When Apple first revealed iOS 16 at WWDC, it showed off the ability to view large album artwork on the Lock Screen. Up until today’s release of the iOS 16 Public Beta, and the second revision of the iOS 16 developer beta, this feature was yet to be seen. Today, I was able to test out the new Lock Screen album artwork option via the Now Playing widget interface. Watch my hands-on video walkthrough as I talk about its strengths and weaknesses.
Apple, yesterday, released the third developer beta for iOS 16. The beta contains big new features like Lockdown mode to harden your iPhone from high-level threats, new Lock Screen clock fonts, the debut of the iCloud Shared Photo Library feature that was revealed at WWDC 2022, and of course, the clownfish Lock Screen wallpaper.
In addition to all of the aforementioned details, there are many other new changes and features to explore.
Apple has implemented an updated release notes page which can be found by tapping on the iOS version number in Settings > About. This updated release notes page displays a table highlighting the current release details, along with the build number of the release.
Reminders gets a new Include Due Today option, which makes it show that badge notifications are displayed on the Reminders app icon when items are in your Due Today list. This option can be found via Settings > Reminders.
There are quite a few new Lock Screen changes and tweaks, including two new Lock Screen clock fonts. One of the fonts is a brand new font that we’ve yet to see before, and the other is the same skinny font from iOS 15. In addition, there is better occlusion for clock when the depth effect is enabled on the Lock Screen.
There’s also a new Siri sound effect when invoking Siri with headphones connected. The sound is much more subdued and less jarring than the traditional Siri sound effect.
Of course, I also go in depth with the new Lockdown mode, which hardens an iPhone for high-risk users under the threat of hack. The new Shared iCloud Library that was revealed at WWDC 2022 is also included, and I showcase some of its most interesting features.
Watch my hands on video (conveniently time-stamped) for a breakdown of what’s new in iOS 16.
I went hands-on with the second developer beta for iOS 16, and as expected, it comes with many new changes and features. One of the best new updates relates to the ability to filter the Messages app based on phone line if you have a dual SIM setup. Watch the full hands-on video inside for the walkthrough.
In this video, which is just shy of three hours long, I consider over 350 changes and features to come to iOS 16. As you might expect, it’s a downright massive update with some truly game-changing features. I have many, many thoughts on iOS 16, but I’ll save that for another post and video. Thanks for watching.
