iOS 16: Personalised lock screen to Messages, what's new in Apple iPhone OS

Previewed at the Apple's annual WWDC, the iOS 16 will bring personalised lock screen, shared iCloud library for family sharing, new functionalities to Messages app, improved Mail app, and much more

Later this year, the iOS 16 will bring several new features to the iPhone 8 and above. Previewed at the Apple’s annual worldwide developers conference (WWDC), the iOS 16 will bring personalised lock screen, shared iCloud library for family sharing, new functionalities to Messages app, improved Mail app, and much more. Here is what is new in the Apple’s upcoming operating system for iPhones.

iOS 16 will bring a personalised lock screen with multi-layered effect, widgets, wallpapers, live activities, and notifications. Starting with multi-layered effect, it will allow users to use photos as wallpaper with subject of photos set in front of the time on the lock screen, creating a sense of depth. With widgets enabled, the lock screen on the iOS 16 will show more information at a glance such as upcoming calendar events, weather, battery levels, alarms, time zones, etc. Besides photos, the iOS 16 will have a gallery based on Apple collections for use as live wallpapers such as weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions as they change throughout the day; and an astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, moon, and the solar system. The live activities feature of the lock screen is designed to help users stay on top of things that are happening in real time, such as a sports game, workout, ride-share, or food delivery order.

Besides personalised lock screen experience, the iOS 16 will introduce a common library for family photos with ‘iCloud Shared Photo Library’. It is a separate library on the iCloud wherein up to six users can choose to share existing photos from their personal libraries.

Updates are coming to Apple Messages with the iOS 16. With the new OS, users will be able to edit or recall recently sent messages, recover recently deleted messages, and mark conversations as unread so they can come back to them later. In addition, SharePlay is coming to Messages. Unveiled with Apple iOS 15, SharePlay allows users to share movies and songs with others through FaceTime. With iOS 16, the functionality is being extended to Messages, making it possible for users to enjoy synced content like movies or songs and shared playback controls all while chatting.

The iOS 16 is also set to bring new mail experience with features like schedule, recall, remind later, follow up suggestions, and more. Besides, the mail app on the iOS 16 will bring the biggest overhaul to search with more relevant, accurate, and complete results.

Live Text is another iOS 15 feature that is set to get enhanced capabilities in iOS 16. In the next version of iPhone OS, the Live Text feature is expanding to include video. Users can pause a video on any frame and interact with text on-screen. Besides, the Live Text will get ‘Visual Look Up’ feature, which would allow users to tap and hold on the subject of an image to lift it from the background and place it in apps like Messages. Visual Look Up feature will work with human subjects, and also expands to recognise birds, insects, and statues.

Aside to the above-mentioned features, there are utility features such as Apple Pay Later and Order Tracking. However, these features are restricted to select countries where Apple Pay is accepted online or in-app, using the Mastercard network. Likewise, the iOS 16 will introduce new CarPlay feature. However, Apple did not detail if it will be available across countries.