The upcoming iOS 16 is brimming with some major UI design overhauls and feature upgrades. Here’s a list of seven additional upgrades that flew under the radar.
The upcoming iOS 16 has turned out to be one of the biggest feature updates in the history of Apple’s mobile operating system, both in terms of the sheer number of features and the magnitude of the changes. From massively revamping the lock screen experience to some extremely useful feature additions for Messages and a buy now, pay later option for Apple Pay, the company has delivered a packed upgrade. However, iOS 16 also comes with a ton of smaller, but still notable improvements that didn’t get a mention during the WWDC 2022 presentation. Here are seven of those iOS 16 features that you might have missed, but that are definitely worth your attention. To this point, Apple’s venerable Face ID system for biometric authentication has remained functional only when the phone is held in portrait mode. Thankfully, iOS 16 finally puts an end to that limitation. You will be able to quickly authenticate a payment, unlock your phone, and autofill passwords, among other sensitive tasks that require the True Depth camera system to do its magic at any angle. This is a neat feature, especially if you’ve got your iPhone docked in landscape mode on a device like a gamepad or on audio gear. Apple notes that landscape Face ID has been enabled for “supported iPhone models” without revealing any names. If one were to take an educated guess, Face ID in landscape orientation should ideally work on all iPhones running iOS 16 and featuring the True Depth camera hardware fitted inside the boat-shaped notch. Apple recently tweaked the system to allow people to unlock their phones even with masks on. Spotlight Search got some love with MacOS Ventura, and Apple has brought some of the same goodness to iOS 16. So far, iPhone users have had to perform a swipe-down gesture to access the search feature. However, the search bar was positioned at the top, which was not exactly easy to reach with one hand, especially on larger phones such as the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
