Technologies

iOS 16.1: These iPhone Features Just Landed on Your Phone

Live Activities in Dynamic Island, a cheaper way to use Apple Fitness Plus and more features to check out.

Apple’s iOS 16.1 was released in late October, about a month after iOS 16 was released. While iOS 16 came with a way to unsend messages, further lock screen customization and more, iOS 16.1 brings new features, tweaks and fixes to compatible iPhones (and iPads with iPadOS 16).

Here’s what’s new in iOS 16.1 and what each feature does. If you haven’t downloaded the update yet, we show you how to do that here. Looking to take a deeper dive into your iPhone? Check out all the best hidden features and setting changes that’ll optimize your device.

iCloud Shared Photo Library

Sharing photos with your friends and family after a night out or a vacation can be a hassle. But with iCloud Shared Photo Library, you can easily share photos and videos with up to five other people.

Anyone who has access to the Shared Photo Library can add, edit and delete content within the library. You can upload photos directly from your iPhone’s camera to the library, and you can add photos to the library when you are physically with others who have access to the library.

However, you can’t participate in two shared libraries at once, and if you move photos from your personal library to the shared library, those photos aren’t duplicated and can only be found in the shared library.

Live Activities in Dynamic Island and Lock Screen

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max‘s Dynamic Island and lock screen get a boost with Live Activities. With Live Activities, your Dynamic Island and lock screen display notifications from third-party apps for things like sports games and flights.

Apple Fitness Plus without an Apple Watch

With iOS 16.1 you no longer need an Apple Watch to access Apple Fitness Plus. With an iPhone 8 or newer, you can track your fitness progress and goals right from your phone.

Battery display updates

iPhones from the XR up to the latest models now have the option to display the battery percentage in the battery meter icon. The font used for the battery icon has also slightly increased in size, making it easier to read.

Wallpaper and lock screen updates

Apple made it a bit easier to customize your wallpaper in iOS 16.1. From the Settings > Wallpaper menu, the option to add a new wallpaper is now more visually distinct, and you have the option to swipe through existing wallpapers. Also, when editing your wallpaper from the lock screen, you’ll now have the option to customize either your lock screen or your home screen (instead of just the lock screen).

Screenshot editing tools interface updated

When you edit a screenshot using the editing menu, the delete, save and copy options are now displayed across the top of your screen in a smaller, less intrusive menu. Previously, these options were at the bottom of your iPhone’s screen.

Wallet app upgrades

You can securely share car, hotel room and other Wallet app information with Messages and WhatsApp. Apple Card customers can also grow their Daily Cash by putting their savings into a high-yield savings account. You can also delete the Wallet app from your iPhone if you want.

Smart home connectivity via Matter

Matter, the new smart home connectivity standard, is now supported. That means you can control smart devices like Alexa and Google Assistant from your iPhone.

Clean Energy Charging setting

A new Clean Energy Charging toggle has been added to the Battery section in Settings. The setting could help reduce your carbon footprint when you charge your iPhone. With Clean Energy Charging on, your iPhone will selectively charge when lower carbon emission electricity is available. This setting seems to be toggled on by default, but you can turn it off if you want by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging and tapping the toggle next to Clean Energy Charging.

Apple Books interface upgrade

If you read books on your iPhone, your reader controls will automatically be hidden when you open Apple Books.

Bug fixes

Apple also addressed a handful of bugs. These fixes address issues like deleted conversations appearing in Messages, some Dynamic Island content not appearing when using Reachability and CarPlay not connecting when using a VPN app.

For more iOS news, check out the iOS 16 cheat sheet, how to download iOS 16.1 now and hidden iOS 16 features you should know about.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 28.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? As is usual for Saturday, it’s pretty long, and should take you longer than the normal Mini. A bunch of three-initial terms are used in this one. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Rock’s ___ Leppard
Answer: DEF

4A clue: Cry a river
Answer: SOB

7A clue: Clean Air Act org.
Answer: EPA

8A clue: Org. that pays the Bills?
Answer: NFL

9A clue: Nintendo console with motion sensors
Answer: WII

10A clue: ___-quoted (frequently said)
Answer: OFT

11A clue: With 13-Across, narrow gap between the underside of a house and the ground
Answer: CRAWL

13A clue: See 11-Across
Answer: SPACE

14A clue: Young lady
Answer: GAL

15A clue: Ooh and ___
Answer: AAH

17A clue: Sports org. for Scottie Scheffler
Answer: PGA

18A clue: «Hey, just an F.Y.I. …,» informally
Answer: PSA

19A clue: When doubled, nickname for singer Swift
Answer: TAY

20A clue: Socially timid
Answer: SHY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Morning moisture
Answer: DEW

2D clue: «Game of Thrones» or Homer’s «Odyssey»
Answer: EPICSAGA

3D clue: Good sportsmanship
Answer: FAIRPLAY

4D clue: White mountain toppers
Answer: SNOWCAPS

5D clue: Unrestrained, as a dog at a park
Answer: OFFLEASH

6D clue: Sandwich that might be served «triple-decker»
Answer: BLT

12D clue: Common battery type
Answer: AA

14D clue: Chat___
Answer: GPT

16D clue: It’s for horses, in a classic joke punchline
Answer: HAY

Technologies

Ultrahuman Ring Pro Brings Better Battery Life, More Action and Analysis

The company’s new flagship smart ring stores more data, too. But that doesn’t really help Americans.

Sick of your smart ring’s battery not holding up? Ultrahuman’s new $479 Ring Pro smart ring, unveiled on Friday, offers up to 15 days of battery life on a single charge. The Ring Pro joins the company’s $349 Ring Air, which boosts health tracking, thanks to longer battery life, increased data storage, improved speed and accuracy and a new heart-rate sensing architecture. The ring works in conjunction with the latest Pro charging case.

Ultrahuman also launched its Jade AI, which can act as an agent based on analysis of current and historical health data. Jade can synthesize data from across the company’s products and is compatible with its Rings.

«With industry-leading hardware paired with Jade biointelligence AI, users can now take real-time actionable interventions towards their health than ever before,» said Mohit Kumar, CEO of Ultrahuman.

No US sales

That hardware isn’t available in the US, though, thanks to the ongoing ban on Ultrahuman’s Rings sales here, stemming from a patent dispute with its competitor, Oura Ring. It’s available for preorder now everywhere else and is slated to ship in March. Jade’s available globally.

Ultrahuman says the Ring Pro boosts battery life to about 15 days in Chill mode — up to 12 days in Turbo — compared to a maximum of six days for the Air. The Pro charger’s battery stores enough for another 45 days, which you top off with Qi-compatible wireless charging. In addition, the case incorporates locator technology via the app and a speaker, as well as usability features such as haptic notifications and a power LED.

The ring can also retain up to 250 days of data versus less than a week for the cheaper model. Ultrahuman redesigned the heart-rate sensor for better signal quality. An upgraded processor improves the accuracy of the local machine learning and overall speed.

It’s offered in gold, silver, black and titanium finishes, with available sizes ranging from 5 to 14.

Jade’s Deep Research Mode is the cross-ecosystem analysis feature, which aggregates data from Ring and Blood Vision and the company’s subscription services, Home and M1 CGM, to provide historical trends, offer current recommendations and flag potential issues, as well as trigger activities such as A-fib detection. Ultrahuman plans to expand its capabilities to include health-adjacent activities, such as ordering food.

Some new apps are also available for the company’s PowerPlug add-on platform, including capabilities such as tracking GLP-1 effects, snoring and respiratory analysis and migraine management tools.