New features available with iOS 16.

iOS 16 enhances iPhone with all‑new personalization features, deeper intelligence, and seamless ways to communicate and share.

Key Features and Enhancements

Lock Screen

Lock Screen gallery

For inspiration on how to make the Lock Screen your own, browse a gallery of many options, each with a unique backdrop, stylized view of the date and time, and information you can see at a glance.

Lock Screen switching

You can switch your Lock Screen throughout the day. Touch and hold it, and then swipe.

Lock Screen editing

It’s easy to customize the font, color, or placement of elements on your Lock Screen by tapping the element.

Stylized date and time

Expressive font styles and color choices allow you to customize the look of the date and time on your Lock Screen.

Multilayered photo effect

Photo subjects are dynamically displayed in front of the time to make the subject of the photo pop.

Suggested photos

iOS intelligently suggests photos from your library that look great on the Lock Screen.

Photo shuffle

See a set of photos shuffle automatically on your Lock Screen. Set the cadence for how often your Lock Screen updates with a new photo, or let iOS surprise and delight you throughout the day.

Photo styles

Apply styles to photos on the Lock Screen that automatically change the color filter, tinting, and font style to complement each other.

Widgets on the Lock Screen

Choose to display a set of widgets as part of your Lock Screen to glance at information like the weather, time, date, battery levels, upcoming calendar events, alarms, time zones, and Activity ring progress.

WidgetKit API

Glance at widgets from your favorite third-party apps. View widgets in a textual, circular, or rectangular format near the time to get information like weather conditions or progress on your goals.

Live Activities

Live Activities help you stay on top of things that are happening in real time, right from your Lock Screen.*

Live Activities API

Follow an ongoing sports game or track the progress of your ride or order with just a glance. Glance at Live Activities from your favorite third-party apps with the new developer API.*

Lock Screens made for Focus

iOS suggests a relevant set of Lock Screens for provided Focus options, such as a data-rich Lock Screen while you’re using the Work Focus or a photo Lock Screen while you’re using the Personal Focus.

Apple collections

Choose from a set of dynamic, classic, and landscape Lock Screens created especially for iOS 16. Apple collections include Lock Screens to celebrate special cultural moments, like Pride and Unity.

Astronomy

See the earth, moon, or solar system with a set of dynamic astronomy-themed Lock Screens that update with live conditions.

Weather

Glance at live conditions on your Lock Screen as the weather changes throughout the day.

Emoji

Create patterned Lock Screens based on your favorite emoji.

Colors

Choose a color gradient for your Lock Screen using your favorite color combinations.

New design for Now Playing

With Live Activities, you can expand Now Playing controls to a full-screen view that celebrates album art while you listen along.

New notification design

The use of bold text and images makes notifications visually pop.

Notification animations

Notifications, including your notification summary, now roll in from the bottom of your Lock Screen, making them easy to see at a glance as they come in.

Notification view on Lock Screen

Choose to view notifications on the Lock Screen in an expanded list view, stacked view, or count view. You can pinch to change the layout in context.

Focus

Lock Screen linking

Transform how your iPhone looks and functions at the same time by connecting your Lock Screen to your Focus. To activate a Focus, you can swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen.

Made for Focus suggestions in Lock Screen gallery

iOS suggests a relevant set of Lock Screens for provided Focus options, such as a data-rich Lock Screen while you’re using the Work Focus or a photo Lock Screen while you’re using the Personal Focus.

Home Screen page suggestions

iOS suggests Home Screen pages with apps and widgets that are most relevant to the Focus you’re setting up.

Focus filters

Set boundaries within Apple apps like Calendar, Mail, Messages, and Safari to draw boundaries for each Focus you enable. For example, choose a set of Tab Groups to show up in Safari while in the Work Focus, or hide your work calendar when you’re using the Personal Focus.

Focus filter API

With the new Focus filter API, developers can use the signal that you’re using to enable Focus to hide distracting content.

Focus schedules

Have a Focus turn on automatically at a set time or location or while using a certain app.

Easier setup

Get started with Focus with a personalized setup experience for each option.

Allow and silence list

When you’re setting up a Focus, select apps and people you want to receive notifications from by either allowing them or silencing them.

iCloud Shared Photo Library

Share a photo library with your family

Share a separate iCloud photo library with up to five other people.

Smart setup rules

Share all your past photos, or use setup tools to contribute specific photos based on start date or people.

Smart sharing suggestions

Contribute photos manually, or use smart features to make sharing seamless, like a switch in Camera, automatic sharing using Bluetooth proximity, and sharing suggestions in For You.

Collaborate on the collection

Everyone has equal permissions to add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete.

Relive more complete memories

Enjoy shared photos in Memories, Featured Photos, and the Photos widget.

Messages

Edit a message

You can edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it.1

Undo send

Unsend any message for up to 15 minutes after sending it.

Mark as unread

Mark messages as unread when you don’t have time to respond but want to be sure to reply to the sender later.

Recover recently deleted messages

You can recover recently deleted messages for up to 30 days after deleting them.2

SharePlay via Messages

Share synchronized activities like movies, music, workouts, games, and more with friends while chatting in Messages.

Shared with You API

Developers can build a Shared with You section into their app, so when someone sends you a video or article that you don’t have time to check out at the moment, it will be easy to find the next time you open the app.

Collaboration invitations

Send an invitation to collaborate on a project in Messages, and everyone on the thread will automatically be added to the document, spreadsheet, or project. Compatible with Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari, as well as third‑party apps.

Collaboration updates

When someone makes an edit, you’ll see activity updates at the top of the Messages thread. Tap the updates to get back to the shared project.

Messages Collaboration API

Developers can integrate their app’s collaboration experiences with Messages and FaceTime, making it easy to initiate and manage collaboration from the places where you’re communicating with your collaborators.

Mail

Smart search corrections

Intelligent search improves your results by correcting typos and using synonyms for your search terms.3

Smart search suggestions

See a richer view of shared content and more from the moment you begin to search for email messages.

Missing recipients and attachments

Get notified if you forget to include an important part of your message, like an attachment or a recipient.3

Undo send

Easily unsend an email message that you just sent before it reaches the recipient’s inbox.4

Scheduled send

Schedule email to be sent at the perfect moment.

Follow‑up

Move sent email messages to the top of your inbox so you can quickly send a follow‑up.3

Remind me

Never forget about an email that you opened but didn’t get back to. Select a date and time to have messages resurface in your inbox.

Rich link

Add rich links that give your email messages more context and details at a glance.

Safari

Shared Tab Groups

Share a set of tabs with friends. Everyone can add their own tabs and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together.

Tab Group start pages

Tab Groups have dedicated start pages that you can customize with a background image and favorites.

Pinned tabs in Tab Groups

Customize your Tab Groups with pinned tabs for each group.

New web extension APIs

Enables developers to create more kinds of Safari web extensions.

Web push notifications

Adds support for opt‑in notifications on iOS. Coming in 2023.

Extensions syncing

See available extensions from your other devices listed in Safari preferences. Once installed, an extension will sync so you only have to turn it on once.

Website settings sync

Settings you’ve set for specific websites, like page zoom and automatic Reader view, will sync across devices.

New languages

Added support for Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch in Safari web page translation.

Web page image translation

Added support for translating text in images using Live Text.

Additional web technologies support

Gives developers more power and control over styling and layout of web pages to enable more engaging content.

Strong password editing

Edit strong passwords suggested by Safari to adjust for site‑specific requirements.

Wi‑Fi passwords in Settings

Find and manage your Wi‑Fi passwords in Settings. Reference and share passwords or delete old ones.

Passkeys

Passkeys

Passkeys replace passwords with an easier and safer sign‑in method.

Safe from phishing

Passkeys never leave your device and are specific to the site you created them for, making it almost impossible for them to be phished.

Safe from website leaks

Your private key is never kept on a web server, so you don’t have to worry about website leaks compromising your accounts.

Sign in on other devices

Sign in to websites or apps on other devices, including non‑Apple devices, with your saved passkey by scanning the QR code with your iPhone or iPad and using Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate.

Sync across devices

Passkeys are end‑to‑end encrypted and sync across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain.

Live Text5

Live Text in videos

Text is completely interactive in paused video frames, so you can use functions like copy and paste, lookup, and translate. Live Text works in Photos, Quick Look, Safari, and more.

Quick actions

Data detected in photos and videos is actionable with a single tap. Track flights or shipments, translate foreign languages, convert currencies, and more.

New languages for Live Text

Live Text adds recognition of Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian text.

Siri

Easy Shortcuts setup

You can now run shortcuts with Siri as soon as you download an app, no setup required.6

Automatically send messages

Skip the confirmation step when sending messages. You can enable this feature in Settings.

Emoji in texts

Insert emoji when sending messages with Siri.7

Hey Siri, what can I do here?

Discover Siri capabilities in iOS and apps by asking “Hey Siri, what can I do here?” You can also inquire about a specific app by saying, for example, “Hey Siri, what can I do with iRobot?”8

Call hang up

You can now hang up Phone and FaceTime calls with Siri. Just say “Hey Siri, hang up” (participants on the call will hear you). You can enable this feature in Settings.8

Expanded offline support

Siri processes more types of requests offline without an internet connection, including Home Control (HomeKit), Intercom, and Voicemail.8

Dictation

All-new Dictation experience

While dictating on device, you can move fluidly between voice and touch. Type with the keyboard, tap in the text field, move the cursor, and insert QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation.9

Automatic punctuation

Dictation inserts commas, periods, and question marks for you as you dictate.10

Emoji support

Insert emoji using your voice while dictating on device.7

Dictation in Messages text field

In Messages, the Dictation icon is now available in the text entry field.

Dictation popover

Easily stop Dictation by tapping the new cursor popover.

Maps

Multi-stop routing

Add multiple stops along your driving route in Maps. Plan a route with multiple stops on your Mac and it syncs to your iPhone.

Transit cards in Maps

Add transit cards to Wallet, see low balances, and replenish your card, all without leaving Maps.

Transit fares

See how much your journey will cost with transit fares.

Apple Pay and Wallet

Apple Pay Later

When you check out with Apple Pay, you can now split your Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments over six weeks.11 Track what you owe and when you owe it in Wallet.

Key sharing

Share your keys securely in Wallet using your favorite messaging apps, such as Messages, Mail, and WhatsApp. Easily manage key permissions and recipients right from Wallet.12

ID cards supported in apps

Share your ID information in apps that require identity and age verification. Apps will only request information needed to complete the transaction. You will be able to review this request, and your data will be shared only after authorizing with Face ID or Touch ID.13

Home

All-new Home app

The Home app has an all‑new design that makes it easier to navigate, organize, view, and control all your accessories. Improvements to the underlying architecture enhance your smart home’s performance and make it more efficient and reliable.

Whole-house view

See your entire home at a glance in the redesigned Home tab. Rooms and favorite accessories are integrated into the app’s main tab, giving you easier access to accessories you use most.

Categories

Categories for Lights, Climate, Security, Speakers and TVs, and Water let you quickly access all the relevant accessories organized by room,