Prepare for an replace to iOS 16. iOS 16.3 is coming to your iPhone this week, bringing just a few new options, some bug fixes and a few tie-ins for Black Historical past Month.
Phrase of iOS 16.3’s imminent launch comes from Apple itself, which let the launch date slip in a press launch highlighting the corporate’s efforts on behalf of Black Historical past Month (opens in new tab) in February. In addition to spotlights on curated content material within the Music, TV, Information and Podcasts apps, Apple is including a Unity watch face and iPhone wallpaper that comes with colours of the Pan-African flag.
Each the Unity 2023 watch face and Unity iPhone wallpaper would require iOS 16.3. And within the tremendous print of Apple’s Black Historical past Month announcement from yesterday (January 18), the corporate says the watch face and wall paper “will probably be out there subsequent week.” That may seemingly suggest the iOS replace is coming too.
One other signal that iOS 16.3 is on its manner: a beta of the discharge candidate grew to become out there to builders this week. Often, which means a full launch is not that far off.
In case you’ve been following the iOS 16.3 beta course of, you already know that there is not an entire lot of main options deliberate for this launch. However Apple does have some additions set to go reside as soon as iOS 16.3 lands in your iPhone. Here is what you’ll be able to count on.
iOS 16.3: Safety key authentication for Apple ID
Customers in search of an additional layer of safety between ne’er-do-wells and their Apple ID knowledge will be capable to add safety key authentication tanks to iOS 16.3.
Apple introduced this (opens in new tab) on the similar time it revealed the addition of Superior Knowledge Safety for iCloud, which arrived for U.S. iPhone house owners in iOS 16.2. On the time, Apple mentioned it was focusing on an early 2023 launch for safety key authentication, which tracks with the iOS 16.3 launch.seems round nervously — journalists.
When this characteristic is enabled, you may want a bodily safety key as one of many two components for signing into your Apple ID account.
Improved HomePod Handoff
There’s an enhancement to the Handoff characteristic that transfers management of music playback from an iPhone to a HomePod speaker, an particularly well timed addition given this week’s arrival of the Apple HomePod 2. Whereas Handoff has existed for a while, iOS 16.3 introduces a brand new information that extra clearly reveals HomePod house owners easy methods to use the Handoff functionality.
The information tells you to convey your iPhone inside vary of the HomePod to view your playback controls or move audio enjoying in your telephone to the good speaker. It additionally tells you to do that once more if you wish to see the controls or switch the audio again once more later.
New Emergency SOS through satellite tv for pc name modes
iPhone 14 customers have already got entry to Emergency SOS through satellite tv for pc in the event that they need assistance whereas in a distant location, however iOS 16.3 is including two new methods to entry it.
Name with Maintain and Launch replaces the present Name with Maintain perform, letting you entry Emergency SOS and an alarm after holding down the facility button and a quantity button. The earlier Name with Maintain perform required you to make use of a name slider to make an emergency name, one thing that would not essentially be doable relying in your scenario.
The opposite new possibility is Name Quietly. This allows you to make an emergency name with out setting off an alarm, in case that would not be helpful or might endanger you additional.
iOS 16.3 World Superior Knowledge Safety
As we talked about above, the iOS 16.2 replace gave U.S. iPhone house owners entry to Superior Knowledge Safety. That is a brand new safety characteristic brings end-to-end encryption to Apple’s iCloud storage service, defending data you are saved within the cloud (apart from Mail, Contacts and Calendar knowledge).
Apple had promised to convey World Superior Knowledge Safety to different elements of the world with a future iOS replace, and based mostly on comments from people who’ve been using the iOS 16.3 beta (opens in new tab) , that point has come. As earlier than, to allow Superior Knowledge Safety, launch Settings, faucet in your identify, adopted by iCloud. From there, you’ll be able to activate the safety characteristic.
iOS 16.3 bug fixes
iOS 16.3 launch notes element a number of fixes coming through this software program replace. The most important one includes a bug the place horizontal traces would seem on some iPhone 14 Professional Max fashions because the telephones had been waking up. Moreover, iOS 16.3 fixes assorted points involving Siri, Automobile Play and the iPhone lock display screen.
iOS 16.2 included a brand new structure for Apple’s Residence app, however simply as shortly as that characteristic arrived, Apple pulled it from the iPhone software program. Customers complained of some HomeKit gadgets changing into caught in an “updating” or “configuring” standing, whereas different gadgets had been lacking totally from the Residence app, amongst different bugs. The brand new structure returns in iOS 16.3, presumably now that Apple’s ironed out these problem.
What’s nonetheless lacking
Regardless that iOS 16 has been round for the reason that fall of 2022, not all of the options Apple has promised are reside but. We’re nonetheless ready on the launch of a devoted Apple Music Classical app, although there are reports that the iOS 16.3 release candidate contains code (opens in new tab) hinting at such a service.
Apple Pay Later, which helps you to break up funds via Apple Pay into 4 installments, has but to launch as properly. Maybe that will probably be part of iOS 16.4, which can doubtless seem in beta kind not lengthy after iOS 16.3’s launch.
