ios 16 safari change

Apple unveils an all-new Lock Screen experience and new ways to share and communicate in iOS 16

A Personalized Lock Screen Experience

Find Balance with Focus

One Place for Family Photos with iCloud Shared Photo Library

Updates to Messages

New Tools for Mail

Live Text and Visual Look Up Enhancements

Wallet Adds Apple Pay Later, Order Tracking, and Other Features

The Next Generation of CarPlay

Additional Features

• Safari adds shared Tab Groups to share a collection of websites with friends and family, making it seamless to add tabs and see what others are viewing. Browsing in Safari is even safer with passkeys , unique digital keys that are easy to use, more secure, never stored on a web server, and stay on device so hackers can’t steal them in a data breach or trick users into sharing them. Designed to replace passwords, passkeys use Touch ID or Face ID for biometric verification, and iCloud Keychain to sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV with end-to-end encryption. They will also work across apps and the web, and users can sign in to websites or an app on non-Apple devices using just their iPhone.
• Apple Maps is introducing multistop routing, so users can plan up to 15 stops in advance and automatically sync routes from Mac to iPhone when they’re ready to go. Maps is also bringing transit updates to users, making it easy for riders to view how much their journey will cost, add transit cards to Wallet, see low balances, and replenish transit cards, all without leaving Maps.
• Family Sharing offers an easier way to set up an account for a child with the right parental controls in place from the start. It includes suggestions for age-appropriate restrictions for apps, movies, books, music, and more, and a simpler process for setting up a new device that applies existing parental controls automatically. When a child asks for more screen time, guardians can approve or decline right in Messages.
• Dictation offers a new on-device experience that allows users to fluidly move between voice and touch. Users can type with the keyboard, tap in the text field, move the cursor, and insert QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation. In addition, Dictation features automatic punctuation and emoji dictation.
• Siri adds the ability to run shortcuts as soon as an app is downloaded without requiring upfront setup. Users can add emoji when sending a message, choose to send messages automatically — skipping the confirmation step — and hang up phone and FaceTime calls completely hands-free by simply saying “Hey Siri, hang up.”
• The Home app makes it easier for users to navigate, organize, and view their accessories, and enhancements to the underlying architecture offer users more efficient and reliable control of their smart home. A software update to iOS 16 will bring support for the Matter smart home connectivity standard once it becomes available later this fall, enabling a wide variety of accessories to work together seamlessly across platforms, helping fulfill the true vision of a smart home.
• The Fitness app is available to all iPhone users to help track and meet fitness goals, even if they don’t have an Apple Watch. iPhone users can set up a daily Move goal in the Fitness app and see how their active calories will help close their Move ring. iPhone motion sensors can track steps, distance, flights climbed, and workouts from third-party apps, which can be converted into an estimation of active calories to contribute to users’ daily Move goal. Users can also share their Move ring with friends for additional motivation.
• The Health app adds Medications, allowing users to conveniently build and manage a medications list, create schedules and reminders, and track their medications, vitamins, or supplements. In the US, users can simply point their iPhone camera at a label to add a medication, read about the medications they’re taking, and receive an alert if there are potential critical interactions for their medications. 5 In addition, users can now send loved ones an invitation to share their Health data, and easily create a PDF of available health records from connected health institutions, right from the Health app. 6
• Apple News introduces a new My Sports section to easily follow favorite teams and leagues; receive stories from hundreds of top publishers; access scores, schedules, and standings for the top professional and college leagues; and watch highlights right in the News app.
• Game Center features a redesigned dashboard that shows friends’ activity and accomplishments from games in one place, making it easy for players to jump in to play with or compete against their friends.
• Personalized Spatial Audio enables an even more precise and immersive listening experience. Listeners can use the TrueDepth camera on iPhone to create a personal profile for Spatial Audio that delivers a listening experience tuned just for them.
• A new privacy tool   called Safety Check can be helpful to users whose personal safety is at risk from domestic or intimate partner violence by quickly removing all access they’ve granted to others. It includes an emergency reset that helps users easily sign out of iCloud on all their other devices, reset privacy permissions, and limit messaging to just the device in their hand. It also helps users understand and manage which people and apps they’ve given access to.
• Accessibility updates include Door Detection, which helps users who are blind or low vision to use their iPhone to navigate the last few feet to their destination, and Apple Watch Mirroring for users with physical and motor disabilities who may rely on assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control to fully control Apple Watch from their iPhone. 7 Additionally, Live Captions make it easier for the Deaf and hard of hearing community to follow along while on a phone or FaceTime call, using a videoconference or social media app, streaming media content, or having a conversation with someone next to them. 8

Text of this article

June 6, 2022

PRESS RELEASE

Users can personalize their Lock Screen, keep family photos in iCloud Shared Photo Library, recall sent messages, schedule mail, and discover more with Live Text and Visual Look Up

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA  Apple today previewed iOS 16 , delivering the biggest update ever to the Lock Screen, and new sharing, communication, and intelligence features that together change the way users experience iPhone. 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.

“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.”

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. 1

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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 Pay Later provides users in the US with a seamless and secure way to split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees of any kind. 3 Built into Apple Wallet and designed with users’ financial health in mind, Apple Pay Later makes it easy to view, track, and repay Apple Pay Later payments within Wallet. Users can apply for Apple Pay Later when they are checking out with Apple Pay, or in Wallet. Apple Pay Later is available everywhere Apple Pay is accepted online or in-app, using the Mastercard network. 4 Additionally, with Apple Pay Order Tracking, users can receive detailed receipts and order tracking information in Wallet for Apple Pay purchases with participating merchants.

Keys and IDs in Wallet get expanded support. Users can use their ID in Wallet for apps requiring identity and age verification. To ensure a private and secure experience, only the necessary information required for the transaction will be provided to the app, and the user can review and consent to share it using Face ID or Touch ID. Additionally, users can securely share their home, hotel, office, and car keys in Wallet through messaging apps, including Messages, Mail, and more.

CarPlay has fundamentally changed the way people interact with their vehicles, and the next generation of CarPlay goes even further by deeply integrating with a car’s hardware. CarPlay will be able to provide content for multiple screens within the vehicle, creating an experience that is unified and consistent. Deeper integration with the vehicle will allow users to do things like control the radio or change the climate directly through CarPlay, and using the vehicle data, CarPlay will seamlessly render the speed, fuel level, temperature, and more on the instrument cluster. Users will be able to personalize their driving experience by choosing different gauge cluster designs, and with added support for widgets, users will have at-a-glance information from Weather and Music right on their car’s dashboard. More information about the next generation of CarPlay will be shared in the future, and vehicles will start to be announced late next year.

Availability

The developer preview of iOS 16 is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta will be available to iOS users next month at beta.apple.com . New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 8 and later. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios-16-preview . Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.

About Apple

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

• The Live Activities API will be available later this year. 
• Users can edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it and can unsend a message for up to 2 minutes after sending it. Users can make up to 5 edits to a given message, and recipients will be able to see a record of edits made to the message.
• A user’s card-issuing bank may charge a fee if the user’s debit card account contains insufficient funds. 
• This option will be available for qualifying applicants in the United States.
• Medication and interaction information is evidence-based content licensed from Elsevier, a leading publisher of health and science information. The Medications feature should not be used as a substitute for professional medical judgment. Additional information is available on the labels of medications, but users should consult their healthcare provider prior to making any decisions related to their health.
• Health Records on iPhone is available at participating institutions in the US, the UK, and Canada.
• Door Detection and People Detection features in Magnifier require the LiDAR Scanner on iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd and 3rd generation), and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th and 5th generation). Apple Watch Mirroring is available on Apple Watch Series 6 and later. Door Detection should not be relied upon in circumstances where a user may be harmed or injured, or in high-risk or emergency situations.
• Live Captions will be available in beta on iPhone 11 and later, iPad models with A12 Bionic and later, and Macs with Apple silicon. Accuracy of Live Captions may vary and should not be relied upon in high-risk situations.

Press Contacts

Apple Media Helpline

[email protected]

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WebKit Features in Safari 16.0

Sep 12, 2022

by Jen Simmons

Today, we are excited to announce the release of Safari 16.0 for iOS 16, macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur. This release contains quite a few new web technologies that web developers can use to make their sites and web apps even better.

To update to Safari 16.0 on macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur, go to System Preferences → Software Update → More info. To update to Safari 16.0 on iOS, install iOS 16 . Safari 16 for macOS Ventura and iPadOS 16 are coming this October, and will include Web Push on macOS Ventura.

We announced many details about what’s in Safari 16 in our article, News from WWDC22: WebKit Features in Safari 16 Beta , and the WWDC22 session, What’s new in Safari and WebKit (32 min video). But that’s not all. In the months since WWDC, we’ve added even more.

New since Safari 16 Beta 1

Safari for iOS 16 includes support for still images compressed using the AVIF format. Developed by the Alliance for Open Media , AVIF is an alternative to image formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, or WebP. It offers multiple color spaces, lossless and lossy compression, and more. Support for AVIF will also come to macOS Ventura and iPadOS in October.

WebKit now fully supports the resolution media query . This media query provides a way for web developers to conditionally apply CSS based on the pixel density of a screen. For example: @media (min-resolution: 326dpi) { } .

WebKit now supports text-align-last , a CSS property that sets how the last line of a text block is aligned. For instance, a paragraph could have text-align: center applied to most its lines, while the last line of that paragraph is aligned right with text-align-last: right .

The :has() pseudo-class in WebKit now supports :target . The CSS :target pseudo-class selects an element when that element has an id that matches a fragment in the URL. For example, if a user clicks on a link that takes them to example.com/#chapter2 , and an element on that page has the ID #chapter2 , then the :target pseudo-class will select that element. In Safari 16, :has(:target) opens up new possibilities when using URLs with fragments. For an in-depth look at :has , read Using :has() as a CSS Parent Selector and much more .

Safari on iOS 16 adds support for passkeys . They provide users with an incredibly easy way to log in, while delivering a profound increase in security .

The technology that makes passkeys possible is defined in open standards from the FIDO Alliance and the W3C, including the WebAuthn standard, which already has widespread support in browsers . Passkeys are an industry-wide effort, and “passkeys” is a common noun, to be used by anyone. You can offer passkeys alongside your existing authentication options. First, teach your backend to store public keys and issue authentication challenges. Then, on your website or web app, offer passkeys to users by adopting the APIs for creating new passkeys and allowing users to sign in with their passkey.

If your website or web app already supports using a platform authenticator with WebAuthn, there are a few things to note as you add support for passkeys. Make sure you aren’t limiting signing in to the device that saved the passkey; that is, don’t use a cookie to “remember” that a user set up a key on a particular device. Also, make sure the username fields in your existing sign-in forms are compatible with AutoFill by adopting “conditional mediation”. Finally, start to refer to passkeys, and treat them as a primary way to sign in.

To learn more, watch the WWDC22 session, Meet Passkeys (27 min video) or read Supporting passkeys . In October, support for passkeys will come to macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur, as well as macOS Ventura and iPadOS.

Safari 16 adds Apple Pay support for Merchant Tokens, a more efficient way to support recurring payments, and support for multi-merchant payments, a way to pay multiple merchants of record in one transaction. Safari 16 also supports Order Tracking to enable merchants on the web to provide detailed order and shipping information in Wallet. Apple Pay can now be used in all WKWebView .

Web Inspector Extensions

Safari 16 brings support for Web Inspector Extensions, enabling you to enhance Safari’s built-in web developer tools. Download these extensions on macOS by going to Safari > Safari Extensions and looking for Web Inspector Extensions in the App Store. Search for developer tools from your favorite third-party developer services, test suites, and frameworks — including Angular DevTools, which recently announced support. If you’d like to learn how to make such extensions, watch the WWDC22 session, Create Safari Web Inspector Extensions (18 min video).

Safari 16 includes even more for Safari Web Extensions, including the ability to sync which extensions are enabled across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Safari 16 supports both manifest version 2 and manifest version 3. Watch What’s new in Safari Web Extensions from WWDC22 to learn about the differences, and how to upgrade your extension. Web Extensions in Safari 16 also add support for declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess permission and browser.runtime.getFrameID .

Container Queries

Similar to Media Queries, Container Queries allow you to adjust the layout or styling of a particular item on your web page based on the size of its container rather than the size of the viewport. Safari 16 supports size queries and container query units . “Size queries” are what web developers imagine when they talk about Container Queries — the opportunity to write CSS that only applies if a container is a certain size. Container Query Units are similar to Viewport Units, but they specify a length relative to the dimensions of a query container instead of the viewport. These include cqw , cqh , cqi , cqb , cqmin , and cqmax .

CSS Grid revolutionized what’s possible in layout design on the web. Subgrid takes Grid to another level, providing an easy way to put grandchildren of a grid container on that grid. It makes it possible to line up items across complex layouts without being constrained by the HTML structure. And Safari’s Grid Inspector lets you turn on the overlays for as many grids as you want — which is especially helpful when coding subgrid.

Web Inspector

Following last year’s addition of Grid Inspector, Safari 16.0 adds Flexbox Inspector. It pairs perfectly with the addition of Alignment Editor in Safari 15.4.

Safari’s Flexbox Inspector visually distinguishes between excess free space and Flex gaps. It also shows the boundaries of items, revealing how they are distributed both on the main axis and the cross axis of your Flexbox containers. The toggleable “Order Numbers” option show the layout order of elements in the container, which can be helpful when using the order property. And just like our overlays for Grid last year, you can simultaneously show as many Flexbox overlays as you want, without any impact on scrolling performance. A single checkbox turns them all on.

In the Timelines Tab there are additional links to reference documentation, and a new experimental Screenshots timeline that captures screenshots of the viewport when content changes are painted.

The Elements Tab now supports showing Container Queries in the Styles sidebar.

The Sources Tab brings new improvements including allowing local overrides for requests to use regular expression matches in the redirect URL and local overrides for responses now being able to be mapped to a file on disk.

The Network Tab includes a new proxy indicator, and provides a way to entirely block network requests.

Accessibility Improvements

Safari 16 introduces a re-architecture of WebKit’s accessibility support on macOS. By adding Isolated Tree Mode, WebKit reduces VoiceOver hangs by offloading accessibility work to a secondary thread, improving performance and increasing responsiveness. This change allows WebKit to service more accessibility requests from clients like VoiceOver in less time than before. On some complex webpages, we’ve measured twice the number of accessibility requests served in twenty-five percent less time. Safari 16 also greatly improves accessibility support for elements with display:contents by ensuring they are properly represented in the accessibility tree.

Animation Improvements

WebKit now supports CSS Offset Path (also known as Motion Path), providing web developers the ability to animate objects along a custom path of any shape. The offset-path property lets you define a geometrical path along which to animate. The offset-anchor , offset-distance , offset-position , and offset-rotate properties give you additional abilities to refine the exact movement of the object being animated. While the offset property acts as a shorthand for combining these properties.

In Safari 16, you can now animate track sizes in CSS Grid, dynamically changing the size of rows and columns.

Safari 16 also adds support for composite operations, resolving how an element’s animation impacts its underlying property values. And it adds support for discrete animation to thirty-nine CSS properties.

Overscroll Behavior

CSS Overscroll Behavior determines what happens when a user scrolls and reaches the boundary of a scrolling area. It’s useful when you want to stop scroll chaining — when a user scrolls inside a box and hits the end, you now have control over stopping or allowing scrolling on the rest of the page.

Shared Workers

WebKit now supports Shared Workers . It’s similar to Service Workers, running JavaScript in the background, but its lifetime is slightly different. Your Shared Worker runs as long as the user has any tab open to your domain. All the tabs open to the same domain can share the same Shared Worker.

Additional Features

Safari 16 adds support for Shadow Realms, <form>.requestSubmit() , the showPicker() method for HTML input elements, and the worker-src Content Security Policy directive.

Fixes and Polish

Safari 16.0 also contains quite a few bug fixes and feature polish.

• Fixed gradient color interpolation with alpha.
• Removed most non-standard CSS appearance values.
• Polished the implementation of the :has() pseudo-class, updated to match the evolving web standard.
• Polished the implementation of Cascade Layers.
• Fixed firing the load event after a form is submitted with a "_blank" target.
• Fixed contenteditable anchors getting stuck with an :active state.
• Fixed changing the value for stepUp() and stepDown() with out-of-range values.
• Fixed using min as the default value when min is greater than max for <input type="range"> .
• Fixed making value updates visible for <input type="email"> .
• Fixed making sure :active is removed on keyup event for radio inputs.
• Fixed applyStep() behavior to align with specifications.
• Fixed the select() method returns to align with specifications.
• Fixed form data generated by <input type="image"> when a value attribute is present.
• Fixed the FormData object to not include an entry for the submit button used to submit the form.
• Fixed returning an empty string for invalid floating-point numbers that end with a "." .
• Fixed selection range after the type attribute of an <input> changes.
• Fixed selection range to be limited by the length of the current value.
• Fixed the user-agent stylesheet to include table { text-indent: initial } to align with specifications.
• Fixed the user-agent stylesheet to include box-sizing: border-box for <input type="color">.
• Fixed the line-height declaration to use !important for the placeholder of an input.
• Fixed blocking image content in object elements.
• Fixed incorrect CORP/COEP check in 304 responses.
• Fixed mixing strict-dynamic and unsafe-inline policies.
• Fixed script-src-elem policies in Workers.
• Fixed incorrect blocked-uri for inline scripts and strict-dynamic policies.
• Fixed handling AllowShared TypedArray .
• Fixed breakpoints not triggering, breakpoints occurring at incorrect locations in scripts, and incorrect error/stack trace line/column numbers when inspecting minified sources with multi-line strings.
• Fixed importing Timelines sometimes not scrolling.
• Fixed importing Audits sometimes crashing.
• Fixed CSS autocomplete to suggest the most commonly-used property, not the alphabetical one.
• Fixed pointerMove actions to correctly fire mouse events.
• Fixed rapid session creation and deletion leading to timeouts in session creation.

Safari Web Extensions

• Fixed incorrect counts being returned from getBytesInUse .
• Extensions that request the unlimitedStorage permission no longer also need the storage permission.
• Updated the maximum number of static rulesets to 50 and the maximum number of enabled static rulesets to 10.
• Service workers are no longer returned from extension.getBackgroundPage and extension.getViews

We love hearing from you. Send a tweet to @webkit , @jensimmons , or @jonathandavis to share your thoughts on Safari 16. If you run into any issues, we welcome your feedback on Safari UI, or your WebKit bug report about web technology or Web Inspector. Filing issues really does make a difference.

Download the latest Safari Technology Preview to stay at the forefront of the web platform and to use the latest Web Inspector features. You can also use the WebKit Feature Status page to watch for new information about the web features that interest you the most.

To learn more about what’s in Safari 16 for web developers, read the Safari 16 Release Notes .

iOS 16 features — here's how to use everything new for your iPhone

Ready to get more out of iOS 16? You've come to the right place

iOS 16 system features

Ios 16 photo features, ios 16 apps.

iOS 16 arrived last fall on the iPhone, though Apple continues to tweak and update its phone software. iOS 16.3 is the current version available to all users, though an iOS 16.4 beta is available now, too, hinting at future features for your iPhone.

We assume you've already got iOS 16 installed on your iPhone. And if you haven't, it's easy enough to download iOS 16 to experience all of the changes that Apple's software update delivers.

And there are plenty of those, from a customizable lock screen to new features peppered throughout your iPhone's built-in apps. Apple's even tweaked familiar features like notifications that make things feel a little different than they did in iOS 15.

Don't let these changes overwhelm you. Our iOS 16 review can give you an idea of what awaits you in iOS 16, and we've also got a look at some of the overlooked iOS 16 features you may not even have heard about. We've also rounded up hidden iPhone features you should be using .

iOS 16 runs on the iPhone 8 or later, though some features have higher hardware requirements. The Live Text and Visual Look Up features, for example need at least an iPhone XR to work.

Whether you've had iOS 16 on your iPhone since the fall or you're a newcomer to the update, we can be your guide to the new software. We've been trying out new iOS 16 features, and we can give you step-by-step instructions on how things work under the updated software. Here are just some of the things we can help you do in iOS 16.

How to customize your iPhone's lock screen in iOS 16

One of the many features introduced with iOS 16 is the ability to customize your iPhone's lock screen . Here's the best way to do it.

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How to switch your iPhone lock screen in iOS 16

Once you’ve created different lock screens in iOS 16, here’s the quickest way to switch between them .

How to change the way iPhone notifications are displayed in iOS 16

Your iPhone's notifications show up differently in iOS 16. Here's how to customize the way they appear on your iPhone lock screen.

How to copy text in a video with Live Text in iOS 16

Live Text picks up a new trick in iOS 16 — here's how to grab text from a video .

iOS 16 Memojis — here’s all the new options for your iPhone

In iOS 16, Memojis now have more customizations and stickers for your avatar. Take a look at the new Memoji options .

How to adjust Live Activities in iOS 16

Live Activities arrived in iOS 16.1, bringing real-time alerts and notifications to your phone that continuously update. But if you'd prefer to alter the frequency of updates, you can go into Settings and adjust Live Activities as of the iOS 16.2 update.

How to find your Wi-Fi password on iPhone with iOS 16

Before now, you couldn't actually see your saved Wi-Fi passwords in the Settings app on your iPhone, making it tricky if you wanted to share passwords, or double-check you had the right one. Now though, iOS 16 lets you easily see and copy your network passwords, as well as check all the remembered networks stored on your iPhone.

How to control nearby devices on an iPhone

You can control all nearby Apple devices with only your iPhone . Just follow a few simple steps.

How to turn off Clean Energy Charging

iPhone's Clean Energy Charging feature is designed to help minimize your carbon footprint and optimizing your recharge schedule to try and take advantage of renewable energy sources. It's also enabled by default in iOS 16.1, though switching it off is pretty simple.

Head to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and Charging. From there you should see the toggle for Clean Energy Charging which can be switched on and off.

How to set up an iCloud Shared Photo Library

One of the big additions to iOS 16.1 is the arrival of the iCloud Shared Photo Library , which lets you and five other people share photos that any of you can edit, delete and manage. Here's how to set up an iCloud Shared Photo Library , along with what you can do once everything's up and running.

How to lift a subject out of a photo using iOS 16 Visual Look Up

Visual Look Up now lets you lift images out of the rest of a photo . It's a cool trick if you know how to lift a subject out of a photo in iOS 16.

How to set Photographic Styles for automatic image edits

Photographic Styles adds filters to your pictures as you capture them to take some of the guesswork out of photo editing. Here's how you can set Photographic Styles to ensure your images look their best the moment you capture the shot.

How to copy and paste photo edits in iOS 16

iOS 16 adds a professional photo-editing tool with the ability to copy and paste photo edits in different images in the Photos app.

How to hide your photos in the Photos app

Want to keep select photos from prying eyes? iOS 16 changes the process of hiding photos in the Photos app , but we can help you master the new technique.

How to turn off Live Photos in the Photos app

iOS 16 changes the process of turning off Live Photos from what you may be used to from previous versions of Apple's software. We can show you how to turn off Live Photos in just a few steps.

How to edit text messages in iOS 16 Messages

You no longer have to suffer from embarrassing typos in your texts if you know how to edit a text message in iOS 16 Messages . Here's how that feature works.

How to unsend a text message in iOS 16 Messages

You can now take back texts you've sent by mistake. We can show you how to unsend a text message in iOS 16 Messages .

How to map a route with multiple stops in Maps

iOS 16 Maps adds the ability to create multi-stop routes. We can show you how to map out a multi-stop route in the built-in navigation app.

How to set up My Sports on the iOS 16 News app

iOS 16 News now lets you follow your favorite teams. Here's how to set up My Sports and what happens when you do.

iOS 16 Mail — the five biggest changes coming to your iPhone

We'll walk you through the changes to iOS 16 Mail , from the ability to schedule emails to improved searches.

How to schedule emails in iOS 16 mail

Having the ability to schedule emails in iOS is long overdue. But with iOS 16 you can finally send scheduled email so that messages go out when you want them to.

iOS 16 Mail's scheduled send feature is easy to use, but not so easy to find. We'll show you what to do. 

How to unsend an email in iOS 16 Mail

Messages isn't the only iOS 16 app where you can unsend things. Mail gains the feature to — here's how you can unsend an email in iOS 16's Mail app.

How to share Tab Groups in iOS 16 Safari

iOS 15 let you group together tabs in the Safari browser to help with research. Now in iOS 16, you can share those Tab Groups with other people. Here's how to share Tab Groups in iOS 16 Safari .

How to use Apple Music Sing

iOS 16.2 introduced a karaoke feature for Apple Music subscribers. Here's how to use Apple Music Sing .

How to set up the iOS 16 Fitness app

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If you've just bought one of the best iPhones and are looking to get started quickly, we've got recommendations on the best apps to install when you've got a new iPhone . In addition to the 7 hidden iOS 16 features that will make your life way easier , our reviews of the latest models can show off the finer points of each device:  

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And if you're holding off on a new iPhone, our iPhone 15 guide can tell you about possible new features coming in the fall.

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

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The iPhone Safari Change You Can Make If You Don't Like Where The Address Bar Is

One of the notable changes in iOS 16 was the relocation of Safari's address bar, a move that sparked mixed reactions among iPhone users. While some found the new low position more convenient since it's closer to the thumbs, others saw it as an unnecessary adjustment. Now, with the roll-out of iOS 17, this feature has seen further modifications.

For those upgrading from an older version of iOS, adapting to the new location of the address bar isn't apparent. Even for users who have already adjusted to iOS 16, there's a new twist: Apple has shifted the option to customize the address bar's location to a different place within the Settings app. This may initially cause some confusion or frustration for users who have updated to iOS 17 .

We'll provide a step-by-step guide on adjusting the address bar in Safari to suit your preference, whether you're new to iOS 17 or transitioning from the previous version.

How to change Safari's address bar location on an iPhone

Before you change Safari's address bar location, you should know that leaving it at the bottom allows you to swipe between tabs. Perhaps the convenience of that is enough to change your mind. But if you still want to change it, here's how to do so on iOS 17:

• Launch the Settings app.
• Scroll down the menu and tap Safari.
• Move down to find the Tabs section.
• Tap Single Tab to move the address bar to the top.

If you change your mind, you can always return back to that section and tap Tab Bar.

For iPhone users with iOS 16, your steps will be a little different:

• Open Safari.
• Tap the AA button on the address bar, and an options menu will appear.
• Choose Show Top Address Bar .

Again, if you change your mind, you can simply tap the AA button on the address bar and select Show Bottom Tab Bar. This will re-activate the tab bar and disable the top address bar.

How to switch between the new and old Safari design on iPhone and iPad

In rethinking some of the fundamentals in Safari on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple has managed to ruffle the feathers of its customers. The same redesign has continued in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. The good news is you can decide between adopting the redesign complete with the new consolidated tab bar, or stick with Safari’s old version with the familiar tab interface.

In this post, we’ll show you how to reverse the new Safari design back to how things used to be before iOS 15 came along.

Apple’s controversial changes in Safari

After you update the operating system software on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to iOS 15/iPadOS 15 or newer, you’ll immediately notice the visual changes in Safari. By default, Safari for iPhone will show the URL at the bottom instead of the top. And on iPad, Safari will merge the URL bar and tabs into one consolidated area where each tab doubles as the URL bar.

Another default that some people may dislike causes Safari to color-match browser chrome to the website’s header color, which is called website tinting. But it’s easy to disable those features at will and bring back the old design.

Apple provides specific controls to turn on or off the website tinting feature and move the URL bar from top to bottom and vice versa. Let’s show you the steps for all that.

How to switch between the old and new Safari design on iPhone

To bring back the old Safari interface on iPhone, you must change two new settings.

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone
• Choose Safari from the root list
• Choose between tabs on top or bottom underneath the Tabs heading:
• Tab Bar: The new default, which repositions the address bar to the bottom.
• Single Tab: Choose this to get the old Safari interface back.

Choose the Single Tab option if you’ve become accustomed to the previous Safari design. And boom, just like that, you have your old Safari interface back!

You can switch between the top and bottom address bars without leaving Safari: Hit Safari’s A A menu and select Show Top Address Bar or Show Bottom Tab Bar  from there.

These menu shortcuts are great time-savers for those times when you’d like to change your preferred URL bar on the fly but don’t necessarily want to switch to the Settings app.

Managing website tinting on iPhone

Another setting worth adjusting is Safari’s new feature that color-matches the toolbar area to the website’s header color. Here’s how to change that:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone and choose Safari .
• Slide the switch next to Allow Website Tinting to the OFF position to disable the feature

With it turned off, the Safari toolbars will no longer change their color when switching tabs.

How to switch between the old and new Safari design on iPad

On iPad, the tab bar and the URL area have remained stuck to the top. What’s changed is the new design that consolidates the tabs and the URL bar into a single area. Changing this design, as well as toggling the website tinting option, can be done in the Safari preferences within the Settings app on iPadOS 15 or later.

• Open the Settings app on your iPad
• Choose between tabs on top or bottom underneath the Tabs heading

This is what the interface around these preferences looks like.

And here’s a brief description of the two tab layout options available:

• Separate Tab Bar: This is how Safari on iPad used to be. You get separate URL and tab sections at the top. Select this setting to bring back the old Safari experience.
• Compact Tab Bar:  The new, optional Safari design that integrates the URL bar and the tab section into one consolidated area. When you click a tab, it expands automatically to make room for the URL field within. Tabs that grow in width as you touch them can be quite confusing, so disable this feature if you find that it doesn’t work for you.

Like with iPhone, you can switch between the top/bottom address bar in Safari’s A A menu.

Managing website tinting on iPad

iPadOS 15 and later has the setting for folks who might prefer to stop the color-matching between the iOS status bar and the website’s accent color, but it’s named differently from the Website Tinting switch on iPhone.

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad
• Slide the switch next to Show Color in Tab Bar  to the OFF position to disable the feature

And just like that, Safari’s tab bar will switch back to a dull gray design, but at least it won’t adjust itself dynamically to match the accent color of the website you are in.

Safari tips you’ll love:

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Safari in iOS 16 – tab groups, extensions, Passkeys | iOS 17 Guide

• by Tom Rolfe
• August 1, 2022 September 6, 2023

Safari’s controversial design changes in iOS 15 are the thing of the past. With iOS 16, Apple is going for a more straightforward approach. No big visual updates, but some new features to boost collaboration, convenience, and security.

Tab groups were a great addition to Safari last year, allowing users to define collections of tabs for different uses. Great if you like to keep your home and work browsing separate, or if you’re the sort of person who tends to open dozens of websites researching a project and needs a way to organize them.

Reminder: to create a tab group, first press the tabs button in the bottom right of Safari to see all your open tabs. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll either see the number of tabs currently open, or the name of the tab group if you have some set up already. Tap this and hit New Empty Tab Group . Come back to this menu any time you want to switch to another group.

Tab groups have been improved in a number of ways with iOS 16. You can now set distinct pinned tabs for each group, meaning you can keep important tabs to the top of each group view for easy access. Every group now has a dedicated start page, too – along with its own set of favorites and (if you like) a custom background.

But perhaps the biggest change here is the addition of shared tab groups. That means if you’re collaborating on something with others, you can all contribute links to a set group of websites. To share a tab group, tap the share icon in the top right, choose who you’d like to join the party and invite them via Messages .  Alternatively, long-press a group’s name from the Tab Groups section and choose Share from the pop-up menu. Changes made by one person will update instantly on all other devices.

This is a small change, but a welcome one. In iOS 16, Safari extensions you install on one Apple device will sync to your others automatically. That means if you’re installing a password manager, ad blocker, or any other kind of extension, you only have to do it once.

You can see all your extensions, including those on other devices that haven’t synced yet, from Settings > Safari > Extensions . If you don’t like this functionality, simple toggle off Share Across Devices from this menu.

Apple’s password-less future comes a step closer with the addition of Passkeys to Safari. These will allow you to log into compatible websites with Face ID or Touch ID, without ever creating or remembering a traditional password. That means your details can’t be leaked or stolen, and no more “I forgot my password” shenanigans!

You can read more about Passkeys and how they work right here.

Adoption for Passkeys won’t happen overnight, and in the meantime Apple has improved iCloud Keychain. Now, if you ask Safari to auto-generate a strong password, you can tweak a few settings to ensure the password meets the website’s security requirements. You can even request one that’s easy to type.

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iOS 16: 10 settings you need to change right now!

iOS 16 , Apple’s latest iPhone operating system, is a worthwhile update, adding a range of useful and enjoyable features as well as patching security holes and tweaking the overall look and feel. But it’s not quite a perfect experience out of the box, as it were.

In a few cases, Apple has added new elements that are likely to annoy rather than delight, and in this article we show how to turn these off. Meanwhile, some extremely welcome new options are deactivated by default, and we’ll show you how to turn these on as well. With these 10 simple settings tweaks you’ll find that iOS 16 becomes an altogether richer experience.

And once you’re done, check out this list of five incredible iOS 16 features that will change the way you use your iPhone .

1. Get back the battery percentage indicator

With the launch of iOS 16, Apple has brought back the battery percentage indicator that was taken from the iPhone’s status bar in 2017. But you have to specifically choose to turn it on.

Go to Settings > Battery and tap the toggle labelled Battery Percentage. A number will be superimposed over the battery icon at the top of the screen–if your iPhone supports the feature. At time of writing the iPhones XR, 11, 12 mini and 13 mini do not, although there’s reason to hope that they’ll gain support in iOS 16.1 .

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

2. Turn off the search button

If you look on an iOS 15 home screen, you’ll see a little icon between the dock and the other app icons. It shows a row of dots indicating how many home screens you’ve got, and which one you’re on. Once you update to iOS 16, this icon is replaced by a Search icon , which duplicates the Spotlight function accessed by swiping down on the Home screen.

If you find this unnecessary and/or distracting, you can revert to the dots by going to Settings > Home Screen and tapping the toggle labelled Show on Home Screen under Search.

3. Turn on the haptic keyboard setting

Most of us turn off the iPhone’s keyboard sounds, which can be irritating when typing out long messages in public. But doing this means you miss out on the useful haptic feedback that helps with typing accuracy.

In iOS 16, Apple finally gives an option to turn on haptic keyboard feedback without keyboard clicks, which is both discreet and useful and thus combines the best of both worlds. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and flip the Haptic toggle green.

4. Give yourself more time to unsend emails

As of iOS 16, Mail lets you unsend emails within a certain time limit. But the odd thing is that the time limit is up to you–to a degree.

The feature is set to 10 seconds by default, but if you go to Settings > Mail > Undo Send Delay you can change it to 20 or 30 seconds. Still not much time to panic and change your mind, but every extra second helps in an email emergency.

5. Stop accidentally ending calls

Many iPhone owners will have experienced the inconvenience of accidentally pressing the side button during a phone call. By default this action will end the call—but in iOS 16 Apple adds a new option that lets you change that.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and tap the toggle labelled Prevent Lock to End Call . Just try to remember you’ve changed this, or you might get caught saying rude things about the person you thought you just hung up on.

6. Hands-free hang-ups

While we’re talking about hanging up on calls, there’s a new feature in iOS 16 that lets you do this using Siri–which makes life a lot easier if you’re talking hands-free through the speaker. You just need to say “Hey Siri, hang up.” To activate this option, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Call Hang-up , and tap the toggle so it turns green.

7. Send messages without a confirmation

Here’s another Siri time-saver: when sending messages using Siri, you can now skip the confirmation step. Go to Settings > Siri & Search > Automatically Send Messages , tap the toggle so it turns green, and Siri will know not to bother asking you to confirm.

8. Share (some of) your Focus Statuses

iPhone users had access to multiple Focus modes in iOS 15, but iOS 16 heavily expands this feature. One change is greater control over the sharing of status information: it’s much easier now to audit and control the specific modes that are shared and those that are not.

Go to Settings > Focus , and make sure that Share Across Devices is set to on. You can now tap Focus Status , and pick and choose which modes, if any, will be synced.

We found that all modes were set to share by default, but you might not want everyone to know that you’re asleep, for example, or working out. (Driving is a good one to share, in our opinion, as it not only explains why you’re not replying but also hints to those who are expecting you that you’re on your way.)

Finally, note that this sharing permission still only applies on a per-app basis. Go to Settings > Messages , for example, and you can toggle Allow Messages To Access Focus on and off.

9. Fine-tune your notifications

Apple has changed the way that notifications display on the lock screen, with those from the same app organised together under what Apple calls the Stack view. This view is enabled by default, but those who’d prefer to use the old method can go back if they’d prefer.

Go to Settings > Notifications and select List at the top to revert to the iOS 15 notifications style. Or pick Count if you’d rather not see the notifications at all, and just get an unobtrusive number at the bottom of the screen.

10. Stop your personal photos from popping up unexpectedly

iOS 16 adds a cute AI-based feature that finds what it thinks are significant photos and videos and pops them up in various places (widgets, search, the For You tab in Photos, and so on) as a reminder of happy memories. This is a charming feature, but it’s not for everyone–particularly if you’ve got embarrassing photos on your phone or just don’t want people on the train peering at your vacation pics.

You can turn off this feature by going to Settings > Photos and then tapping the Show Featured Content toggle so it turns light gray.

Author: David Price , Editor

David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.

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How to Get Back the Old Safari Layout in iOS 16

iOS 15 brought some dramatic changes to the way we navigate the Safari web browser. Those changes were designed with ease of navigation in mind, but not everyone likes the new layout, and that's okay! If you'd rather use the old Safari version with the address bar at the top, we'll show you how to go back to the old Safari layout.

Why You'll Love This Tip

• Safari looking upside down? Move the Safari address bar back to the top of the screen.
• Go back to the old Safari to navigate the way you're used to.

How to Go Back to the Old Safari from before iOS 15

Where is the Safari address bar? How do I go back to the old Safari from before iOS 15? Don't worry, you're not the only one asking these questions. We can help! The steps below will help you fix Safari and make it look the way it used to. While the Safari layout changed in iOS 15, you can still use these steps in iOS 16 to revert to its previous interface. If you like this tip, check out our other iOS 16 navigation and settings tips by signing up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

This will switch Safari back to the layout from before iOS 15 and put the address bar back at the top! Now you'll be able to navigate Safari in almost the same way as before the software update, but it's important to note that you'll still see some differences in your tabs layout and other tab functions. Since you know how to get back the old Safari layout, be sure to read our article on  how to maintain your iPhone's lithium-ion battery .

Author Details

Erin MacPherson

Erin is a Web Editor for iPhone Life and has been a writer, editor, and researcher for many years. She has a degree in communication with an emphasis on psychology and communication, and has spent many of her professional years as a coach in various business and specialty fields. Erin officially joined the ranks of iPhone and Apple users everywhere around nine years ago, and has since enjoyed the unique and customized feel of Apple technology and its many gadgets. When she’s not working, Erin and her son enjoy outdoor adventures, camping, and spending time with their eclectic collection of pets.

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Iphone mobile hotspot connected but no internet top 5 fixes, best 2 methods to invert colors on an image on iphone, safari is not connecting to internet try these fixes, how to change safari background on ios 16, aleksandar ognjanovic.

• September 6, 2022

Safari gets some interesting new features with iOS 16 that should give users a better handle on the built-in browser like improved Tab Group, Extension Syncing, and a more detailed Focus Filters inclusion. Still, most things that we know and like about this classic browser are still there. A great little option that came with iOS 15 allows you to set custom Safari backgrounds. If you were wondering how to change the Safari background on iOS 16, we provided a short explanation below.

In this article:

How do I get a custom Safari background?

If you didn’t choose a particular Safari background wallpaper, the app will default to white or gray/black (gray/black with Dark Mode and white with Light Mode). You can change the generic white/gray Start Page theming with a few pre-installed colorful backgrounds or maybe get your own image to make it more personal.

Sadly, if you dislike that the Tab Screen keeps the blurred background from Home Screen/Lock Screen wallpaper, the only option you have is to change the Home Screen wallpaper. This integration is a bit buggy, but we hope that future iOS updates make it more uniform and reliable. On a slightly related subject, you can’t use Live Wallpapers on Home Screen with iOS 16.

Back to Start Page backgrounds. Everything you need is tucked in under the Edit button you’ll usually find on Start Page. Once there, you have a variety of tabs to enable or disable and, at the bottom, the Background Image option. If you disable Background Image, Safari will stick to the dark/white theme.

On the other hand, if you enable it, there are 9 stock wallpapers you can choose from. In addition, if you tap on the Plus icon, you get to add your own photos stored on the iPhone and set any of them as a Safari Start Page background.

Here’s how to change Safari background on iOS 16 in a few simple steps:

• Open Safari .
• Tap Edit on Start Page. You might need to open a New Tab.
• Then enable Background Image .

You can download any image and set it as the background to add a personal touch to your web-browsing experience. It’s a small nuanced thing but a welcomed one, especially if you use Safari a lot. With that said, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and feel free to reach out to us in the comments section below. We always look forward to hearing from you.

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Why does Safari have a black background?

By default, Safari will use either a white or dark (gray or black) theme depending is Dark Mode is enabled or disabled. This applies to a lot of things, including background but also Google Search theme and complete Safari UI. It relies on a system-wide setting so there's no option to use Safari in Light Theme where the Dark Theme is enabled.

How to remove Safari backgrounds?

You can remove the Safari background in Safari > Start Page > Edit. Just disable Background Image.

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Don't Like These iOS 17 Settings on Your iPhone? You Can Change Them

S ix months after iOS 17 was introduced to the  iPhone , you may still be getting used to new features like  StandBy mode , interactive widgets, full-screen  contact posters  for phone calls and the  Journal app . For the most part, these are welcome additions and changes. If you're like me, you might have to relearn some steps when using your phone.

Read more :  iOS 17.2: Check Out These New Features on Your iPhone

I get used to a particular way of doing certain things. For instance, I wasn't a fan of the new search button at the bottom of each home page when I upgraded to iOS 16, because I'd accidentally trigger it all the time. It isn't necessarily a bad feature, I just personally didn't like it.

With iOS 17, there are a few features I'm not a huge fan of, as well. If you want to find out about some of the iOS 17 settings I sometimes find annoying, keep reading. Even better, there's a "fix" for all of them, so you can either get rid of them or never have to deal with them again.

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About

While you're here, check out the iOS 17 settings you need to change ASAP and the best hidden features in iOS 17 .

Stop NameDrop from automatically sharing your contact info

The new NameDrop feature on iOS 17 allows you to quickly swap contact information via AirDrop simply by bringing your iPhone near another iPhone or Apple Watch. Your name and Contact Poster (also new with iOS 17) are shared with NameDrop, along with your phone number, email address and other information.

Some people have had issues with NameDrop sharing info when they don't want to. For example, if you place your iPhone near another iPhone in general, NameDrop may attempt to transfer your contact information. If you carry two iPhones in your bag -- one personal and the other for work -- NameDrop could attempt to share contact info between the two, which can be annoying when you're not trying to use the feature on purpose.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to disable NameDrop completely. In the Settings application, go to General > AirDrop and toggle off Bringing Devices Together . Once the feature is off, you won't be able to swap numbers and information via NameDrop.

Hide notifications in StandBy

The StandBy feature is arguably one of the biggest new iOS 17 features to the iPhone, turning your phone into a smart display when it's charging horizontally and showcasing information, like the time, your calendar, photos and notifications, in large blocks that are easy to see. StandBy is a great way to quickly absorb information by glancing at your phone, but if people are around and you want to keep some of your information private, you may not want StandBy to show notifications.

In Settings > StandBy , toggle off Show Notifications . Now when you're in StandBy mode, you won't see all of your notifications displayed. Critical notifications, like weather emergencies, will still be shown in StandBy mode .

Alternatively, you can hide notification previews instead of the entire notification. That way, you can still see what notifications you're getting, you just can't check out the exact details unless you tap on the notification. For this to work, you'll need to enable Show Notifications , as well as the Show Preview on Top Only setting underneath.

Stop Siri from activating so easily

Siri received a few major changes in iOS 17, including the ability to activate the voice assistant by only saying "Siri" -- no more "hey" needed. It's an easier way to quickly open an application or run a shortcut with just your voice, but at the same time, you might accidentally trigger Siri more often, since the new trigger is just a single word now.

If you want to go back to only having Siri activated when you say "Hey Siri" and not just "Siri," go into  Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for and choose the solo "Hey Siri" option. Your iPhone will no longer activate Siri simply when you say "Siri."

For more on iOS 17, learn how to automatically delete multifactor authentication messages in texts and emails  and  how to create Live Stickers .

Change the default web browser or email app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 and later, you can change which app opens when you click a website link or an email address as long as the app supports it.

Before you begin

Make sure that you have iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later, and that you have the app properly installed on your device.

Make sure that the web browser app or email app supports this feature. If you aren't sure, contact the app developer .

How to change your default web browser or email app

Go to Settings and scroll down until you find the browser app or the email app.

Tap the app, then tap Default Browser App or Default Mail App.

Select a web browser or email app to set it as the default. A checkmark appears to confirm it's the default.

If you don't see the option to set a web browser or email app as your default, the developer might not support it. Contact the app developer to learn more .

If you delete your default web browser app, your device will set Safari as the default browser app.

In countries or regions of the European Union on iOS 17.4 or later: after you choose a default browser from the web browser choice screen, if you want to change that setting, follow the steps to change your default browser .

If you delete your default email app, your device will set the Mail app as the default. If you delete the Mail app, your device will set one of your other email apps as the default. To use the Mail app again, you'll need to re-install it on your device.

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iOS 18 rumored to have a mysterious Safari Browsing Assistant feature

An iPhone running iOS 17

Apple is a few months away from introducing the new features it will be including in iOS 18 at WWDC 2024. As the rumor mill ramps up ahead of the event, two new features have surfaced that could improve how users browse the internet.

According to Nicolas Alvarez on X, the features are titled "Safari browsing assistant" and "Encrypted visual search." Alvarez doesn't go into detail about the features of each, but does say that they each appear to use the Private Relay infrastructure to send data to Apple.

Though actual details of the features remain unknown, the names do at least offer some hint as to what they could be.

Coming in iOS 18: - "Safari browsing assistant" - "Encrypted visual search" Both features seem to use the Private Relay infrastructure to send data to Apple (so that they don't know your IP?). — Nicols lvarez (@nicolas09F9) April 10, 2024

The Safari Browsing Assistant could is naturally linked to Safari itself, but the name may mean some sort of intelligent help could be summoned for users trying to accomplish tasks. Since Apple has been working on AI and machine learning, there's a good chance the technologies will be in play here.

The other, Encrypted Visual Search, could be an evolution of existing search systems available in its operating systems. For example, Spotlight does allow for the content of images to be found, while Visual Look Up offers more information about items detected in images.

Alvarez is uncertain as to what exactly is being changed with Encrypted Visual Search, other than "better privacy" for users. However, Visual Search has also been mentioned in visionOS , albeit not used in the software itself.

It's also entirely plausible that it could be Apple attempting to provide an image-based search system, similar to the function in Google Image Search. But, since Apple doesn't want to offer a full-blown search engine to the public just yet, this seems a little doubtful.

Other recently discovered features include Apple Maps routes , a redesign inspired by visionOS, and more home screen customizations .

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Rumor: iOS 18 to include new ‘Safari browsing assistant’ AI feature

iOS 18 is rumored to include a number of new artificial intelligence features spread across the entire operating system. A new rumor today suggests that one of those features could be “Safari browsing assistant.”

As for what that means, we are left to speculation for now…

Safari browsing assistant rumored for iOS 18

In a post on social media today, code sleuth Nicolás Álvarez shared two new features in the works at Apple:

• Safari browsing assistant
• Encrypted visual search

According to Álvarez, both of these features use Apple’s Private Relay infrastructure to send data back to Apple. Álvarez speculates that this is a privacy-preserving practice on Apple’s part, so it doesn’t learn user IP addresses. Of note, iCloud Private Relay is currently only available to iCloud+ subscribers.

( Update : Álvarez says that it’s not actually iCloud Private Relay but rather an “Oblivious HTTP gateway.”)

Apple already offers different visual search-style features, integrated into Spotlight and the Photos app. It’s not explicitly clear if “encrypted visual search” is just a more secure version of existing features or something new entirely.

The more interesting thing here is the “Safari browsing assistant” feature. Based solely on the name, this feature sounds like it will bring AI features of some sort to Safari, similar to what other browsers already offer. Microsoft’s Edge browser, for example, has different Copilot AI features built in. Arc from The Browser Company also combines a variety of AI features with web browsing.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is likely to team up with a company such as Google to power some of its new AI features. We aren’t expecting any announcement from Apple about a partnership until WWDC at the earliest.

iOS 18 is expected to be announced at WWDC, which kicks off on June 10. Check out our in-depth guide for more details on what to expect from AI in iOS 18 .

Álvarez has also reported that iOS 18 will bring two new features to Apple Maps on iPhone, including custom route creation and new topographic maps.

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Apple's 'AI or bust' push to continue with Safari Assistant in iOS 18

Coming in iOS 18: - "Safari browsing assistant" - "Encrypted visual search" Both features seem to use the Private Relay infrastructure to send data to Apple (so that they don't know your IP?). — Nicolás Álvarez (@nicolas09F9) April 10, 2024

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There are various issues on my iPhone since updating to iOS 17.4.1

This new updates seems to have too many bugs, instead of fix. Wi-Fi won’t work. None of the apps open, just keep getting black screen, phone overheating, draining battery faster than charging, can’t access shared iCloud pictures, can not FaceTime. Safari is just blank page. Restarted Wi-Fi, phone, apps, but NOTHING WORKS!!! Can’t surf at all, games are blank too…. Need immediate fix!!!!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Apr 8, 2024 11:17 AM

Posted on Apr 10, 2024 6:26 AM

Restart won't fix the problem. My iphone is mulfunctioning after 17.4.1

What's going on?

What's the fix?!

Loading page content

Page content loaded

Apr 10, 2024 6:26 AM in response to Chinguu

Apr 11, 2024 2:01 AM in response to Chinguu

Since I’ve updated I can’t call, text , send pictures etc. very stressful not being able to get ahold of anyone. Does anyone know how to fix this or if they will fix this?? Getting very sick of not having a working phone that was super expensive just for it not to work

Apr 9, 2024 8:45 PM in response to lobsterghost1

THIS WORKED!!!!

it takes a few times to figure the process out, but… IT WORKED.

BE PATIENT!!!

Apr 9, 2024 3:22 PM in response to Chinguu

My screen went black and buffered. Now it’s stuck it boot loop!

Apr 10, 2024 8:33 PM in response to Chinguu

imessage won’t work, can’t get any calls and FaceTime only works on WiFi.

Apr 10, 2024 8:45 PM in response to Chinguu

My Face ID not recognize me anymore right after the update 17.4.1 which was updated while in my sleep

Apr 10, 2024 6:21 AM in response to Chinguu

My phone completely crashed and died - can’t even turn it on now!

Apr 11, 2024 6:52 AM in response to Chinguu

There is also a cellular data issue… ruined my whole day just like usually when there is a new ios.. i wonder why i spending this much money to a company like this… fixture may come but my patience is gone

Apr 10, 2024 5:01 AM in response to Chinguu

I know and there is also some Bluetooth bug. If you pause Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or whatever music streaming platform you use for a few seconds, your AirPods, Beats Studio Buds, or whatever headphones or earbuds you use randomly disconnects and then reconnects. It’s annoying and Apple needs to do something about it ASAP

Apr 9, 2024 6:27 PM in response to lobsterghost1

I did force restart twice, with continued glitches.

Apr 9, 2024 6:18 AM in response to Chinguu

I also encounter a lot of problems. Some apps like Files and Waze crash for no reason. the only solution that works temporarily is to undo a forced restart but the problem comes back regularly.

The support told me to disconnect and reconnect, to reset all the settings, to reinstall the IOS version 17.4.1 via iTunes, but nothing works, it's very annoying.

Apr 10, 2024 2:27 PM in response to Chinguu

I’ve lost all my bookmarks and favourites in safari, I didn’t realise I needed to sync these things on the iCloud, no previous update has wiped them from existence. Now all my saved quick links are gone.

edit: my works app now doesn’t work, and the baby camera monitor app doesn’t work either. Who even allowed this “update”?

among the other issues encountered with this update, that one is the most infuriating… haven’t had to try my AirPods yet with the Bluetooth issues but my garmin no longer gets notifications 😑😑😑

Apr 8, 2024 11:22 AM in response to Chinguu

Force Restart your iPhone, which is something recommended after every iOS update --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Apr 10, 2024 9:37 PM in response to Chinguu

This page may be some help (thanks to MrBill3):

If your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

And sometimes typing in the issue you're facing to the search box will turn up solutions.

If you can get back into your phone, so to speak, 9to5Mac reported that Apple released a new version of 17.4.1, but it was only available through a computer. On a Mac, plug the phone into the computer, open a Finder window, and select your iPhone in the side bar. If the side panel isn't showing, go to the View menu and click Show Side Bar. On older Macs you may have to use iTunes, but it is similar. On a Windows computer I believe you either open iTunes or the Apple Devices app, but I'm not familiar with that setup.

Anyway, once you have done that, there should be a "page" for your phone. Choose General from the top row, and there will be a Check for Update button. From there you should be able to update your phone the newer version of 17.4.1.

I updated "over the air" to 17.4.1 and didn't see any problems. But when I saw the article I updated again and my phone went through the whole process, which seems to indicate that this is a different update. Since then it has worked fine, as far as I can see.

9to5Mac reports that the build number for the over-the-air update is 21E236, but the one through a computer is 21E237.

Apr 10, 2024 6:49 AM in response to Chinguu

Some for me, a hard reset will only help a few hours and it happens again…

can’t use the files app or apps which have access to the files app. Even the messages app is crashing when I want to share a file from the files app….

also wake up of the phone takes sometimes a few seconds before the screen wakes up and shows something…

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iOS 18 May Feature All-New 'Safari Browsing Assistant'

iOS 18 will apparently feature a new Safari browsing assistant, according to backend code on Apple's servers discovered by Nicolás Álvarez . MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris confirmed that the code exists, but not many details are known at this time.

Update: Álvarez has since said that iCloud Private Relay might not be related to this feature.

A browsing assistant in Safari could be one of the many new generative AI features that are rumored to be coming to the iPhone with iOS 18 later this year. There are already multiple iPhone web browsers with AI tools, such as Microsoft Edge with a GPT-4-powered Copilot and Arc Search , which can summarize web pages to provide concise information.

Álvarez also uncovered a so-called "Encrypted Visual Search" feature in the backend code on Apple's servers, but no specific details are known. MacRumors contributor Steve Moser last year discovered a new Visual Search feature for Apple's Vision Pro headset in visionOS beta code, which would allow users to copy and paste printed text from the real world into apps and more, but the feature has yet to launch. It is possible that Apple is planning to debut a more secure version of the feature. However, the code could also relate to the iPhone's existing Visual Look Up feature that can identify objects in photos and videos.

Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10 , so we should learn more about these potential new features in a few more months.

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