Apple revealed that iOS 16’s newest phone messaging features are some of the most significant changes to its text functions in years.
Aside from the announcement of two new Macbook laptops — the M2 MacBook Air and the M2 MacBook Pro — the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022 was a largely software-centric event. Apart from sharing updates surrounding iPadOS 16, watchOS 16, and macOS Ventura, Apple took a significant amount of time to explain all the new additions to the latest iteration of its smartphone operating system: iOS 16. A completely revamped lock-screen experience aside, iOS 16 significantly changes how notifications show up on the iPhone. Apple claims that most of the visual changes to iOS 16 are intended to let users have a better view of their personalized lock screen. Apple also bolstered the Focus mode with a new feature called Focus filters, ensuring that only content relevant to an applied focus mode appears on-screen. Other notable additions to iOS 16 include a new shared photo library feature for iCloud, the option to track orders, and the addition of a «Pay Later» feature for Apple Pay users. Apple says they have also improved the «Live Text» feature to encompass videos. The «Visual Look Up» option now allows users to tap on an image, «lift» the image alone and drop them into a message (or any supported app). While all these feature additions sound exciting, the main focus is the major changes that Apple made to its Messages app.
