The WWDC keynote was filled with about two hours of exciting announcements. Great new features for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, new Mac hardware and even a very early peek into the next generation of carpets.
Despite the marathon keynote presentation that has brought dozens of new features, iOS 16 has changed so much that a lot has to be left out. Some were covered in iPadOS and MacOS presentations – improvements to apps like Mail are coming to all devices – but here are 10 small iOS 16 details that we think are worth mentioning.
Support for switch controllers (and others)
iOS 16 officially includes support for multiple new Bluetooth game controllers, including the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons and Pro Controller, so you’ll have more options when playing games. This support extends to TVOS and iPadOS.
Folder locked in photos
As an additional privacy measure, folders hidden in photos and recently deleted are now locked by default so that no one accidentally stumbles upon them. You use your iPhone login credentials (Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode) to access them.
Photo duplicate detection
In the Photos app’s album view you will find a new duplicate option in the utility. It automatically detects identical images and lets you combine them, combining captions, keywords, and favorites that the duplicate image is of the highest quality. So now you can keep your photo library a little clean.
Notifications on the iOS 16 lock screen can be customized.
Apples
Lock screen notification layout
When Apple unveiled its fancy new lock screen, it only displayed incoming notifications in a stack, but it wasn’t the only option. You can set them in the list view if you want them to cover your fancy lock screen as before, or a single banner with a counter if you want to keep everything very tidy.
Web push notification coming in 2023
During the keynote address, Apple mentioned that Safari Web will support push notifications on the MacOS Ventura. It’s also coming to iOS and iPadOS, but not now – Apple has listed the feature as “coming in 2023” for its mobile OS – which is probably a good thing to be honest.
More offline Siri function
Speaking of Siri, if you have an iPhone 12 or later, it will be even more offline than before. Most home control functions, intercom, and voicemail functions will work without sending anything to Apple. For example, you obviously need a network connection to communicate with your homekit hub, but all processing is on your iPhone and nothing goes outside your local network. Also, you can finally hang up a phone call or facetime call with Siri. It’s kind of weird that it took so long. Sure, the other person will hear you say it, but so what?
You’ll be able to take better pictures on iOS 16 without the need to upgrade your iPhone.
Better blur on iPhone 13
If you have an iPhone 13 or an iPhone 13 Pro, you’ll get a much better bokeh in a few notable ways. In portrait shots, there will be a blurring effect in front of the object in the foreground. And in cinematic mode video, there is more accuracy around things like hair and glasses with depth-of-field effects. And we’re still amazed at the on-demand cutouts it makes with lock screen photos.
Haptic keyboard support
The built-in iOS 16 keyboard will now have an option for haptic response as you type, so tapping on the glass will make it feel a bit more normal. Sadly though, it still doesn’t seem to be coming to the iPad.
iCloud + improvements
ICloud + ‘s Hide My Email and Custom Email domain features are becoming a little more useful in iOS 16. Hide my email is integrated with QuickType keyboard suggestions directly, so it should always be available in third party apps. And your custom domain can be shared with people outside of your family sharing group. You can purchase a new domain from iCloud Mail settings or enable Catch-All alias directly from iCloud Mail settings.
Memoji improvements
What can we say, we like memos. And they’re making some significant improvements to iOS 16 (and iPadOS 16 and macOS 13). There are more sticker poses and all sticker poses can be used for your contact image. There are 17 new and updated hairstyles, more headwear, more nose and more neutral lip color. Your memo should be easier than ever to match your look and your style.