Apple presents new iOS 16 for the iPhone

Apple has unveiled the latest version of the iPhone's operating system.

Announced at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, the new iOS 16 comes with more features to personalize your iPhone's lock screen as well as "new sharing, communication, and intelligence features", Apple said.

iOS 16 introduces iCloud Shared Photo Library to seamlessly share a collection of photos with family, updates to Messages and Mail that help users stay in touch with ease, and powerful enhancements to Live Text and Visual Look Up.

However, it likely would not be available to the public until fall.

"iOS 16 is a big release with updates that will change the way you experience iPhone," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering.

"We have reimagined how the Lock Screen looks and works with exciting new features that make it more personal and helpful, introduced iCloud Shared Photo Library for families, streamlined communication through new capabilities in Messages and Mail, and harnessed enhanced intelligence with updates to Live Text and Visual Look Up."

Here are some of the updated feature details:

A Personalized Lock Screen Experience

The Lock Screen gets more personal, beautiful, and helpful with iOS 16. With a new multilayered effect, the subjects of photos are artfully set in front of the time on the Lock Screen, creating a sense of depth. Users can also change the look of the date and time with expressive type styles and color choices.  

The Lock Screen features widgets that take inspiration from Apple Watch complications, making it easy to get information at a glance, such as upcoming calendar events, the weather, battery levels, alarms, time zones, Activity ring progress, and more.

A new Lock Screen gallery features a range of options for inspiration, such as Apple collections, which include Pride and Unity to celebrate special cultural moments; a Weather wallpaper to see live weather conditions as they change throughout the day; and an Astronomy wallpaper for views of the Earth, moon, and solar system. Users can also create Lock Screens using their favorite emoji or color combinations. With multiple Lock Screens, users can switch between their favorites with just a swipe.

Live Activities is a new feature that helps users stay on top of things that are happening in real time, such as a sports game, workout, ride-share, or food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen.

Notifications have been redesigned to roll up from the bottom, ensuring that users have a clear view of their personalized Lock Screen.

Find Balance with Focus

Focus is more powerful, easier to set up, and now connects to the Lock Screen, offering users a way to tie a Lock Screen wallpaper and widgets to a particular Focus. To activate a Focus, users can simply swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen. With Focus filters, apps like Calendar, Mail, Messages, and Safari can display only the content that is relevant to a user's Focus, helping them to find better balance.

One Place for Family Photos with iCloud Shared Photo Library

iCloud Shared Photo Library gives families a new way to share photos seamlessly with a separate iCloud library that up to six users can collaborate on, contribute to, and enjoy. Users can choose to share existing photos from their personal libraries, or share based on a start date or people in the photos. A user can also choose to send photos to the Shared Library automatically using a new toggle in the Camera app. Additionally, users will receive intelligent suggestions to share a photo that includes participants in the Shared Photo Library. Every user in the Shared Photo Library has access to add, delete, edit, or favorite the shared photos or videos, which will appear in each user's Memories and Featured Photos so that everyone can relive more complete family moments.

Updates to Messages

Users can edit or recall recently sent messages, recover recently deleted messages, and mark conversations as unread so they can come back to them later.2 In addition, SharePlay is coming to Messages, making it possible to enjoy synced content like movies or songs and shared playback controls all while chatting in Messages.

New Tools for Mail

Now users can schedule emails ahead of time and are even given a moment to cancel delivery of a message before it reaches a recipient's inbox. Mail detects if the user forgot to include an important part of their message, such as an attachment. Users also have the option to resurface a message at any date and time with Remind Later, and Follow Up suggestions automatically remind users to follow up on an email if they have not received a response. Mail also includes the biggest overhaul to search, and uses state-of-the-art techniques to deliver more relevant, accurate, and complete results. Users see recent emails, contacts, documents, and links the moment they begin to search for emails.

Live Text and Visual Look Up Enhancements

Live Text uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in images across iOS, and it is now expanding to include video. Users can pause a video on any frame and interact with text. Live Text also adds the ability for users to quickly convert currency, translate text, and more.

Visual Look Up takes photos further by introducing a new feature that allows users to tap and hold on the subject of an image to lift it from the background and place it in apps like Messages. Visual Look Up also expands to recognize birds, insects, and statues.

Apple Inc on also unveiled a buy now pay later service and introduced a MacBook Air powered with its latest M2 chip.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple's second major annual event, the tech giant showed off a new car dashboard that will come in new models including those of Ford and Jaguar, and the iPhone maker rolled out a slew of features for collaboration and data safety.

Here are the major launches made at the event:

IOS16 TO INCLUDE BUY NOW PAY LATER SERVICE

The latest operating system for iPhones will have a refreshed lockscreen that comes with new widgets, greater personalization and a new approach towards notifications.

Apple Pay Later will allow users to pay using Apple Pay where it is accepted and pay for it in four installments over six weeks, without any additional fee.

The new iOS will have feature fresh updates for CarPlay including new gauge clusters and automakers including Ford Motor Co FN and Jaguar Land Rover will integrate the feature with their cars.

Faster Silicon

Apple revealed the M2 chip, the successor to the company's first in-house chip, named M1.

The latest M2 chip, which comes with 24 gigabytes of unified memory, is 18% better than its predecessor and can playback multiple streams of 4K and 8K video.

Apple also launched a redesigned MacBook air and a MacBook Pro with the new chip.

Upgraded Macbook

The powerful M2 chip will be loaded on a brand new MacBook Air, redesigned around the M2 chip. Weighing just 2.7 pounds, new Air is 11.3 inches thick, fitted with a 13.6 inch liquid Retina display and will have a Magsafe charging system. There is also headphone jack.

The MacBook Air will start at $1,199 and come in gray, gold, silver and blue.

MacBook Pro starts at $1,299. Both laptops will be available next month.

IpadOS Gets New Productivity Features

IPadOS 16 will include the Free Form productivity app, which will allow users to share ideas on FaceTime video meetings.

The iPad Pro will now be able to show groups of apps on a secondary screen, allowing for greater productivity in a bid to make iPad apps more "desktop-like".

WatchOS To Have Improved Health And Fitness Features

Apple's new WatchOS 9 will bring new watch faces, new metrics for workouts and heart rate zones for exercise.

It also expects to receive the US Food and Drug Administration's clearance for the atrial fibrillation health feature soon.

The software update will also help users build a medication list and remind them to take medicines.

Tighter Security Features

Apple also beefed up security features on the new iOS. It launched Safety Check in the settings app that lets users revoke access to personal data like location they had shared with other users.

Users can also logout from iCloud accounts on other devices for added safety from the Safety Check page.

MacOS Gets Updates

The new MacOS, dubbed Ventura, will have updates to the Mail app, camera software updates and improved productivity features.