iOS 16.1 is out tonight! These are the 7 new features
Tonight Apple will release a major interim update for the iPhone with iOS 16.1. New features include Live Activities, Shared iCloud Photo Library, and Matter support. This article will take you through all the new features of iOS 16.1.
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iOS 16.1: all new features
Last week, Apple confirmed that iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 will be released on Monday, October 24. The update will be ready from 19:00, which you can download by going to the Settings app and tapping ‘Software update’.
It is a relatively large interim update, which introduces several functions that were postponed with the release of iOS 16. Below you can read about what’s new in iOS 16.1.
1. Live Activities
With Live Activities, you can see the progress of ongoing activities right from the iPhone lock screen. For example, you can see the standings of a football match without having to unlock your iPhone, or a parcel service shows the estimated time of arrival.
It is not yet clear which apps already support the Live Activities function tonight. Apple has already shown some apps that can handle the new API, such as Uber, Starbucks and Lyft. If we know more, you can read it on iPhoned.
With iOS 16.1, there’s a new way to share photos. You can create a shared new album in iCloud that lets you share photos with up to five others. Rules can be set here, so that you automatically share certain photos. For example, you can set photos to be automatically shared when you and your friends are in the same location.
To make it a shared library, do the following:
- Open the Settings app;
- Scroll down and tap ‘Photos’;
- Select ‘Shared library’.
Go through the steps and choose the participants. You can add up to five people. Then select the photos and videos you want to move to the shared library. Here you can set that all photos of a specific person or date are transferred.
When the library is active, it will be listed under ‘Settings>Photos>Shared Library’. Here you can find all kinds of settings and you can determine whether photos can be forwarded immediately from the Camera app. The shared library can also be created with macOS Ventura, the new operating system for the Mac.
3. Battery percentage
With version 16.0, some iPhones already had the option to show the battery percentage in the status bar. Confusingly, the battery icon remained visually full no matter how low the battery percentage was. With iOS 16.1, Apple changes this, as the icon corresponds to the percentage.
Also, iOS 16.1 brings battery percentage to more iPhones, including the iPhone XR, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini.
4. Matter Support
With iOS 16.1, your iPhone supports Matter, a new smart home standard. It is the result of a collaboration between all major tech companies, including Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung.
Matter is a giant step in the smart home industry. Now you still have to pay attention to whether a certain smart accessory can handle your ecosystem, such as Apple HomeKit. Matter ensures that just about all smart devices can work with all platforms.
5. Change background
With iOS 16, Apple changed the way you customize iPhone wallpaper. This doesn’t work very intuitively, although it gets a little better with iOS 16.1. When changing a wallpaper (to do this, tap the wallpaper longer from the lock screen) you immediately get the choice whether you want to adjust the lock screen or home screen.
Previously it was the case that by default you adjust the lock screen. Only after tapping “Done” did you get the option to change the home screen.
6. Uninstall Wallet App
You can’t delete some Apple apps from your iPhone, and the Wallet app was one of them. That is no longer inviolable, because you can delete the app with iOS 16.1. However, we do wonder why you would want this. The app hardly takes up any space and you can also choose to only remove it from the home screen.
7. In-app content
Downloaded apps already run in the background with iOS 16.1 before you open them for the first time. This makes it possible to use a downloaded app faster.
By default, the option is on and you can find it in the Settings app, under ‘App Store’. There you will see the option ‘In-app content’.
