Monday, June 6, 2022

iOS 16 Announced

Apple (feature list, MacRumors, Hacker News):

The Lock Screen gets more personal, beautiful, and helpful with iOS 16. With a new multilayered effect, the subjects of photos are artfully set in front of the time on the Lock Screen, creating a sense of depth. Users can also change the look of the date and time with expressive type styles and color choices.

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Live Activities is a new feature that helps users stay on top of things that are happening in real time, such as a sports game, workout, ride-share, or food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen.

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iCloud Shared Photo Library gives families a new way to share photos seamlessly with a separate iCloud library that up to six users can collaborate on, contribute to, and enjoy. Users can choose to share existing photos from their personal libraries, or share based on a start date or people in the photos. A user can also choose to send photos to the Shared Library automatically using a new toggle in the Camera app.

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Users can pause a video on any frame and interact with text. Live Text also adds the ability for users to quickly convert currency, translate text, and more.

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Apple Pay Later provides users in the US with a seamless and secure way to split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees of any kind.

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Apple Maps is introducing multistop routing, so users can plan up to 15 stops in advance and automatically sync routes from Mac to iPhone when they’re ready to go.

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Dictation offers a new on-device experience that allows users to fluidly move between voice and touch. Users can type with the keyboard, tap in the text field, move the cursor, and insert QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation. In addition, Dictation features automatic punctuation and emoji dictation.

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Siri adds the ability to run shortcuts as soon as an app is downloaded without requiring upfront setup.

There were also major CarPlay announcements, but cars using them will not ship until late next year. Missing from the list of manufacturers: Tesla and Toyota [Update (2022-06-06): and also BMW, Hyundai, and Kia].

Previously:

Update (2022-06-08): Juli Clover:

When you open up the WiFi section of the Settings app and then tap on the network you are connected to, there’s a new “Password” option. Tapping it shows you the password of that WiFi network, following authentication with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode.

Sami Fathi:

iOS 16 includes a revamped Dictation system that features a cleaner interface that makes it easier to switch between voice and typing, as well as automatic punctuation and support for emoji insertion.

Juli Clover:

iOS 16 is designed to make it simpler to manage your connected AirPods and Beats headphones by adding a new section to the Settings app when the accessories are connected.

Juli Clover:

Security updates will be able to be automatically applied between standard software updates, so implementing security fixes will not require a full new version of iOS.

Sami Fathi:

Apple is expanding its privacy features with iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 by now requiring apps to ask users for their permission before accessing their clipboard.

Sami Fathi:

Like Android, Apple will let users enable vibrations on the native stock iOS keyboard for each tap, providing a physical confirmation for users as they type.

Juli Clover:

I can’t get over how well this iOS 16 feature for cutting out subjects from photos works.

Juli Clover:

The Fitness app on the iPhone has long been available as an activity tracking tool for those who own an Apple Watch, but in iOS 16, Apple wants to make the app an activity tracking option useful even for those who don’t own an Apple Watch.

Juli Clover:

Apple in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 has overhauled the design of the Books app, simplifying the interface and adding some new customization tools.

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Apple has also changed the way that pages turn.

Update (2022-06-09): Tim Hardwick:

Apple says the feature relies on advanced machine learning, and in our time experimenting with it in iOS 16, its ability to recognize subjects in photos is pretty impressive.

Indeed, its ease of use is likely to make performing painstaking subject isolation actions in image editing apps a thing of the past. Here’s how it works.

Update (2022-06-16): Matthew Cassinelli:

In the first seed of the iOS 16 developer beta, the Shortcuts app has received 51 new actions that support interacting with Apple’s first-party apps and help take advantage of system features.

Ryan Jones:

iOS 16 Weather app now has hourly graphs for basically everything.

Exceptionally well done UX – very clean, progressive disclosure, and natural flow.

6 Comments RSS · Twitter

I noticed that Hyundai/Kia were also missing from the list of car manufacturers.

Completely unmentioned in both the keynote and SOTU: tvOS.

But there is a tvOS 16 beta on the download site. Interestingly the build number is in the 20J series, following 15.6's 19G, and unlike iOS/iPadOS 20A. Seems to suggest "19J in spirt, but 20 in branding". Nearing the end of the line?

Ghost Quartz

I also noticed BMW was absent; given that they were the first to support car keys in Wallet, the omission was surprising. Apple’s mock dashboard looks very close to the design of the i4/iX.

That said, that any manufacturer was willing to let the CarPlay UI take over the entire instrument cluster is kind of wild. I don’t think the gauge design is particularly attractive. I wonder if BMW is resisting what it sees as an attempt to step over their own design.

Ghost Quartz

> But there is a tvOS 16 beta on the download site. Interestingly the build number is in the 20J series, following 15.6's 19G, and unlike iOS/iPadOS 20A. Seems to suggest "19J in spirt, but 20 in branding". Nearing the end of the line?

I sure hope not. Roku’s and Amazon’s business practices leave a lot to be desired. A Shield or Chromecast might be okay, but would probably be a step down for me personally. And connecting my TV up to the internet is a non-starter… every manufacturer is desperate to content ID what I’m watching to serve me ads. It’s gross.

Soon we're gonna need a lock screen infront of the dashboard that is infront of all the app pages.

Kinda like what android has.

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