iOS 16 brings the biggest update ever to the Lock Screen

The new Lock Screen gallery features a range of options. Users can choose an intelligently suggested photo from their personal library that will look great on the Lock Screen, or a dynamic set of photos that shuffle throughout the day. Apple collections include iconic imagery from Apple; Pride and Unity wallpapers; 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 unique designs with their favorite emoji and color combinations, and with multiple Lock Screens, users can switch between their favorites with just a swipe.

Redesigned notifications now roll in from the bottom to offer a clear view of the Lock Screen, and users can choose to view notifications in an expanded list, stacked, or as a count view.

• Apple Pay Order Tracking enables users to receive detailed receipts and order tracking information in Wallet for Apple Pay purchases with participating merchants.

• Updates to Apple Maps enable further exploration of the world with improved driving and transit navigation, and multistop routing. Drivers can easily create routes with multiple stops and automatically sync routes from Mac to iPhone when they’re ready to go. Transit directions will now display how much a journey will cost, and users can add transit cards to Wallet to see low balances — and replenish transit cards — all without leaving Maps.

• Family Sharing offers an easier way to set up accounts for children 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 for a child that applies existing parental controls automatically. When a child asks for more screen time, parents and guardians can now approve or decline right in Messages. A new Family Checklist provides tips and suggestions, such as updating a child’s parental controls as they get older or turning on location sharing.

• 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 reimagined Home app offers users easier ways to navigate, organize, and view their accessories.

• The Fitness app is now 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 a personal Move goal, check their trends, and share activity for additional motivation. iPhone motion sensors track steps, distance, and flights climbed to estimate active calories burned. Any workouts completed in third-party apps also contribute to closing the user’s Move ring. The new Fitness app Lock Screen widget offers Move ring progress, steps taken, and distance at a glance.

• 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 with their medications.⁵ Users can also 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, where users can 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. Favorites will sync with the Apple TV app to offer a seamless sports experience.

• Game Center makes it easy for users to play with or compete against their friends through the redesigned dashboard that shows friends’ games activity and accomplishments all in one place.

• Personalized Spatial Audio offers an even more precise and immersive listening experience. Using the TrueDepth camera on iPhone, users can create a personal profile for Spatial Audio that delivers a listening experience tuned just for them.

• Safety Check, a new personal privacy tool, can be helpful to users whose personal safety is at risk from domestic or intimate partner violence. It allows users to quickly review and remove any access they’ve granted to others. It also 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. Users can also understand and manage which people and apps they’ve given access to.