Technologies
14 Hidden iOS 16 Features That Will Make Your Life Easier
Explore some of the lesser-known features and settings on your iPhone.
Apple released its iOS 16 update to the general public back in September, and in the six months since, we’ve written about most of the major new features to the iPhone, like unsending text messages and emails and cutting out objects from your photos. Yet, there always seem to be new features and settings to discover hidden within the iPhone’s latest software update.


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: What to Expect on iOS 16.4
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 passwords
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/CNETThe credit card-sized Anker 622 not only attaches to your MagSafe-compatible iPhone to give it a charge but also has a built-in kickstand so that you can comfortably view and use your device while it gets juice.
Find 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/CNETUse Siri to send an emoji
Siri has long been able to send long, complicated text messages and emails by dictation, but with iOS 16, for the first time, you’re now able to use your voice to send emojis. As long as you know the name of the emoji, simply say «face with tears of joy emoji» or «red heart emoji» to insert an emoji into your text with Siri.
If you use the keyboard dictation feature in your iPhone’s keyboard, accessible at the bottom right of your keyboard (microphone icon), you can also say the emoji name to insert an emoji anywhere you can type text, like in a note or a caption on Instagram.


You can send emojis with Siri (left) or type them in using the dictation feature in your keyboard (right).
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.
Allow notifications when you share your screen
As a privacy protection measure, Apple automatically disables notifications when you share your screen, whether it’s via SharePlay or Screen Mirroring. However, if others seeing your notifications isn’t an issue, you can now allow notifications on iOS 16. In the Settings application, go to Notifications > Screen Sharing and toggle on Allow Notifications.


Allowing notifications when screen sharing is turned off by default.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETCopy 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 apps
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.
Make Siri listen to you longer
If you ever find yourself getting cut off by Siri, there’s now a way to force the voice assistant to listen to you longer so that she can catch everything you say. The feature isn’t in an obvious place though — in the Settings app, go to Accessibility > Siri, then choose either Longer or Longest. Play around with the two options to see which works best for you.


This will help Siri from interrupting you when you speak.
Nelson Aguilar/CNETFor more on iOS 16 and the iPhone, check out our iOS 16 cheat sheet.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.
Green group hint: End user or customer.
Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.
Purple group hint: Not noisy.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Fixed.
Green group: Receiver of goods or services.
Blue group: Starting with weather conditions.
Purple group: Silent ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is fixed. The four answers are fast, firm, secure and tight.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is receiver of goods or services. The four answers are account, client, consumer and user.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is starting with weather conditions. The four answers are frosty (frost), mistletoe (mist), rainmaker (rain) and snowman (snow).
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is silent ____. The four answers are auction, movie, partner and treatment.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Technologies
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 14, #1670
Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 14, No. 1,670.
Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Wordle puzzle is a tough one, with a letter that is rarely used and which I just never guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.
Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025
Today’s Wordle hints
Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.
Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels
Today’s Wordle answer has three vowels.
Wordle hint No. 3: First letter
Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.
Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter
Today’s Wordle answer ends with D.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Today’s Wordle answer can mean to keep away from something or someone.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Today’s Wordle answer is AVOID.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 13, No. 1669 was GUMBO.
Recent Wordle answers
Jan. 9, No. 1665: EIGHT
Jan. 10, No. 1666: MANIC
Jan. 11, No. 1667: QUARK
Jan. 12, No. 1668: TRIAL
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Technologies
Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription
Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.
Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.
The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.
While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.
What the Creator Studio bundle comes with
The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.
Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.
Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.
A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.
Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.
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