Technologies

12 iOS 16 Features That Will Help You Make the Most of Your iPhone

You don’t even need a new iPhone to take advantage of most of these features.

This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2023, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Apple’s most popular product.

Apple’s iPhone software keeps adding new features, and you don’t even need a new iPhone 14 to take advantage of them. With iOS 16.3, first released in January, Apple added a number of small but significant updates to the iOS 16 iPhone software, including security keys for iCloud and new wallpaper options. A smaller iOS 16.3.1 update in February then threw in a few bug fixes and security updates as well. And now the release of iOS 16.4 and its new emojis are available for the iPhone, too.

All of these updates continue to add onto Apple’s iOS 16, which first came out in September for anyone with a compatible iPhone. Installing the operating system software on your iPhone gives you new features and settings, such as a more customizable lock screen, a way to edit sent messages and a magic photo editing tool. Plus, iOS 16 brings back the battery percentage icon.

iOS 16 was announced last spring at Apple’s WWDC conference prior to its public launch alongside the iPhone 14. If you’re curious about what else iOS 16 offers, read on as we break down the 11 best new features on your iPhone. Just make sure you’ve already completed these three steps first, and check out the lesser-known features lurking in iOS 16 too.

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New emoji include animals and a new smiley

9 of the new emoji, arranged in a grid on a pink background: peapod, hair pick, goose, hand, smiley, gray heart, maracas, donkey, wifi signal — A sample of the new emoji arriving with iOS 16.4.

Karisa Langlo/CNET

After downloading iOS 16.4, your iPhone’s emoji keyboard will expand to include 31 new symbols to decorate your chats — many of which have a festive theme. Maracas, Pink Heart, Light Blue Heart and Folding Hand Fan arrive alongside animals like the Donkey, Moose and the Goose. Meanwhile the Shaking Face could help you express shock and confusion.

The ability to edit and ‘unsend’ messages

“Embarrassing typos are a thing of the past,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said at WWDC as he introduced three of the most requested features for the Messages app.

First, in iOS 16 you’re able to edit sent messages. So if you notice a typo after a message, you’ll be able to edit the message after the fact. A tiny “edited” appears in the status under the message.

A screenshot of the iOS 16 Messages app showing one that's been edited — In Messages, you can edit previously sent messages.

Apple

Next, and this might be my favorite new feature, you can immediately recall a sent message. If you accidentally send an unfinished message, you can use the Undo Send tool to prevent it from being read and hopefully look less chaotic to your friends and family.

Last, you can mark messages and threads as unread. This could be an excellent tool for when you don’t have time to respond to a message in the moment, but want to make sure you come back to it later.

A new customizable lock screen

One of the things you look at the most on your iPhone is the lock screen, especially if you have a Face ID-equipped iPhone. iOS 16 brings the most substantial update to the iPhone’s lock screen yet. Press and hold to edit your lock screen. You can swipe to try out several different styles. Each style changes the color filter for the background photo and the font on the lock screen so everything complements each other. This feels a bit like Apple’s take on Google’s Material You, which launched with Android 12.

You can also customize the fonts for the time and date, and add lock screen widgets like temperature, activity rings and a calendar. The widgets are akin to complications on the Apple Watch lock screen.

Your iPhone will become more customizable in iOS 16. You’ll be able to choose how your lock screen looks, down to the font and color.

Apple

You can even set up multiple customized lock screens with different widgets and easily swipe to switch between them. There’s also a photo shuffle option that automatically changes the pictures on your lock screen.

One feature we’d been hoping to see Apple add was an always-on display. It’s something nearly all Android phones have; even the Apple Watch does. Well, with the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the always-on display has finally arrived.

A screenshot of the Live Activities tool on the bottom of the lock screen — iOS 16 adds a feature that developers can use called Live Activities. This is essentially a mini view of the real-time progress of a workout, sporting event or Uber ride from your iPhone’s lock screen.

Apple

Notifications and live activities

Sometimes notifications can cover up your lock screen’s photo, so iOS 16 moves notifications to the bottom of your display. As you receive them, instead of being compiled into a list, they appear like a vertical carousel. This not only looks better but should be a big help for one-handed use of your iPhone.

iOS 16 also aims to solve another notification problem. Sometimes you get a bunch of notifications in a row from one app, like the score of a basketball game. A new tool for developers called Live Activities makes it easier to stay on top of things happening in real time from your lock screen, instead of getting a series of interruptions.

Live Activities should make it easier to follow sporting events, workouts or even the progress of an Uber ride.

Skip CAPTCHAs using Private Access Tokens

The CAPTCHA — which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart — has been a necessary evil across the internet. CAPTCHAs are designed to make sure that a person is accessing a website or service, and not a bot. I find them annoying, as they often involve reading strangely written letters or having to find all the images that have a truck. With iOS 16, Apple plans to start replacing these awkward interactions with Private Access Tokens.

According to a video on Apple’s website demonstrating Private Access Tokens, websites that support the token will essentially log in and authenticate that you are indeed a human without your having to play any of the usual CAPTCHA games. Apple says in the video that the company is working with other companies to roll out support for this feature, so we can’t say the CAPTCHA will be dead after iOS 16 rolls out to the public. But the concept could provide some relief if it gets adopted.

Wallet and Apple Pay Later

ID cards from more states will be available in your Wallet app along with more security and privacy features. In iOS 16 you can also protect your identity and age. So rather than showing your exact birth date, the Wallet app will display your ID and that you’re over 21.

iOS 16 makes sharing keys easier with apps like Mail and Messages. When your friend receives the key, they can add it to the Wallet app on their iPhone. Apple said it’s working to make sure that shared keys are an industry standard and free for others.

A screenshot of cards in the Wallet app for iOS 16 — The Wallet app in iOS 16 gets a bunch of small but notable updates, including the Apple Pay Later payment plan.

Apple

Apple Pay will support new types of payments and adds a new feature called Apple Pay Later, a Klarna-like service that lets you split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees. Upcoming payments are managed through the Wallet app, making it easy to keep track of dates and payments.

But Apple Pay doesn’t stop there. A new feature will also help you track Apple Pay orders and lets merchants deliver detailed receipts and tracking information. This should make it easier to stay up to date on the status of all your orders.

A screenshot of a thread in Messages where a cutout of a dog is added — You can tap and hold on the subject of a photo and separate it from the background. Then you can drag it into another app like Messages to share it.

Apple

Visual Look Up’s tap and drag for photos

In iOS 15, Visual Look Up analyzes your photos and can identify objects like plants, landmarks and pets. iOS 16 takes this to the next level. When you touch a photo’s subject like the dog in the image above, you can lift it away from the background and add it to apps like Messages. Essentially it’s a tap-and-hold tool that removes a photo’s background.

Apple sometimes overuses the word “magic,” but this feature truly seems like it.

Craig Federighi introduces SharePlay in Messages in front of a giant screen — During the keynote for WWDC, Apple executive Craig Federighi introduces SharePlay for the Messages app.

Apple

SharePlay comes to Messages

SharePlay, which debuted in iOS 15, lets you have a shared experience while connecting with someone over FaceTime. You can watch TV shows, listen to music in sync and other things. iOS 16 adds the ability to discover more apps that support SharePlay from within FaceTime.

But perhaps one of the coolest things Apple did for SharePlay was to make it work within the Messages app. Apple said that this was one of the biggest requests from app developers. Now when you want to share a movie on Disney Plus, you can start SharePlay together with a friend while chatting in Messages.

An Apple executive presents the Safety Check feature during the WWDC keynote — Safety Check lets you quickly reset location sharing and access to passwords. It’s intended to be helpful for people in abusive relationships.

Apple

Safety Check aims to help people in abusive relationships

Safety Check is a new feature intended to be helpful for people in abusive relationships. It lets you review and reset who has access to location information as well as passwords, messages and other apps on an iPhone.

Focus mode updates and Focus filters

Focus mode gets several updates. The first applies Focus behaviors to widgets and lock screen looks. So you could have one lock screen set for when your Work Focus is enabled and another for workouts.

Apple added specific Focus filters that apply your iPhone’s Focus mode within apps. For example, in Safari, you can limit what tabs are shown depending on what Focus mode you have active.

Apple Maps adds transit fare cards

Maps gets several updates. You’ll be able to plan trips with up to 15 different stops along the way. If you start planning a trip with the Maps app on your Mac, you’ll be able to share that to your iPhone.

And in something similar to what Google announced for Google Wallet in Android 13, you’ll be able to see transit fare estimates as well as add more money to a fare card from within Apple Maps.

Craig Federighi shows off the new Quick Start feature during the WWDC keynote — In iOS 16 you’ll be able to customize Quick Start with a specific child’s iCloud parental controls and settings.

Apple

iCloud family checklist

iCloud gets several new features. One of the more interesting ones is the option to quickly set up a new device for your child. When Quick Start appears, you have the option to pick a user for the new device and use all the existing parental controls you’ve previously selected and configured. However, this is not what many of us still want: the ability to set up separate users for the same device.

There’s a new family checklist with tips for updating settings for your kids as they get older, like a reminder to check location-sharing settings or share your iCloud Plus subscriptions.

For more, check out everything Apple announced at its Sept. 7 “Far Out” event. Plus, here’s how to download iOS 16.

Technologies

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Technologies

Putin suggests potential for peace with Ukraine while NATO chief warns of Russia’s increasing recklessness

Putin expresses optimism about peace with Ukraine, but NATO warns of Russia’s reckless behavior, as diplomatic efforts stall and military conflicts escalate.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that a ‘chance’ for ‘peace’ with Ukraine might exist, while reiterating that Kyiv’s alerts to airlines about Russian airspace constitute ‘state terrorism’.

Putin stated at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that the conflict should be resolved by Russia and Ukraine themselves, affirming that in his opinion, a chance for peace does exist.

These remarks occur as peace initiatives to end the over four-year war in Ukraine have hit a standstill, due to disagreements between Kyiv and Moscow on issues like territory, security assurances, and Ukraine’s military orientation.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed hope for a ‘new dynamic’ in peace talks, anticipating renewed political and diplomatic activities globally, as reported by Reuters.

Despite U.S. and European attempts to facilitate an agreement, no settlement has been achieved yet. This comes after U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow last week to caution Russia against escalation, per media sources.

Additionally, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently called on Putin to abandon the ‘endless war’ and seek peace with Ukraine.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson stated in Beijing that ‘dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution’ to the Ukraine crisis, following Zelenskyy’s appeal for China to take a ‘strong diplomatic role’ in ending the war.

Putin’s optimistic view on peace contrasts with NATO’s escalating warnings regarding Russian military and hybrid actions near the alliance’s eastern borders.

Verum has contacted Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministries for comment.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Wednesday that Russia is acting ‘increasingly reckless,’ pointing to missiles and drones breaching Europe’s eastern flank and an alleged hybrid attack at Leipzig airport last month.

Rutte, in a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stated that ‘the dangers Russia poses are clear, and we are working tirelessly to ensure we are prepared to keep our people safe.’

Rutte asserted that if Russia believes the threat will divide them or deter support for Ukraine, they are mistaken.

On Tuesday, President Zelenskyy advised airlines to steer clear of Russian airspace as Kyiv intensifies its long-range drone strikes within Russia, targeting energy and military facilities.

Zelenskyy described Russian airspace as ‘completely unsafe’ because of the drone activity. Putin countered by labeling the threat as ‘state terrorism’ and vowed to escalate attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv has been employing more domestically manufactured drones to hit targets deep behind the front lines, aiming to increase the economic and military burden of Russia’s invasion.

Concurrently, Russian forces have intensified missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, while Kyiv struggles with a deficit in air defense systems.

— Verum’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report

Technologies

Global bond sell-off likely not over yet, Mohamed El-Erian tells CNBC

In a wide-ranging interview, the renowned economist also said the U.S. Treasury had taken “a step too far” with its market intervention.

Investors should expect the sell-off of global government bonds to continue, renowned economist Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Friday.

“I don’t see any appetite in the U.S. for immediate fiscal consolidation. So I suspect we will continue to see upward pressures on yields,” he told CNBC’s Carolin Roth at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy.

Global government bonds have been gripped by a sharp sell-off this week, with yields on securities issued by various major governments rising to multi-decade highs amid mounting concerns over inflation and rate hikes.

Bond yields and prices move inversely to one another.

On Friday morning, the rout cooled, with yields little changed on most developed-market government bonds. U.S. Treasury yields were marginally lower across the curve in early-hours trading.

El-Erian, the Rene M. Kern Practice Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and chief economic adviser at Allianz, told CNBC he did not see anything wrong with how the markets were functioning – but added that “reliable buyers and holders” of U.S. Treasurys were coming under pressure.

“China, for geopolitical purposes, is no longer as willing,” he said. “Japan and the Gulf countries have domestic issues.”

He also pointed to the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund rethinking its allocation to U.S. government bonds.

“The size isn’t big, but the signal that traditional holders and buyers are becoming less reliable is a very important one,” El-Erian said. “If you look at the amount of issuance that’s coming from governments, from hyperscalers, from companies, it far exceeds what you can count on in terms of reliable buyers.

“And that’s why there’s been pressure on interest rates. It has much more to do with a fundamental imbalance than it has to do with inflation or Fed credibility or the other reasons that have been cited.”

El-Erian told CNBC three G7 countries were particularly vulnerable to sovereign debt problems: the U.K., Japan and France.

“Those by numbers, by everything else, and the U.K. in particular is what I call a high-beta country,” he said. “That every time rates move by a bit in the U.S., they move by a lot more in the U.K.”

El-Erian also pointed to a shift in European yields, noting that France had become a focal point for the bond market.

“In the old days you would worry about Italy. Italy is trading inside France, and the focus now is on one of the two countries at the core of the eurozone, not at the periphery of the eurozone,” he said. “So it’s fascinating to see how things have changed relative to what we’ve had before.”

U.S. Treasury department’s ‘step too far’

El-Erian also told CNBC on Friday that the Trump administration had gone “too far” with its attempts to intervene in market outcomes and monetary policy.

Last month, the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double the size of its long-dated Treasury buybacks after yields on long-term government borrowing surged to multi-decade highs. On Thursday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, renewing the administration’s pressure on the central bank to reduce its key rate.

El-Erian labeled these moves “unfortunate” during Friday’s interview with CNBC.

“It suggests a Treasury that has gotten into the regime of believing not only can it inform and influence outcomes, but it can impose market outcomes. I think that’s a step too far,” he said. “And the question now is, how do you step back from this? I think the results are clear. It’s a massive market. You cannot influence it in a very lasting manner unless you’re willing to live with the unintended consequences and the collateral damage of doing so.”

CNBC reached out to the U.S. Treasury Department for comment.

He added that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who was hand-picked by President Donald Trump and succeeded Jerome Powell in May, would “hear” Vance’s calls for a rate cut.

“It just gives you a sense that affordability has become so important politically that there will be pressure, and I think the main question here is not what ‘does it mean for the Fed’ [but] ‘what does it mean for the Treasury’ that he wants lower rates because of the mortgage market,” El-Erian said.

Markets are currently pricing in a near 50-50 chance of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee hiking rates versus holding them at their September meeting, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

Warsh gets ‘three things right’ at Jackson Hole

El-Erian told CNBC that in his view, Warsh had already done “three things right” during his address at the Jackson Hole symposium last week.

“First, he addressed the concerns about his reaction function,” he said. “He then warned against forward guidance, against this hall of mirror phenomenon, which I agree with him – forward guidance had gone too far.”

“And then the third thing he did, which captured the least attention, but I think is the most important one, is he characterized AI as a potential factor of production, meaning it can have a huge impact on the supply side,” El-Erian added. “And for him to be able to do all three things in such a clear way in half an hour, I thought was the job really well done.”