WWDC 2022: Apple's iOS 16 to offer new personalization and communication tools

Apple has announced some of the upcoming features in iOS 16 at the keynote event of the five-day annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) that kicked off today. The new iOS lays a lot of emphasis on personalization and improving the communication experience for users. 

The developer preview of iOS 16 will be available to Apple developers from today. A public beta will be available to iOS users next month, while the final features will be rolled out during fall as a free software update for iPhone 8 and iPhones launched after it. 

Personalization on lock screen
Though Android OEMs have been experimenting with lock screen personalization for a long time, these are new experiences for iOS users. 

Lock screen: The lock screen experience has been upgraded considerably with multiple personalization experiences. In iOS 16, users can personalize the lock screen using colour combinations, fonts, filters, and even emojis. between their favourites with just a swipe. 

Users can also create multiple lock screen collections and switch between them with a swipe. They can also link the lock screens to different focus elements. It will help users keep lock screen experiences for work focus different from personal focus. This will ensure users have access to the more work-appropriate lock screen and widgets when they are working and vice versa when they are at home.

Notifications: Notifications in iOS 16 will appear from the bottom of the lock screen for easy access. Apple is also launching a Live Activities API that will allow developers to create unique notification experiences around their apps. This new feature will allow users to stay up to date with real-time events such as a football match, workout, or food delivery order from the lock screen.

Widgets: The widgets capabilities will also be available on the lock screen, allowing users to add multiple widgets on the lock screen. Users can add widgets for upcoming calendar events, weather, alarms, time zones, and activity progress. 

Communication made simple
With iOS 16, Apple is rolling out new features that will give users more control over their messages and save them from some embarrassing moments. 

Messages: In iOS16, messages can be edited, recalled, and message threads can be marked as unread allowing users to snooze them to check later. Apple is also bringing the SharePlay to messages allowing users to have shared experiences while chatting on messages. 

Dictation: Apple is also introducing an improved dictation experience that will let users fluidly move between voice dictation and typing. Apple is hoping this would allow users to type faster at their convenience. With improvement in NLP models, dictation apps are getting better.  

Live Text: This tool uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in images. In iOS 16, it will work in video, allowing users to interact with text in videos by pausing the frame. It can also be used to convert currency and translate text into videos. 

Visual lookup: Touching and holding an image will allow users to copy and paste an image from one app to another. This will make it easier to share photos that users come across online. 

Apple Pay: Apple said it is adding the tap-to-pay in Apple Pay. Another notable feature in this is Apple Pay Later, which will allow users to split payments in four installments, similar to EMI payments. Users can choose Apple Pay Later when they are making a payment with Apple Pay. 

More controls for sharing 
Apple has also announced new features across apps to improve the sharing experience.

Family sharing: Users can share subscriptions with up to 5 family members and everyone gets personalized access to their favorite content. Setting age-appropriate restrictions have also been made easier. 

Shared Photo Library: Apple is introducing an iCloud shared photo library to let users share photos with family members and friends. Users will be provided with intelligent sharing suggestions. Edits made by one member can be seen by others. Photos with common people in it will be automatically shared in the shared library. Google Photos has a similar feature called Shared albums. 

Safety Check: This feature is aimed at survivors of domestic abuse who want to stop sharing any information about themselves with their abusive partners. A new setting will be added where users can select to stop sharing information with others, stop sharing location and reset privacy permission.