While iOS 17 is the talk of the town these days, nobody can ever forget Apple’s biggest and most important software update, iOS 16. It is the successor of iOS 15 and was first announced at the company’s WWDC event on June 6, 2022.
But what exactly makes iOS 16 a massive and important update that users remember until now? It’s undeniable that iOS 16 is powerful and comes with all-new personalization features, but there are plenty of other things that make this version a worthy choice.
So, without further ado, let’s outline the actual release date of iOS 16 and what it has in store for you. Let the tour begin!!
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What is the release date of iOS 16?
Before we find what this iOS version has to offer you, let’s highlight its release date and see when it all started. Apple’s iOS 16 was first announced on June 6, 2022, at Apple’s WWDC event (The history is repeated, and Apple has announced iOS 17 at 2023’s WWDC event).
The company then started releasing the beta versions in July and August and then finally launched iOS 16 for everyone on September 12, 2022.
But while we all are anticipating the arrival of iOS 17 later in 2023, Apple has not got enough of iOS 16 and is still making improvements in that version for a better user experience. Its latest iteration, iOS 16.6, arrives on July 24, and its maintenance release contains important bug fixes and several security updates. The beta version of the same update contained the code to enable the iMessage Contact Key Verification.
Apple also updated iOS 16 on June 21 with security fixes. The company described iOS 16.5.1 as an important security update as of now and fixes an issue that prevents charging with the lightning USB cable. Apple released iOS 16.5.1 on May 18, 2023, with multiple security features. You won’t believe it, but iOS 16.5 includes 40 security updates across all aspects of the system, ranging from the Weather app to the cellular modem.
Similarly to iOS 16.5.1 and 16.6, Apple has also launched other versions of iOS 16, including iOS 16.4.1, 16.4, and others, on April 7 and March 27, respectively. iOS 16 is Apple’s biggest update of 2022, and the version supports iPhone 8 and above. This OS update brings a host of new features to compatible iPhones.
iOS 16 was launched at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Launch Time. However, it might vary from one country to another. A few of them are listed below.
- Phoenix, Arizona: 10:00 a.m.
- Dallas, Texas: 12:00 noon
- Honolulu, Hawaii: 7:00 a.m.
- Vancouver, Canada: 10:00 a.m.
- Toronto, Canada: 1:00 a.m.
- London, United Kingdom: 6:00 p.m.
- Moscow, Russia: 8:00 p.m.
What are the key features of iOS 16?
While the major highlight of iOS 16 is the ability to personalize your lock screen, edit and unsend iMessages, and other security updates, the list doesn’t end here and has plenty of things to offer. So, without further ado, let’s get into the key features of this iOS version and see what distinct features it has to offer. So, shall we begin?
- Improvements to the Lock Screen
The first thing you must enjoy with iOS 16 is the massive improvement on the lock screen. This new system was perfectly timed to be introduced along with Apple’s latest iPhones and assures to offer a seamless experience to the users. It has customized the lock screen appearance and can host widgets. The font and text color for the date and time can be personalized to eight presets, and color effects can be applied to the entire lock screen. Besides, you can set up multiple lock screens at a time. The best part – with iOS 16, iPhone’s lock screens can support landscape mode, too, thus allowing you to set your favorite horizontal wallpapers or photos without thinking twice.
- Freeform
One of the amazing features launched with iOS 16 is Freeform. It is a whiteboard app that lets users collaborate together in real time. It is an infinite space where users can draw, and import files, Facetime, and messages simultaneously.
- Improved Focus Mode
The next best thing you can enjoy with iOS 16 is the improved focus mode. With this iteration, you can install different lock screens based on the active focus. The Focus filters also allow apps to show different content, and users can create a list of apps and contacts to be silenced. Great, isn’t it?
- Control Center
A new drop-down menu in the Control Center is added to display all apps that have recently used the device’s microphone and camera. With iOS 16, the Shazam feature integrates with the primary Shazam application for better results.
- Status Bar
The next improvement you might see is in the Status Bar, which starts displaying the battery percentage on iPhones with Face ID. With this, the user doesn’t have to access the Control Center to see it. The version also improves the Live Text feature and visual search for the users.
- Photos
iOS 16 has made sharing photos a breeze. When you set up a Shared Photo library, you will be allowed to contribute past photos based on a start date or the people in the photos. Moreover, you can edit and sync photos anywhere.
Conclusion
It’s time to wrap up the guide. We hope you are now well-acquainted with all the details about iOS 16 release date and time. Moreover, the guide also contained the features you can enjoy by updating your current software to iOS 16. While we are at a verge of releasing iOS 17, Apple is still doing its best to add more security features to iOS 16, so that users can enjoy a hassle-free experience without any trouble.
So, why wait? Haven’t you updated to iOS 16 yet? Don’t wait further and take a couple of steps to make an upgrade. We bet you’ll enjoy iOS 16 iteration and look forward to other iOS versions.
