooms using the LiDAR Scanner introduced with the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

App features

Messages

• Sent messages can be deleted or edited within 15 minutes.
• Ability to mark an entire discussion as unread.
• SharePlay is now available in the Messages app to watch a movie or listen to music with friends, without requiring them to make a FaceTime call.
• Recover deleted messages for up to 30 days.
• New Collaborations features

FaceTime

Live Captions automatically transcribes what is said during a FaceTime call.

Mail

• Mail messages can be scheduled to be sent later.
• Newly sent email can be canceled within ten seconds.
• Ability to put on top and set a reminder for messages the user hasn't responded to yet.
• Improved search corrects typos based on the content of their messages.
• New rich links give email messages more context and details at a glance.

Maps

• Multi-stop routing is now available. Multiple intermediate stops can be added to routes, for a maximum of up to 15 stops. Users can also ask Siri to add a new stop point while they are navigating.
• Pay in Transit, now can calculate cost of fares.
• New MapKit features supporting Look Around and the Detailed City Experience.

Photos

• Photos can be shared from the user’s library with five different contacts. Shared photos can be edited or deleted freely by these contacts.
• There is a new tool that allows the user to detect duplicate photos in albums.
• The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are now protected by Face ID or Touch ID.
• It is now possible to copy filters and effects from an image to other images.
• It is possible to search for certain text inside of images.
• When cropping photos there is now a Wallpaper format which will crop the photo to the same aspect ratio as the devices display.
• Automatic duplicate detection automatically detects and groups duplicate photos or videos together. The higher quality version will be kept and the relevant data of the duplicates will be merged into the kept photo.

Camera

• While taking photos there is a button to toggle between whether the photo will be automatically shared to their Shared Photo Library or only be saved to their personal photo library.
• The Camera app has the live translate feature built-in the viewfinder.

Safari

• Groups of tabs can be shared with others to work on them together and see in real time which tab others are looking at.
• In the opened tabs view, tabs can be pinned to the top.

Notes

• A quick note can be created directly from the Lock Screen.
• Quick notes can be created in any app using the share menu.

Contacts

• Duplicate contacts are now automatically detected and users can merge them individually.
• When sharing contacts, individual fields can be selected to only share that information.

Calendar

• It is now possible to copy and paste events between the various days of the calendar.

Files

• New Quick Actions on a file allow the user to convert an image to another format JPEG, PNG, HEIF and resize it to Small, Medium, Large, Original.

Books

• The toolbar containing the reading settings, search and bookmarks has been replaced by a pop-up panel placed in a icon at the bottom in order to increase the space available for the contents and also to be more accessible when using the phone with one hand.
• Ability to adjust the line spacing, character spacing, word spacing and activate the full justification for text.
• A new theme calibrates the page colors automatically based on the ambient light using True Tone.

Health

• Users can add and manage the medications they take.
• Sleep stages allows users to monitor the sleep phases detected by the Apple Watch.

Apple News

• New "My Sports" section for highlights, videos and news regarding sports teams. Users can add their favorite sports teams for use with My Sports.
• Expanded local news
• New Favorites group

Weather

• New forecast modules for details about air quality, local forecasts, etc.
• Hourly forecasts for the next 10 days, with minute-by-minute precipitation intensity over the next hour.
• More detailed and easier to understand interactive graphs have been added that show exact trends over time of temperature, wind, humidity, etc.
• Receive government notifications about severe weather events like tornadoes, winter storms, flash floods, etc.

Fitness

• The app is now available even if the user doesn't own an Apple Watch.

Home

• Added support for the new international standard Matter for home automation.

Apple TV

iOS 16 allows cross-device connectivity in tvOS 16 for new experiences between Apple TV, Apple Watch, and iPhone.

Security and privacy

• Passkeys allows the user to authenticate on sites and apps without using passwords. Passkeys are generated by the phone and permission is granted via Face ID or Touch ID.
• Safety Check resets all access permissions given to people, apps, and devices for an iCloud account when activated, designed to help those in abusive relationships.
• Rapid Security Response allows important security updates to be distributed without requiring an entire OS update.
• Applications and websites now require permission to copy from the clipboard.
• Private Access Tokens replace CAPTCHAs and helps in identifying HTTP requests from legitimate devices and people without compromising their identity or personal information.

Supported devices

iOS 16 is the first release since iOS 13 to drop support for any iOS devices, ending support for devices released in late 2016 or earlier, including devices with Apple A9 and A10 Fusion chips: the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), and iPod Touch (7th generation). This means that it removes support from devices that lack a Neural Engine (introduced with the A11 Bionic), the last iPod touch device, and all devices with a 4-inch screen. It also means that the ″advanced hardware and software design″ to manage low battery health is now a minimum requirement.

The following supported devices in the list include:

• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X
• iPhone XR
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd generation)

See also

• iPadOS 16
• macOS Ventura
• tvOS 16
• watchOS 9

External links

• Official website