iOS 16: New features, iPhone compatibility, release date

Apple is releasing iOS 16.4 beta 3 to developers today, just one week after the release of the previous beta. As we’ve covered in-depth over the last two weeks, iOS 16.4 includes a number of new features and changes for iPhone users. 

It seems as if our daily lives continue to get increasingly busy, from both a professional and personal perspective. Whether it’s remembering to email an important client or buying a gift for your child’s birthday, there is always something looming – a task that needs to be done. Like many others, I used to think I could just keep tasks in my head and remember everything that I needed to do. A few years ago, I started using task management apps to help structure everything I needed to get done. They have become essential tools that I use to run my everyday life.

iOS 16 seemed to be all about personalization, bringing a more customized user experience and collaboration. Apple introduced new features like the customizable Lock Screen, which brought new widgets. They also brought Live Activities and iMessage enhancements like undo send and editing an already sent message. Freeform, the new collaboration app, was introduced as well as a new digital whiteboard to collaborate in real time with other colleagues or students in your class. Even though these were great additions, there are still some features that we want to see in iOS 17 to further improve our iPhone experience. Here is our iOS 17 wishlist!

Apple recently changed how AirDrop works between iPhones, but not everyone has updated to the latest software clearly. Just last week, a student traveling in Texas had the bright idea to play a bomb prank on a plane using AirDrop just before takeoff.

Traveling can be an exciting and enjoyable experience, but planning a trip can often be stressful, time-consuming, and ultimately have a poor outcome. Fortunately, with the help of iOS and the millions of apps in the iOS App Store, planning travel has become much easier. There are a plethora of travel apps available for iOS that can help you plan your trip, book your flights, and find the best deals. I am personally in the process of booking a trip in the fall with multiple flights, hotels, and countries. The three apps I will be mentioning have made planning this trip much, much easier.

The first beta of iOS 16.4 was released to developers today, and it includes a number of new features and changes. There are new emoji, improvements to Safari and web apps, and much more. Head below as we round up everything new in iOS 16.4 beta 1.

Here’s an iOS 16.4 surprise: the Messages app now supports rich previews for Mastodon posts when you share a link to a post in an iMessage conversation. This brings Apple’s Mastodon support up to parity with the long-standing integration with Twitter for similar tweet balloon previews.

With the release of iOS 16.4 beta 1 on Thursday, Apple announced a major change in how it will distribute betas to developers from now on. Whereas previously installing an iOS beta required a special profile, that process will now be tied to the developer’s Apple ID.

Apple has just released the first beta of iOS 16.4, including several major new features for web-apps thanks to policy updates and new features in the WebKit engine.

As detailed on the WebKit blog, Home Screen web apps have access to push notifications via the HTML5 standard Web Push API, including badges, for the first time. Access to the Apple push notification service was previously only available to App Store apps.

For the first time since iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 were released last fall, Apple has shared data on the adoption rates of these updates. Apple says that 81% of all iPhones introduced in the past four years are now running iOS 16, while 72% of all iPhones are running iOS 16.

iOS 16 was released back in September of 2022. It brought plenty of visual changes to the iPhone and also changed how we interact with it, especially the lock screen. This update was all about personalization and customization. It brought features like lock screen customizations, widgets, the ability to edit & undo messages, and much more. So what could Apple possibly have in store for iOS 17? Parker Ortolani is back at it again with some new concepts and renders of what the future of iOS could look like, and it seems like refinement is the name of the game.

If you’re a Google Photos user, it looks like you should hold off on updating to iOS 16.3.1 for the moment. Users say that the update breaks compatibility with the Google Photos app for iPhone, leading to the app crashing immediately when opened.

February 14, 2023 Update: A new version of Google Photos is now available on the App Store to fix this problem.

iOS 16.3.1 is rolling out today to iPhone users, alongside iPadOS 16.3.1 for iPad. These updates include fixes for iCloud performance, Siri and Find My, and Crash Detection optimizations for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. Head below for the full release notes.

We all know that banking apps have revolutionized the way we manage our finances, making it easier and more convenient than ever before to keep track of our money. However, with new Fintech apps releasing every week, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. Whether you are new to banking and need a first bank account or a banking veteran who has 10 different checking accounts, we’ve put together a list of the top three banking apps based on how well they work on iOS, so you can choose which best suits your needs. I have personally been a user of all three of these institutions and currently use one of them as my main form of banking. We’ll be provide detailed reviews of each app, including features, pricing, customer service, and more.

AirPods have been one of Apple’s best-selling products of all time, second to the iPhone. In 2021 they sold $12.7 Billion dollars worth of AirPods, which is more than the revenue of companies like Spotify, Twitter, and Shopify. Then in 2022, they sold 19.3 Million units; keep in mind, this is just a single product, not an entire company. With so many AirPods owners, you would think people would be more aware of some of its features. Of course, we have transparency mode and noise cancellation, but Airpods can do so much more!

Apple announced that they officially have two billion active iPhone users globally, which is an absurd amount of smartphones out in the wild. With each of those iPhones, whether you love it or hate it, they come pre-installed with Safari as the default browser. So if you have had an iPhone since 2007, that means that you have used Safari on an iPhone for over 15 years (unless you switched your browser). Most people are not aware of how much you can do within Safari; here are some features that I think every Safari user should know!

With iOS 16, Apple introduced a new lock screen for the iPhone that lets users customize it with different widgets, font styles, and even multiple wallpapers. However, the update removed classic iPhone wallpapers, and users who still had one of them before installing the update were unable to customize it. But that has changed with iOS 16.3.

Apple on Wednesday stopped signing iOS 16.2, which means that iPhone and iPad users can no longer downgrade to this version of the operating system if they’re already running a newer version of iOS. This comes just a week after the company released iOS 16.3 to the public.

If you’ve been an iPhone user for any significant amount of time, chances are you’re well-versed in managing the iOS Home Screen. Seasoned veterans have no-doubt adopted best practices for managing Home Screen apps icons, interfacing with the App Library, widgets, etc. But here’s my challenge: Even if you consider yourself to be a Home Screen expert, you’ll likely find at least a few tips in this guide that you didn’t know before.

And if you’re new to the iPhone? Then this nearly one-hour walkthrough will help you wrangle the iOS Home Screen like never before in 4K60p HDR. Watch our hands-on video, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5mac on YouTube for more videos like this.

After a month of beta testing, Apple is releasing iOS 16.3 to iPhone users everywhere today. This update includes a new way to secure your Apple ID, changes to Emergency SOS, and more. There’s also a brand new wallpaper that Apple has designed in honor of Black History Month.

Head below for the full release notes with everything new in iOS 16.3…