Apple iOS 16 Is Infinitely Better And Convincingly Glorious

Apple iOS 16 public beta 
is available to download 
& What do I think?

No, it doesn’t change everything about your iPhone.

However, there is so much I have to talk about the new Apple iOS 16 and its fun new features that this year’s upgrade will make it feel fresh and firm.

In a nutshell: Apple made public its iOS 16 beta with:

  1. An all-new customizable Lock Screen
  2. iCloud Shared Photo Library
  3. Recall sent messages
  4. Schedule mail
  5. Live Text, and;
  6. Visual Look Up

In the article continuing below, I’ll throw out the flu and filler and show you exactly the top twelve features you need to know about the iOS 16 public beta, with an update of Developer beta 3.

iOS 16 Unveils New iPhone Features and Experiences That Were Much Needed

Apple iOS 16 is making a big welcome update to Apple’s iPhone software, first as a developer beta and now as a beta the rest of us can download. This new OS update goes beyond the surface and as I’ll show you the top twelve features of this iOS 16 public beta hands-on, the new version will surely convince you that it’s infinitely better and convincingly glorious.

I don’t think you really need to be chasing the iOS 16 public beta too early.

Let it roll out completely, let it release this fall and until then I will share some initial impressions of iOS 16 that can give you a better idea of whether or not you should install the software right away or wait until the full social release of iOS 16.

iOS 16 Lock Screen Gets More Personalized

The iOS 16 Lock Screen gets more personal, beautiful, and adaptive. This is the biggest, visible, and most obvious change to iOS 16 which apart from changing the background wallpapers lets you do the creative part.

It’s just all the customization of the clock, wallpaper, matching colors, attractive widgets, expressive type styles, and everything in between. You can artfully set the subjects of photos in front of the time on the Lock Screen to create an immersive and personalized experience.

The choice of on-screen widgets is limited to Apple-supplied offerings in the iOS 16 public beta. However, the addition of third-party widgets in the fall should add even more variety to the mix.

iOS 16 Lock Screen Gets Customizable, Beautiful, And Personal

Coming to customization, hold the screen down and then hit the customize button. The next step is all about customization.

You can edit the clock’s font and color, adjust placement, try out different styles like filters, change one or multiple elements, and even apply whole themes e.g. astronomy or weather. Above the clock and below the clock you have slots to add widgets.

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You can pick the one you like, tap it and drag it in. Now, the widgets below the clock are just small little things you can keep customizing all day for no reason, or maybe you would interact with them for the fun factor. Anyways, when you click them, they open the app that they’re associated with.

The top widget that appears above the clock is mainly just a text format. Top widget options include a calender widget possibly showing upcoming appointments or it may make sense for maybe the weather or a widget that controls smart home devices via the Home app. It could be a stock ticket, a News headline, an alarm, or anything like that.

You can Play Around Endlessly All Day With the Top and Bottom Widgets

The notifications now appear at the bottom of the screen to make space for all these widgets. By default, these notifications are stacked on top of each in a chronological sense and fan out when you tap them.

You can create multiple Lock Screens and then save them individually and switch between them back and forth. When your Lock Screen is active, tap and hold on the screen, swipe through the lock screen you’ve created, and hold it down to the one that you want. You may also swipe up a particular lock screen and tap Delete if you feel bored with it.

You can also associate any Lock Screen to a Focus Mode to further raise productivity, lock out distractions, and find balance. For example, if you have a Focus Mode for work and previously customized the Lock Screen for work, you can have a certain lock screen for work.

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Similarly, you can have a certain lock screen for going to sleep, going to the gym, or going home.

In simple words, your phone’s lock screen will automatically change to the selected background and appropriate lock screen widgets. To activate a Focus, you can simply swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen.

You can now connect Focus to your Lock Screen, giving you a way to tie your personalized Lock Screen wallpaper and widgets to a particular Focus.

At the same time, I saw Marques Brownlee and his review on iOS 16. He further showed us an exciting iOS 16 feature. In his iOS 16 beta review, he says that if you do not add any bottom widgets and let alone the top widgets, there’s a feature where the clock will nest itself between the foreground and the background of your wallpaper.

Here is a mind-boggling example of the Lock Screen depth effect.

iOS 16 Continuity Camera Is Wild

Your iPhone’s rear camera is likely the best camera you own, but the webcam in your laptop might not be as good as those. So, Apple did use its big brain and introduced the iOS 16 Continuity Camera: Your iPhone camera will now work as your webcam.

For the Apple iOS 16 Continuity Camera, you need an iPhone 13 running iOS 16 and a Macbook running macOS 13 Ventura. Once you have all that setup, Continuity Camera wirelessly turns your iPhone into your Mac’s webcam.

Apple describes this new functionality as an innovative feature for all Mac computers including Center Stage, Portrait mode, and the new Studio Light – an effect that beautifully illuminates a user’s face while dimming the background.

But, how is it wild then? How is it a new innovative feature that Apple describes so intricately?

It’s the Desk View. You mount your iPhone on top of your laptop or your monitor and get the standard webcam view along with the top-down view. The top-down view phenomenally captures everything (pretty flat) that’s on your desk in front of you.

It basically snaps everything that’s right in front of your keyboard, where your hands are at, and pretty much anything that’s flat to the ground. Dave2d illustrated this crazy feature and he was of opinion that your hands and fingers look really weird when it’s in the shot.

However, he said that the continuity camera works best when you have a flat object. Writing on a piece of paper, and doing some card tricks can work really great. However, objects of certain heights like a book can look a lot weird. For example, you would hardly see the top of the book in the iOS 16 continuity camera. You’ll probably see the top of the book when it’s almost on the laptop.

iPhone Camera Turned into Mac’s Webcam is Phenomenal And Crazily Useful

iOS 16 Continuity Camera works best for flatter objects. Dave2d further showed us that the top-down desk view works best when the phone is mounted in a portrait position. It’s just how the sensors work because the camera is a rectangle when it is in that upright position. In the landscape mode, the view gets much wider.

Continuity Camera and desk view seem like magic but it takes a lot of software processing to take the edge of the ultra-wide frame and turn it into a perfect top-down view. As long as the object is flat, this thing is wild.

iOS 16 Has The Ability To Edit And Unsend Message

The ability to edit and unsend messages were the most requested and long overdue features for the iMessaging app, as Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi tells us, “Embarrassing typos are a thing of the past”.

You can now long press the message you sent and for up to the first 15 minutes after you send something, you can edit and type what you actually meant to send and it will revise the message to whoever you sent it to. After you correct the typo, a tiny “edited” message appears in the status under the message.

Or, if you feel so disgruntled with what you originally sent, you can actually unsend a message so your friends and family don’t get oended. You can simply tap and hold the sent message and choose Undo Send. However, the messages that you edit and unsend will read “edited” so the person knows that the message was altered, but won’t see the edit history.

The Ability to Edit and Unsend iMessages Saves You From Embarrassment

Last, you can mark messages and threads as unread. This could be useful when you don’t have time to respond to a message at the moment but want to make sure you come back to it later.

Anyways, if you go to try this feature with someone who isn’t on iOS 16 yet, this feature won’t work and they won’t see the edit or undo on their end. They’ll still see the typos and awful messages you initially sent.

SharePlay Comes to iMessages

SharePlay gives you a shared experience while connecting with someone over FaceTime. SharePlay also works in Messages and you can collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and slide decks, share a movie on Disney Plus and start SharePlay with a friend while chatting in Messages.

Live Texts And Visual Lookup in iOS 16 Public Beta Is More Smarter And Smoother

We have to appreciate how amazing this is. iOS 16 adds Live Texts to videos also. This means that if you pause a video on a frame with text somewhere in it, Live Text will pull text from videos. This means that you can smoothly lift that text from inside the video.

As for the Visual Look Up, the photo that has a subject and a background, you can long press and literally lift any object out of an image in Photos, Safari, Quick Look, or screenshots to copy and paste into whatever you want, messages, WhatsApp, Notes or Texts, for example.

iOS 16 Live Text and Visual Lookup does this seamlessly. It erases the background, does all the masking, and cleanly removes an image from its background.

It is highly appreciable how Apple managed a one-second background delete

iOS 16’s iCloud Shared Photo Library Brings Emotions And Memories Together

iCloud Shared Photo Library ties every family member together and gives them a new way to share photos with a separate iCloud library. Up to six family users or members can interact with each other’s photos, collaborate on, contribute to, and enjoy.

Any member of the family can choose to share existing photos from their photo library or share based on a start date or people in the photos. Anyone who you invite to iCloud Shared Photo Library has equal permissions to add, delete and edit photos.

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iCloud Shared Photo Library makes sharing super simple, super seamless. It takes care of all the problems that people face when they want to share photos with other people. A toggle in the Camera app lets you save photos directly to your shared library.

In addition to this, for anyone who has access to iCloud Shared Photo Library, and anyone who is at the same location and carrying around an iPhone running iOS 16, the photos will be shared with them automatically.

Shared Photo Library Gives access to add, delete, edit, or favourite the shared photos or videos, which will appear in your Memories and Featured Photos so that you can relive the Emotions

Security Improvements in iOS 16 Are Commendable

The release of the iOS 16 public beta has seen security improvements through its Lockdown Mode. This security update in the iOS 16 public beta is for those who might be at risk of highly targeted cyber attacks from private companies that develop state-sponsored spyware.

If you turn on the Lockdown mode, most message attachment types other than images will be blocked and link previews in Messages will get disabled. When your iPhone is in Lockdown Mode, it will not function as it typically does. Apps, websites, and features will be strictly limited for security.

Likewise, incoming invitations to things like FaceTime calls are blocked if you haven’t previously contacted the person sending the invitation. When your iPhone

is in Lockdown mode, it won’t be able to make a wired connection with a computer or accessory, and configuration profiles can’t be installed on your phone.

Safety Check, a feature that Apple has put a lot of thought into, will help you to quickly reset the sharing permission when you’re leaving an abusive relationship. It disables access to FaceTime and iMessage on all your devices, secures iCloud access, and resets sharing permissions. You can also use Safety Check to manage who has access to what. It’s a feature we would never want to use, but it’s praiseworthy. Right?

Safety Check aims to help people in abusive relationships

Wallet Adds Apple Pay Later, Order Tracking, and Other Features

Apple Pay later is a new feature for the iOS 16 Apple Wallet app and is exclusive to US users only. Apple Pay lets you split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four payments over six weeks with zero interest and no fees, provided the user makes their payment in due time.

You get up to 1000 USD to use from.

Apple Pay also introduces to us a new feature called Order Tracking. It will help us track Apple Pay orders. Order Tracking will give you detailed receipts and order tracking information. This will make it easier to stay up to date on the status of all your orders, all within Apple Wallet.

ID cards and Keys in Wallet also reduce the labor of showing the credentials in material form. You’ll now be able to use your ID in Wallet to verify identity and age within apps, and can share your home, hotel, oce and car keys in Wallet through Apple’s messaging apps, Mail, and more.

All of this comes with strengthened security and privacy.

Users can use their ID in Wallet for apps requiring identity and age verification

iOS 16 Maps adds transit fare cards

iOS 16 Maps is getting a major overhaul.

iOS 16’s map is adding multi-stop routing on the app. More practically, you can now add up to 15 stops in an Apple Maps route that’ll let you navigate through multiple points easily. You can even prepare a route beforehand on Mac and send it through to your iPhone when you’re ready.

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iOS Maps also brings transit updates to users. This lets the riders see how much the journey will cost with transit fares. Similarly, you can add transit cards to Wallet, see low balances and replenish transit cards, all without leaving Maps.

This means that you can check if you’ve got enough credit to make it to your destination.

Apple’s iOS 16 navigation app is offering coverage in 11 new countries. It’s also adding six new cities to the 3D city map network, including Chicago, Sydney, and LA.

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iOS 16 Family CheckList

iOS 16 gets an updated feature for families. You can quickly set up a new device for your child. The Quick Start option lets you pick a user for the new device and use all the existing parental control you’ve previously set and configured. This means that you can set up a child’s device and apply existing settings to a new phone.

If your Kid requests for additional Screen Time in Messages, you can approve and deny requests for more Screen Time directly from Messages rather than hitting up Settings.

Family checklist caters for your kids as they get older. You can update the settings like a reminder to check location-sharing settings or share your iCloud Plus subscriptions.

Skip CAPTCHAs using Private Access Tokens

The CAPTCHA which puts a line between computers and humans is an “unnecessary labour” across the internet. It’s a verification where you have to identify weird squiggly letters or click on specified images until none is left.

With iOS 16, Apple plans to start replacing these awkward interactions with Private Access Tokens. This new feature is in the upcoming iOS 16 and macOS Ventura updates.

According to this video on Apple’s website demonstrating Private Access Tokens, websites that support the token will essentially log in and authenticate that you are indeed a human without you having to play any of the usual CAPTCHA games.

Apple further claims that the company is working with fraud prevention platforms like CloudFare and Fastly to roll out support for this feature. Anyways, the concept is powerful and provides a way to bypass CAPTCHAS

Don’t be Captured By CAPTCHAs! iOS 16 will let you bypass Pesky Requests on some apps and websites

The Glorious Clownfish Is Back After 15 Whole Years

As first spotted by Twitter user Jack Roberts and highlighted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the clownfish wallpaper is finally making a comeback to iOS 16. After 15 whole years, the wallpaper Steve Jobs used when the original iPhone he announced is now fascinating everyone.

The magical, glorious photo of two clownfish living in a green anemone, as described by The Verge never shipped as a built-in wallpaper for iPhone users.

Still, there is no certainty if the iOS 16 Clownfish will make its way to the upcoming public release of the iOS 16 beta. Even those with access to the developer version are not certain about the clownfish.

The wallpaper seems to be rolling out in stages and it’s enhanced in pixels along with a cool swipe-up parallax animation, as demonstrated by a Reddit user ActorVMU.

iOS 16 Release Date

iOS 16 developer beta and iOS 16 public beta are available now. The iOS 16 public beta has been updated from the previous iOS 16 betas.

July 6 has seen the release of the iOS 16 developer beta 3, a third beta version of the iOS 16 software with some updates and changes. Less than a week later, Apple released the first public beta of iOS 16.

The final version of iOS 16 will likely launch in the fall alongside the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. Yet the date is unknown. However, Apple aims to roll iOS 16 out in September, possibly at the same time as the iPhone 14 release date.

Which iPhones Will Get iOS 16?

iOS 16, the latest software update from Apple is available as a public beta. This means that if you have an iPhone 8 or newer you can try the iOS 16 public beta and start testing the pre-release version of iOS 16 prior to its final rollout in the fall. That covers any iPhone released in 2017 and beyond.

Apple is cutting off support on some older phones

iOS 16 Additional Features & Minor Updates

  1. Quick access to Search: As illustrated by MKBHD, the little button at the bottom of your iPhone home screen now serves as a Search button shortcut. Tap it, and you jump straight to the search screen
  2. Major Overhaul for CarPlay: CarPlay gets a big overhaul, promising an infotainment system that integrates with vehicle controls
  3. New Mail features: Mail receives its biggest overhaul to search, delivering more relevant, accurate, and complete results. There are also helpful additions like Scheduled Send and Undo Send
  4. Dictation: Dictate emails in Mail and texts in Messages. The Dictation is proven accurate enough. You can verbally compose messages, and if there comes an error it will auto-correct punctuation as well as emoji(s).
  5. Siri: Extends the ability to run shortcuts as soon as you download an app, insert emojis in text with Siri, skip the confirmation step when sending messages, and hang up the phone and FaceTime calls. Just say “Hey Siri, hang up”. Although, the other person would be able to hear you say this and it would feel weird to hang up the conversation like this.

Should I Upgrade to iOS 16 Public Beta Or Wait for A Little?

The answer is quite simple. If you are an evangelist Apple user and have an eligible spare iPhone, you can always upgrade to the iOS 16 public beta version.

The question of whether I should try out the iOS 16 public beta rests largely on your comfort level and the number of iPhones you have on hand.

We have no concerns about updating to the iOS 16 public beta. Since the nature of the iOS 16 public beta and other betas is such that it can cause certain apps and websites to stop working, so much so, that a certain app in the beta version itself might not work,

Therefore, it is better to not upgrade to iOS 16 pubic beta on your primary iPhone. It is simply a caution on your part.

However, the public beta of iOS 16 is better and stable enough for most people to use. Still, Apple is working to polish and brush up on some features.

If that is something that does not bother you, then step forward and get the iOS 16 public beta and enjoy the iOS 16 features ahead of its launch.

But, make sure you do it on a spare iOS device because there is always the possibility of unexpected errors that you would not want.

If all that sounds cautiously good, don’t wait to try the enthusiasm that iOS 16 brings. We, in all probability, are excited for you to try the infinitely better and convincingly glorious features of the iOS 16 public beta.

How Do I Download the iOS 16 Public Beta on My Secondary iPhone?

The iOS 16 public beta is completely released, and now anyone with a compatible iPhone can download it and try it ahead of the official iOS 16 launch and release date. It’s fairly simple and easy to install. If you’re excited to try out any of iOS 16’s new features (like Lockdown Mode or customizable lock screens),

WATCH: How to install the latest iOS 16 public beta.

So, now you guys tell me what you think about the latest iOS 16 update, and would you be updating your iPhone?

Joe Warne
Joe Warne
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