Apple’s annual developer conference, WWDC 2022 is just around the corner, and you know what this means. We can expect the Cupertino tech giant to make some new hardware and software announcements, as well as outline its plan for the near future. Of course, the entire conference is preceded by numerous speculations that arise ever since the invites are sent out.
One such speculation is the iOS 16, the upcoming version of Apple’s mobile operating system. Apple refrained from announcing anything major about the iOS update, which means that it is very likely to reveal the announcements live during the conference.
Codenamed “Sydney,” the iOS 16 is highly unlikely to get any major updates to its design. Instead, the company will be focussing on improvements under the hood and introduce improvements to some existing features, such as notifications, the Messages and Health apps, and the lock screen.
With iOS 15, we got a redesigned notifications system, along with other features such as Spatial Audio and new privacy features. With its successor, we could expect to see enhanced notifications and new ways to interact with apps.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in the “Power On” newsletter, agrees that notifications will get significant changes when the iOS 16 rolls out. It is also likely to be accompanied by upgrades and refinements to the Health App.
The Health App does not seem to be expanding to fellow Apple devices such as the iPad and Mac, however, it will not be left in the lurch and will get a plethora of new features that work with both the iPhone and Apple Watch. These include expanded sleep tracking information and a new medicine management feature.
The lock screen is slated to get some love as well, since Apple may bring to it wallpapers that have widget-like capabilities, according to Bloomberg. An always-on lock screen is something that iPhone users have been looking for for a long time (it did not come with the iPhone 13 series), and now, iOS 16 might finally come with support for the same. An always-on display will allow the device to turn down the frame rate on the lock screen and display quickly glanceable information.
An improved version of Smart Stack (apparently codenamed InfoShack) is likely to roll out as well. Bigger and better in the new operating system, it is speculated to come with multiple widgets in a huge block, and you do not need to swipe up or down to switch between widgets. Instead, you can see multiple widgets at once.
You may remember that Apple has an AR/VR headset that is said to roll out next year (since it was delayed earlier). Well, the iOS 16 is very likely to come with in-built support for the same.
Which iPhone models will support iOS 16? It is very likely that the iPhone 13 series, along with the iPhone 12 series and the iPhone 11 series will make the cut. iOS 16 will come preinstalled in the iPhone 14 series.
