Taimur Asad on September 11, 2022, 10:38 pm

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

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