Taimur Asad·

iOS 16 Hidden Features: 100+ Changes Apple Didn’t Tell Us About

Here are iOS 16 hidden features with over 100+ changes on both iPhone and iPad (iPadOS 16) that Apple didn’t tell us are coming to your devices.

As you may already know by now, Apple announced both iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 back in June this year and with final public version coming later today.

We have been fortunate enough to have both iOS 16 RC on an iPhone, and latest iPadOS 16 beta on an iPad, installed on our test devices so that we could explore all the features that Apple didn’t get time to cover and tell you about it all here without having to have you go through the trouble.

With iOS 16 set to launch in final version form later today and iPadOS being delayed to next month, we will encourage everyone with a compatible iPhone model to update to final version of iOS 16 once it’s available to you for download. This new version of iOS not only brings tons of new features, it also brings with it important security updates so that you can keep your device more private and secure than ever before.

With that said and without further ado, here are 100+ features that we have discovered so far that Apple didn’t tell us about but are coming to an iPhone or iPad near you running iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 respectively.

Ready? Here we go.

iOS 16 / iPadOS 16 Hidden Features

  1. Apple Photos app is getting undo and redo abilities in editing mode
  2. Spotlight Search shortcut on home screen
  3. Built-in live currency converter in Camera app
  4. Built-in live translation in Camera app
  5. Face ID now works in Landscape
  6. Copy and paste your edits from one photo to another in Photos app
  7. Redesigned Apple Books app
  8. Handoff for FaceTime between iPhone, iPad, Mac
  9. Digital Driver’s Licenses from Wallet app can now be used in third-party apps
  10. New Memoji options
  11. Support for Nintendo Switch controllers
  12. iPadOS 16 adds handwriting straightening feature
  13. Find and fix duplicate contacts
  14. Unsend an email 10 seconds after it’s sent in Mail app
  15. Always-on display coming to iPhone 14 as indicated by code in iOS 16
  16. Playlist sorting and ability to add favorite artists in Apple Music
  17. Safari gets Extension syncing across devices and web image translation with Live Text
  18. Push web notifications in Safari
  19. Focus mode gets filters, linked lock screens and more enhancements
  20. Isolate, copy and share subjects in Photos
  21. Live Lock Screen notifications from third-party apps
  22. Built-in packages tracker in Wallet app
  23. Medications Tracker
  24. iPhone 13 and later gets new camera features for Portraits and Cinematic Mode
  25. Edit and Unsend in iMessage works up to 15 minutes after sending a message
  26. Easier way to manage AirPods in Settings.app
  27. Find and fix duplicate photos in Apple Photos
  28. Face ID/Touch ID lock for Hidden and Recently Deleted albums in Photos app
  29. You can now see your WiFi network password
  30. Notifications on Lock Screen now appear from bottom of screen instead of top
  31. Ability to undo accidental deleted messages thread in Apple Messages app
  32. Enable or disable ability to ‘lock the phone to end call’ feature
  33. Use third-party two-factor authentication apps with built-in passwords feature
  34. Security fixes won’t require full iOS update in iOS 16
  35. Security fixes will be installed OTA automatically
  36. Siri can now hang up calls, add emojis to texts and more
  37. Apps will be required to ask user for permission to access the clipboard
  38. Keyboard haptics for vibrations as your type option
  39. New personalized Spatial Audio feature that uses TrueDepth camera on iPhone
  40. Weather app comes to iPad
  41. Freeform app to work collaboratively coming to iPhone, iPad and Mac later
  42. iOS 16 includes Fitness app on iPhone without requiring Apple Watch
  43. New UI for voice messages in Apple Messages app
  44. New Memoji stickers in Messages app
  45. Ability create alarms right from Spotlight Search
  46. Ability to create wallpapers from emojis
  47. Blur or unblur wallpaper background on home screen
  48. Lock Screen widgets also act as quick app launcher for the app the widget is designed for
  49. Ability to do Fitness app activity tracking without needing Apple Watch by using iPhone’s sensors
  50. Redesigned video player
  51. “Face too far away” – lock screen shows suggestions when Face ID can’t quite scan your face, kinda like on the iPads Pro
  52. Redesigned Timer app widget for the Lock Screen
  53. iMessage and FaceTime login from other devices now show as notification instead of popup
  54. You can now search for text in photos within the Photos app. You no longer need to rely on solely on Spotlight Search
  55. New Status bar icons for indicating no cellular service
  56. New eSIM Transfer using another device Nearby
  57. iCloud Backups can now easily get managed from the Backup menu
  58. System-wide closed captioning feature
  59. More details in Health app for Sleep information
  60. New way to customize HomeKit scenes as well as new icons for accessories in all-new Home app
  61. Tapping on a number with units allows you to do several direct conversions
  62. You can now type in the number of copies you need in the print dialog
  63. The new AirPods section in Settings remembers and displays what the last charge level of the case was before taking the buds out
  64. Music app now hides the song progress bar when viewing the queue
  65. Focus modes now support either whitelisting or blacklisting for people and apps
  66. While listening to a song, Spotlight Search recommends information about the artist
  67. System crash notification, after tapping on it, it populates an Apple feedback form, allowing you to quickly submit feedback as to what happened prior to the crash
  68. You can now see the network activity of each app (and the domain they asked for
  69. You can turn off Show Time on your Lock Screen in Sleep focus
  70. You can change watch-faces with Focus
  71. New UI for Emergency SOS
  72. Long pressing on Stage Manager gets you more iPad real estate
  73. Safari can now be used upside down if you flip your iPhone
  74. Automatic playlist to play when you start a workout
  75. Ability to copy and paste events in Calendar app
  76. Add a song in Apple Music to multiple playlists at once
  77. External Display support in iPadOS 16 now requires a mouse and keyboard to be connected to work
  78. Updated UI for Contact Haptic/3D Touch menu
  79. New Face ID icon animation on the Lock Screen
  80. Multiple destination routing in Maps
  81. Favorite artists in Apple Music
  82. Text box to add text in PDF file in Files App
  83. Redesigned Apple TV remote UI
  84. Siri can now do intercom, HomeKit, voicemails and more offline
  85. Stream to non-AirPlay devices without Bluetooth or local network access permission
  86. HDR10+ support in Apple TV app
  87. Pinch notifications to change between stacks and list view on Lock Screen
  88. Notification Center now works in Landscape as well on iPhone
  89. New Bluetooth sorting
  90. New notification when charging: If iPhone is warm, it will pause charging
  91. When your phone is in silent mode, your videos in Photos will be also muted
  92. More detailed weather information in Weather app
  93. Contacts widget will now alert you of missed FaceTime calls and most likely other missed calls
  94. See which app used which privacy related function in Control Center
  95. Swiping down on Lock Screen will hide notifications and swipe up brings them back
  96. Cut/Copy/Paste get new animations
  97. Native Chromecast support coming to iOS 6 devices
  98. Ability to rename screenshots
  99. New list view in Shortcuts app
  100. New button style for shortcuts in Shortcuts app
  101. You can now swipe on native video player to skip forward/backward
  102. Photo options have been moved from the Share Sheet into their own menu
  103. New UI for saving to Files app from Safari
  104. View Yelp photos in Maps app without Yelp app installed
  105. CarPlay in-route estimated arrival time changed from “ETA” to “arrival”
  106. Files app can now remove local iCloud downloads without deleting the file
  107. New UI style for Shortcuts alerts
  108. Option for playback speed in the TV app
  109. Categories in iPhone Storage section in Settings app have a new color
  110. Messages app now has Recently Deleted section
  111. Redesigned volume and playback scrubbers in Music app
  112. You can easily download Safari extensions from other devices in the Settings app
  113. There’s now an option to use your device passcode to manage locked notes in the Notes app
  114. On a white background Home Screen, now there is a shadow effect on the letters instead of the letters turning black
  115. List view of all WiFi networks you have ever connected to and ability to edit or remove them
  116. Album artwork in Music app now has rounded corners
  117. Date and other formatting settings in Settings app separated from Region setting
  118. Apple Books widget
  119. Custom email domains for iCloud Mail can now be configured in Settings instead of iCloud.com. You can also buy a domain through Cloudflare
  120. Pinned tabs in Safari iOS
  121. Apple Watch Mirroring
  122. Ability to mark messages and read or unread
  123. New UI when tapping on iOS version in Settings > General
  124. All-new Developer Mode
  125. New “Continue Watching” screen in TV app when an episode is finishing
  126. New context menu options in Photos app for selected photos
  127. iPhone can automatically share your medical ID if you contact emergency
  128. Stocks app can have watchlists now
  129. New Quick Actions feature in Files app
  130. iOS 16 allows customization of “measurement system”, “first day of week”, and “date format” independently of region
  131. New field test interface
  132. Quick Note available in Control Center
  133. Ability to view changelog for the currently installed iOS version in Settings > General > About
  134. New search engine option added for Safari

That’s it for now. We will update the post if and when we discover more features in iOS 16. If you have found a feature not listed above, share it with us in comments section below and we will add them in the list.

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