Apple iOS 16 Release Date, Features And Everything You Need To Know

Apple's update to its mobile operating system is coming, and much sooner than you think. The newest version, iOS 16, will be released on September 12, 2022. iOS has come a long way since its release in 2007, and Apple is still finding new ways to improve the experience.

We'll first go over the rather long list of new or improved features, though. As an overview, feature updates include family sharing, health and fitness improvement, improved Home app, improvements to Apple Pay and Wallet, maps, mail, messages, and more.

Let's start with some security-focused features. iOS 16 includes some improvements to the lock screen including better ways to customize what is instantly available to you through lock screen widgets. You also have the ability to modify displayed photos and choose font styles. You can even have multiple lock screens which you can change how it looks depending on your mood or activity. Security side improvements include Safari, which now supports passkeys. Passkeys is both a more secure, and easier way to sign into items. The passkey system enforces end-to-end encryption and is even compatible with non-Apple devices. You may already be familiar with passkeys if you use macOS.


We recently pointed out methods of ensuring your precise location isn't necessarily shared with all apps. However, one app we said you should probably keep it turned on for is Apple Maps. In this iteration of iOS, there are improvements to the Apple Maps app. There are two big pieces to this update. The first is the ability to add multiple stops to your route, a feature that has existed in Google Maps, Waze, and even was possible in the era of standalone GPS hardware. The second piece is the ability to add transit cards to your Apple Wallet, which can even notify you if your prepay to your transit is getting low.

Speaking of the Wallet, that also is getting improvements. The Apple Wallet can now be used to verify identity in apps, such as confirming your Uber or confirming your driver's license on vehicle sharing apps, like Turo. It also now supports a "pay later" platform, allowing you to split up your payments over time. This comes with a fee like most similar services, so we'd recommend using this sparingly.

Messaging also received an update. The messaging app provides better collaboration tools and SharePlay support. The coolest handiest messaging update is the ability to edit messages. Of course, you and the receiving party must both be using iMessage for that to work. That brings us to another point, messaging still does not support RCS, and, even though they could, it looks like Apple has no intention on adding support for it.


These are just some of the many improvements to the iOS ecosystem. The full change log and additional information is available on the Apple website. Go check it out, there's quite a bit to get through. The update to iOS 16 is available for the iPhone SE 2nd generation or later, and the iPhone 8 all the way up to the iPhone 14, including almost all variants.