iOS 16 brings us a lock screen unrecognizable (and more customizable than ever)

This year, as we expected after rumors from the ever-reliable Mark Gurman, the system gets changes to the lock screen, which Apple says will have its biggest update yet. Craig Federighi has shown how we can now fully customize his interface. Until now, as we know, we couldn’t touch much more than the image, but now, in addition to many predefined styles, we can, for example, choose the font style for the time, complications, etc. Within the presets, we can choose some styles with beautiful aesthetics, such as a weather screen that shows rain as the System Weather application. When putting our photos, for example, now we can choose more than one, we can choose a folder.

Without leaving the lock screen, Apple is also going to redesign how notifications are displayed. Instead of covering the photo of the lock screen, now we can see the notifications coming from the bottom of the screen, in a kind of carousel. This way we will never lose the visual cleanliness of the new lock screen.

Within the lock screen, we have also known the existence of Live Activities, an API so that developers can bring very interesting functions to it, in the style of what they can do on the Apple Watch.

New interface and dictation experience

Now, when we dictate, the iOS 16 keyboard stays open, so that we can write and modify what we say out loud. For those who use the feature a lot, the previous dictation interface could be very intrusive, because you couldn’t do anything else. Now that changes and the voice can perfectly complement the text entered by hand.

The live text comes into the video

Last year, Apple launched Live Text, as we mentioned at the beginning. It allows us to recognize text with the camera, but also text present in any old photo, both on iOS and Mac. Now, if we have a video, Live Text is also capable of recognizing what appears in it. This is especially useful, for example in tutorials.

In addition to this novelty for video, Apple has mentioned that Live Text will now have an API, so that any developer will be able to recognize text within their application, without the user depending on the camera app or the system photos app. Finally, Apple has shown how we can copy an image of a dog, for example, and the system, if we want, will automatically remove the background to paste only the dog without a background.

Maps can now make routes with up to 15 stops

Since you have Google Maps a long time ago, Apple Maps now allows you to add stops on a route. We can add up to 15 stops and ask Siri to add them on the fly, with a voice.

Shared Photos libraries are coming to iCloud Photos

With iOS 16, Apple will add the ability to have photo libraries shared with friends and family. It is a function that we have already seen in other services, and that allows us to create collaborative albums. In addition, it does so by providing its functions, such as uploading photos to the shared library that we choose just as it is done.

Once we have shared those photos, if we edit them from the photos app, our contacts will also be automatically modified. In other words, everyone will see what we have on our mobiles.

The ‘Casa’ app receives news

Apple has begun to talk about the connected home by talking about Matter, the connected home standard that will arrive at the end of the year and in which the most important companies in the ecosystem participate, from Google to Amazon, including Samsung. After years with a similar interface, the ‘Home’ app has been redesigned and allows you to have all the switches accessible at a glance.

CarPlay is renewed with changes as big as those of the lock screen

After the lock screen, the biggest change when it comes to iOS 16 and the ecosystem, in general, has been CarPlay. Thanks to the work with the car companies, CarPlay will integrate much better with all the components of the car, so it will provide much more relevant information.

But even if that wasn’t the case in some cars, Apple has brought to CarPlay the changes that have brought customization capabilities to the iPhone’s lock screen never before seen on the screen in our car. As they have taught, Apple wants to transcend what until now have been CarPlay screens to become much more prominent in screens such as the speedometer, as we see in the image.

Apple WWDC 2022: Apple improves CarPlay with a new design, full in-car integration and more

In all these screens, unlike what has happened until now, there will be a high degree of customization by the user, which will allow, for example, widgets to be included in the interfaces. We can say that CarPlay will be more iOS than ever.

Apple has announced the new CarPlay as a preview, along with the collaboration with large manufacturers, and has said that the first models will arrive at the end of the year, but without saying exactly in which models we will see it first. Something that fits the reality of the automobile market: it is not expected soon.

iOS 16 Compatible Devices

This is what the complete list of devices that will be able to install iOS 16 looks like when it is officially released, presumably in early fall, after a summer of beta in beta. The iPhone 7, which will be six years old on September 21, loses compatibility with this version.