WWDC 2022, Apple’s developer conference, will take place June 6-10. In it, in addition to offering training to developers and revealing new Macs, according to rumors, the company will also announce the new versions of their respective operating systems, such as, iOS 16the version that will replace iOS 15. At the moment, we do not know the main novelties of this update, but the rumors are little by little advancing some details of the features that we could see.
Mark Gurman, journalist from Bloomberg, revealed recently than iOS 16 it was not going to arrive with great novelties in the interface. It is likely that it will maintain the same aesthetics, the same general design and the color palette that characterizes the operating system so much. We hope, yes, that Apple will slightly redesign the icons. Perhaps, betting on ones with a more similar appearance to those we see in macOS.
Gurman also mentions that iOS 16 could include notification improvements. Although there are no more details about it, it is likely that Apple will improve the way in which these types of alerts are displayed and grouped or add new options for better management of notifications. The health-related improvements also seem to be important in this future version of the operating system. Again, without details, but perhaps they are related to the possible news of the future Apple Watch. Recall that the iPhone also collects health data from the company’s watch, and that this year the new Series 8 is expected to include, among other new features, a sensor for measuring body temperature.
In parallel, there are a series of new features that have not yet been leaked or rumored, but that we are looking forward to seeing in iOS 16. Among them, improvements in widgets, in some applications. Also new features that can provide a better user experience.
Apple, it’s time to borrow these Android features
The ability to activate widgets on the home screen is a feature that has been present in iOS for years and could be improved considerably. Currently, these elements allow viewing the content of applications in an intuitive way and without the need to access the app directly. However, they do not offer any type of interaction, and it is time to change that.
iOS 16 must allow interact with widgets in a much more complete way. Adding, for example, the ability to skip to the next song in Apple Music, reply to a message, write a note without accessing the app, etc. This is something that has been available on Android for years now, and it can make navigation much faster and more intuitive.
Another improvement we’d like to see in iOS 16 is the possibility to adjust the sound of the alarm, notifications and multimedia, independently and through direct access. That is, without the need to access, for example, the Clock app to adjust the sound of the alarms. Again, it is a feature that has been present in Android for years. In this way, the user can adjust the volume of the different media quickly and allow, for example, alarms and calls to sound, but not the audio of videos or music.
The screen always-on It could be an interesting novelty for iOS 16. Especially considering that the iPhone 13 Pro has a ProMotion screen. This, let’s remember, is capable of adapting the update frequency depending on what the panel is playing.
For example, if the system does not detect movement because we are reading an article, lower the frequency to minimum levels in order to save battery. If, on the contrary, we scroll, the refresh rate increases to 120 Hz. With the Always-on screen, iOS 16 could be able to adapt this update on the screen and minimize it in order to save battery, but allowing to see the time and notifications.
Another feature that Apple could borrow from Android is the split screen on iPhone. Using two apps at the same time, although they do not show all the content due to their proportion on the screen, is something that I miss on many occasions.
Apple Music needs to improve
AppleMusic, Apple’s streaming music service, is updated along with the operating system, since it is not an independent app that can be downloaded from the App Store, as is the case, for example, with iMovie. The company, fortunately, usually makes major changes to this platform every time it releases a major update to its operating system. However, in iOS 16 we hope to see a step further, with improvements that allow Apple Music to compete directly against Spotify.
First of all, Apple should fix the countless bugs of Apple Music. Among them, the slowdown when searching for a song or the disconnection of the headphones when going between different tracks. Beyond the bugs, we would like to see an improvement when it comes to interacting with those friends who also use the platform.
The service, at the moment, allows a user to follow other accounts to see their playlists or recently listened to albums. However, it does not include an option to see what song a person is currently listening to, nor create collaborative lists. These are functions that would also considerably improve the user experience.
Other news that we would like to see in iOS 16
Perhaps they are not as important as the always-on screen or the possibility of interacting with widgets, but it would also be interesting to see the following improvements and new features in iOS 16.
- The possibility of activating the battery percentage in the status bar. That is, where the network, Wi-Fi and autonomy icons are displayed. It would allow the remaining level of autonomy to be seen much more quickly, without the need to expressly access the control center. Related to the autonomy, Apple should eliminate the warning that activates when the remaining 20% is left or, at least, make it less intrusive. Perhaps, for example, displaying the prompt as a notification.
- App should also offer a solution for expand App Clips, the function that allows you to use apps from, for example, restaurants, without having to download them on the iPhone. This feature was announced together with iOS 15, but there are hardly any compatible apps.
- Improve integration with official documents in Wallet it is something that would also make iOS 16 a more complete and functional operating system. Apple, at the moment, allows some US states to include the driver’s license in the app, but this does not apply to other countries or documents.