Last Updated on June 8, 2022 by srinivas
The WWDC keynote was packed for nearly two hours with exciting announcements. Great new features for iPhone, iPad, Mac, new Mac hardware, and even a very early taste of next-generation CarPlay.
Despite the marathon keynote presentation that brought dozens of new features, there are so many changes in iOS 16 that quite a few had to be left out. Some were covered in the iPadOS and macOS presentations — improvements to apps like Mail are coming to all devices — but here are 10 smaller iOS 16 details we think are worth mentioning.
Support for Switch controllers (and others)
iOS 16 officially includes support for several new Bluetooth game controllers, including Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers, giving you even more options when playing games. This support also extends to tvOS and iPadOS.
Locked Folders in Photos
As an extra privacy measure, the Hidden and Recently Deleted folders in Photos are now locked by default so that someone doesn’t accidentally stumble across them. You use your iPhone credentials (Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode) to access them.
Duplicate Photos Detection
In the Albums view of the Photos app, you’ll find a new Duplicates option in Utilities. It automatically finds identical images and lets you merge them, combining captions, keywords, and favorites into the highest quality duplicate image. So now you can keep your photo library a little bit cleaner.
The notifications that come in on the iOS 16 lock screen can be customized.
Apple
Lock screen notification layouts
When Apple showed its fancy new lock screen, it only showed notifications arriving in a stack, but that’s not the only option. You can set it to list view if you want them all to cover your pretty lock screen like before, or a single banner with a counter if you want to keep everything super neat.
Web push notifications coming in 2023
During the keynote, Apple noted that Safari in macOS Ventura will support web push notifications. That’s coming to iOS and iPadOS too, but not right away — Apple calls the feature “coming in 2023” for its mobile operating systems — which is probably a good thing to be honest.
More Offline Siri Features
Speaking of Siri, if you have an iPhone 12 or newer, it will do even more offline than before. Most Home Control functions, Intercom and Voicemail functions work without sending anything to Apple. You obviously need a network connection to communicate with your HomeKit hub, for example, but all processing stays on your iPhone and nothing goes beyond your local network. Plus, you can finally end a phone call or FaceTime call with Siri. Weird that it took so long. Sure, the other person will hear you say it, but so what?
In iOS 16, you can take better photos without having to upgrade your iPhone.
Better blur on iPhone 13
If you have an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro, you’ll get better bokeh in some notable ways. When shooting portraits, objects in the foreground – in front of the subject – get a blurry effect. And in Movie mode videos, the depth of field effect has better accuracy around things like hair and glasses. And we’re still amazed at the on-demand cropping it does with photos on the lock screen.
Haptic keyboard support
The built-in iOS 16 keyboard now has an option for haptic feedback as you type, so it feels a bit more natural when you tap the glass. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be coming to the iPad yet.
iCloud+ improvements
iCloud+’s Hide My Email and Custom Email Domains features are getting a little more useful in iOS 16. Hide My Email is integrated directly into QuickType keyboard suggestions, 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. From the iCloud Mail settings, you can buy a new domain or enable catch-all aliases directly from the iCloud Mail settings.
Memoji Improvements
What can we say, we love Memoji. And they’re getting some meaningful improvements in 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 noses and more neutral lip colors. It should be easier than ever to match your Memoji to your look and style.