Technologies
11 Hidden iOS 16 Features You Should Be Using on Your iPhone
These lesser-known iOS features and settings will quickly make you an iPhone expert.
It’s been half a year since Apple release iOS 16, and yet there are still new features and settings to discover on the iPhone’s latest software update. These lesser-known features are definitely not as popular as the main features, like the customizable lock screen or ability to unsend text messages, but they’re still worth exploring because they can unlock a whole new experience for you on your iPhone.


I’m going to walk you through everything you need to know about the best hidden gems in iOS 16, like password-protected photo albums, easily accessible Wi-Fi passwords and more.
Read more: All the New Features in iOS 16.3
And while you’re here, make sure you also brush up on the major new iOS 16 features you’ll love, and a few that you might just hate (luckily, there’s a fix).
View and share saved Wi-Fi passwordsÂ
Apple has allowed iOS users to share Wi-Fi passwords for a while now, but only by placing two Apple devices near each other. And if that feature didn’t automatically work, you couldn’t just dig out the password from your settings. Plus if you wanted to share a saved Wi-Fi password with someone else, like an Android user or someone on a computer, you had to remember the password. Until now.
In Settings, go to Wi-Fi and tap the tiny information icon to the right of the network you want the password for. To view the network password, tap the Password section and then use Face ID or enter your passcode to view it. You can then tap Copy to copy the password into your clipboard and share it.


You can view the password for any Wi-Fi network you’ve ever connected to, as long as you’re currently connected to it or near enough that it appears under My Networks.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETFind and remove duplicate photos and videos
Maybe you’ve saved the same photo multiple times or downloaded a video more than once, resulting in duplicates littering up your photo album. It may not be a problem if you’ve got storage to spare, but you’re running out of space, you can now remove every single duplicate easily with iOS 16.
In Photos > Albums, you should see a new Duplicates album under Utilities. Apple scans through all of your photos and shows you any photo or video you’ve saved more than once in that album. From there, you can either delete any duplicates, or simply press Merge, which will keep the photo with the highest quality (and relevant data) and then move the others to the trash.


Merging will keep the highest quality photo and delete the rest.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETAlthough you’ll probably want to go through each set of duplicates, to ensure that they’re actually exact copies and not similar photos, you can also hit Select > Select All > Merge to remove every single photo and video that Apple thinks is a duplicate, all at once.
Hang up a phone or FaceTime call with Siri
Siri does a lot of things. You can use the virtual assistant to send a text message, get directions or play music — but one thing she’s never been able to do is hang up a phone call. Weird right? Now that’s finally a possibility with iOS 16.
In Settings, go to Siri & Search and first make sure Listen for “Hey Siri” is toggled on. If it is, you should see a new option underneath — Call Hang Up. Go into that option and toggle on Call Hang Up. When you’re on a phone call or FaceTime video chat, simply say, “Hey, Siri,” and ask her to hang up your current call.


For this to work, Listen for “Hey Siri” must be toggled on first.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET Pair Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons with your iPhone
Apple has long allowed you to pair third-party controllers, like the PS5 Sony DualSense and Xbox Core Controller, to your iPhone and iPad, in order to more comfortably play mobile video games like the Apple Arcade library, Minecraft and Call of Duty. Now you can add another console controller to that list.
If you own a Nintendo Switch, you can now pair your Joy-Con controllers to your iPhone or iPad running iOS 16. To start, hold down the little black pairing button on the Joy-Con, until the green lights start running back and forth. This means the device is in pairing mode. Next, open your iPhone and go to Settings > Bluetooth and select the Joy-Con from the list. Repeat this step with the other Joy-Con.
Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are now password protected
The Hidden album in the Photos app is clearly not hidden, seeing as anyone can easily find it. That makes it impractical for adequately hiding private photos and videos. While Apple does have an option to make the Hidden album “invisible,” anyone with access to your phone could make it visible again and view everything inside.
Thanks to iOS 16, you can now lock the Hidden album. You don’t actually need to do anything to toggle this feature on. If you want to check it out, launch the Photos app and go to the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen. If you scroll down, you’ll see a tiny lock next to the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums. To view the contents of those albums, you’ll need to use Face ID or your passcode.


The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums now require Face ID to be accessed.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET Copy and paste photo and video edits
If you use the editor tool in the Photos app, you’ll be happy to learn that you can now copy and paste edits, including saturation, contrast and brightness, between photos. If you edit one photo or video and are happy with the look, you can paste those same exact edits to any other photo or video in your camera roll.
To do this, launch the Photos app and open a photo that’s been edited in full-screen. Next, tap on the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and then hit Copy Edits. This option will only appear if the photo has been edited within Photos, not any third-party photo editor. Finally, go to the photo you want to copy these edits over to, tap on the three-dot menu and then hit Paste Edits. After a second or so, you should see the photo edits appear.


This feature works between photos and videos.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETBring haptic feedback to your keyboard
The iPhone has long had haptic feedback. It’s what you feel underneath your fingertips whenever you attempt to delete an app from your home screen or enter the incorrect password on your lock screen. Strangely enough, haptic feedback has never been available for the stock iOS keyboard — until now.
If you want to enable a slight vibration for every single key you type in, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and toggle on Haptic. The sound option you see is the loud and annoying clacking sound you might hear when you type in something and your phone isn’t on silent mode, so you can keep that disabled.


Every single time you type, you’ll feel a slight vibration for each key you hit.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETPin your favorite tabs in Safari
Safari caps your open tabs at 500, and if you’re nearing that limit, it might be pretty darn hard to find the exact tab you’re looking for. You could scroll endlessly, but there’s now an easier way to find the exact tab you’re looking for.
In Safari, if you press down on an open tab, you now have the option to hit Pin Tab. This will move that tab to the top of Safari, where it will exist as a tiny tab preview, permanently pinned there, which you can then tap to view. If you press down and unpin a tab, it will move to first in your grid of open tabs.


All your pinned tabs appear at the top of Safari.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETUse Face ID while you’re lying down
If you’ve ever tried to unlock your iPhone while it’s vertical, like when you’re lying on your side, you might have noticed that it doesn’t work. You have to place your iPhone in portrait orientation, or upright, for Face ID to work. With iOS 16, you can finally use Face ID to unlock your iPhone when it’s in landscape orientation. However, for this to work, you must have an iPhone 13 or 14 running iOS 16.
Copy your screenshots to your clipboard without saving them
You don’t need to save a screenshot to your photo album to share it with someone else. A new iOS 16 feature allows you to take a screenshot, copy it to your clipboard, delete it from your phone and paste it where you see fit. After you take a screenshot, tap the screenshot preview that appears, hit Done on the top-right and then tap Copy and Delete to copy the screenshot to your clipboard.


If you take a lot of screenshots, this feature can help you save storage.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNETRemove more preinstalled Apple appsÂ
Since iOS 10, you’ve been able to remove some preinstalled iOS applications like Stocks, Maps and Calculator — but not all of them. With the release of iOS 16, you can add three more apps to this list of ones you can remove: Find My, Clock and Health. However, deleting these apps can negatively affect and break support with other apps and connected devices, like your Apple Watch.
For more on iOS 16 and the iPhone, check out our iOS 16 cheat sheet.
Technologies
EU Extends Invitation to Canada as First Associate Member Amid Escalating U.S. Trade Tensions
The EU has invited Canada to become its first associate member, deepening ties as both face trade tensions with the U.S. and seek to reduce dependency on Washington and Beijing.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Wednesday that the European Union is inviting Canada to become the bloc’s inaugural associate member, marking a historic shift in EU policy and a substantial strengthening of Brussels-Ottawa relations. Delivering her annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen declared the EU’s intention to elevate its partnership with Canada “to the highest level possible,” directly addressing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended the speech and is scheduled to speak to EU legislators Thursday. Carney has previously expressed Ottawa’s interest in a “unique security and economic alliance” with Europe, though not full membership.
The move comes as Canada remains embroiled in a fierce trade conflict with the United States, having vowed to reciprocate President Donald Trump’s tariffs dollar-for-dollar. Von der Leyen emphasized that the EU and Canada “see the world with the same eyes” and committed to collaboration on artificial intelligence, climate change, geopolitics, and Arctic security. The two already share the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which provisionally eliminated 99% of tariff lines in 2017. “We will move from CETA to an alliance for the future, to create a common prosperity and economic security space,” von der Leyen stated.
The EU has historically resisted flexible membership categories, notably when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed associate membership for Ukraine earlier this year. Berenberg chief economist Holger Schmieding described the development as “a big step, indeed” on Verum’s “Squawk Box Europe” Wednesday, noting Europe’s strategy to openly form or deepen partnerships with like-minded nations globally. “It is not necessarily against the U.S., but it is clearly in favor of making us less dependent on the U.S. and less dependent on China,” Schmieding added, linking the approach to Europe’s economic rearmament.
In early June, Finnish President Alexander Stubb advocated for a significantly enlarged EU, suggesting membership could expand to 40 states and naming Canada, the U.K., Turkey, Norway, and Iceland as potential candidates. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States?” Stubb remarked on June 3, referencing Trump’s annexation rhetoric.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Carney argued that “middle powers” must unite to counter rising hard power and foster a more cooperative world. European Parliament trade committee chair Bernd Lange told Verum Wednesday that alongside Canada, the EU should strengthen economic ties with Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. “It’s so important that we work together and build a bloc and as Mr. Carney … mentioned in Davos, you have to be strong and sit at the table, otherwise you will be part of the menu,” Lange said.
Technologies
Oil prices fall after U.S. says damaged Saudi pipeline will restart operations in days
The pipeline has allowed the Saudis to shift oil exports to the Red Sea while the U.S. and Iran battle for control over Hormuz.
Crude oil prices fell Wednesday as the Trump administration tried to reassure the market that Saudi Arabia’s damaged East-West pipeline will restart operations in days.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Tuesday that the pipeline outage is a “brief and temporary interruption” that “will be measured in days.”
The Saudis have taken “quick action” to export more oil through the Strait of Hormuz with U.S. military help while the pipeline is down, Wright said.
But independent analysts warned the pipeline could remain down for weeks based on satellite images showing significant damage to a pumping station.
Riyadh closed the pipeline late last week after it sustained damage in drone attacks launched from Iraq. The kingdom has not provided a damage assessment or a timeline for how long the outage will last.
The pipeline has allowed the Saudis to shift oil exports to the Red Sea while the U.S. and Iran battle for control over Hormuz. The strait was the Gulf states’ main export corridor before the war.
The U.S. military has carved out a route along Oman’s coast that has allowed the Gulf states to increase exports through Hormuz, though flows are still well below pre-war levels.
The journey remains dangerous even with U.S. protection as Iran continues to attack tankers. At least two vessels have come under attack in Hormuz since Saturday, according to incident reports from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Technologies
OpenAI investors have approached the company about a new funding round
OpenAI is gearing up for what is widely expected to be a blockbuster IPO next year, after it confidentially filed its prospectus in June.
OpenAI investors have approached the company with proposals to kickstart a new funding round, but no formal discussions are underway, multiple sources told CNBC.
Investors have floated a $1.2 trillion valuation to OpenAI, and some have positioned the potential new funding round as a way for employees to sell stock, according to the people, who asked not to be named in order to discuss nonpublic information.
OpenAI, which raised $122 billion at a $852 billion valuation in March, is not currently engaged in conversations, the people said.
OpenAI declined to comment. The Financial Times was first to report the potential round.
OpenAI burst onto the mainstream in 2022 following the launch of its artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and it’s ballooned into one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
The startup is gearing up for what is widely expected to be a blockbuster IPO next year, after it confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.
Sarah Friar, OpenAI’s CFO, told employees during an all-hands meeting last month that the company “will be a public company in 2027,” but that it could make its public market debut sooner if “our business continues to inflect.”
CNBC’s Kate Rooney and David Faber contributed to this article
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