To the excitement of all Apple users around the world, Apple unveiled some big news when announcing the new features of its latest iOS 16 update during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on 6th June.
These included some bold, never-before-seen changes, unlocking a whole new level of personalisation that leaves things such as displays, usage and sharing settings at the hands of their users.
In case you missed it, here are some of the biggest changes coming to your device:
1. A whole new lock screen experience
In the past, if you wanted to change up the look and feel of your lock screen, you’d have to manually create photos to match the signature lock screen icon, as well as incorporate the big digits to indicate the time and date on your image.
With iOS 16, you can customise your very own lock screen look and feel by playing around with the font and colour for your date and time to complement that wallpaper of your fur babies. Plus, you can even add widgets and other features such as upcoming calendar events, the weather forecast, your battery levels, Activity ring progress and more.
Of course, all this is rather counterproductive if your notifications pop up and block your background – which is why iOS 16 will feature any and all push notifications rolling up from the bottom instead.
Not only does this ensure all those replies on your latest IG Story won’t obscure your beautiful wallpaper, or make you miss important catchups, but it also keeps your lock screen clean and tidy so you can get all the information you need at just a glance.
Say goodbye to notifications blocking your carefully selected lock screen wallpaper. iOS 16 will have your notifications rolling up from the bottom instead, ensuring these don’t flood your screen when you want to take a peek at the time.
Plus, mix up your staple lock screen attributes by changing the look of the date and time, using expressive type styles and colour choices according to your personal preference.
2. Edit or unsend your messages
Have you ever written something halfway and accidentally hit ‘send’ because you were momentarily preoccupied with something else?
Or written a perfectly worded birthday message, then realised after there was a pesky typo in an otherwise-lovely wish?
You’ve probably had to follow up with an “Aiyah! Sorry, accidentally pressed Send!”, or corrected yourself with the universal asterisk to indicate you’d meant to spell it right, hence spoiling the flow of your conversation.
Though your friends are probably more than understanding towards this plight, now there’s a neater way to undo that. On iOS 16’s Messages, you can edit or recall sent messages, to make sure every message is spelt out, fully typed out, and written in the way you intended it to be.
3. “Type” faster with dictation mode
Even with the rise of Siri commands and other voice-activated software, our rojak mannerisms and ways of talking tend to mean we’re not entirely able to express ourselves through dictation mode alone.
Enter the brand-new dictation mode, which keeps your keyboard open so you can switch between typing and speaking for all those words you don’t quite have the English equivalent for.
You can dictate the Emojis you want to use, and can even touch to select text in your message, then speak to replace it!
On top of that, with automatic punctuation, you can stop saying “period” or “exclamation point!” out loud too, and just let the sentences work their magic and do the work for you.
4. Enhanced Focus features
In the era of digitalisation and with more and more companies, corporations and businesses embracing the digital lifestyle, it can be harder to separate work from your personal life now. This is where the iPhone’s Focus feature comes in.
While Focus isn’t a new feature, having been released in September 2021, now iPhone users will be able to customise it to their own liking and in accordance with their personal schedules.
Just set up your Focus to filter out messages that are irrelevant to a particular mode. For example, activating a Personal Focus will ensure that your lock screen displays your own calendar events for the day, rather than combining it with your work meetings.
With these different modes, Focus takes the custom lock screen experience one step further by altering the widgets on display according to each mode.
Apps like Siri, Messages, and Calendar can be matched to your Focus mode to show you only the things you need to see at that moment.
5. Bigger, better sharing capabilities
Say goodbye to the years of AirDropping photos to your friends, family, neighbours, relatives, pets, and so on and so forth. The iOS 16 boasts a new, completely separate iCloud Shared Photo Library that anyone in your family sharing group can have equal access and permissions to.
Another thing that will come in especially handy for those who enjoy watching or listening to things together is Apple’s SharePlay feature.
This means instead of getting on a FaceTime call to watch a video or listen to music together, you can simply type it to each other in Messages and have it play in a separate floating window via SharePlay! Easy, right?
For those who have little ones at home who need accounts or separate devices for their own games, learning, and entertainment, there’s no need to fret – iOS 16 makes it increasingly easier to set up accounts for kids, complete with parental controls and permissions based on age.
Not to mention, there are even reminders over time to adjust these permissions and settings as your kids grow older, so you can have the flexibility to tailor it to your child’s level of understanding.
Newer, better iOS means a newer, better SIM plan
So, what’s the best way to make the most of these new, exciting updates coming to your iPhone? A new mobile plan that will help you make the most of these features, of course!
With M1’s SIM-only plans, you can enjoy up to 100GB for just $19.95, or 80GB for $17.95 per month to make use of your SharePlay features on the go. That’s not all, sign up for the 100GB plan and get a year of Nature’s Farm Buffered Vitamin C1000 for FREE!
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