There’s a lot to like in iOS 16, so I couldn’t resist installing the first beta to test the best new features. Here’s my hands-on experience with the new Lock Screen, improvements in the Messages and Mail apps, and more. These are just my favorites from the couple of days I’ve had to test the initial beta.
Plus, the next version of iOS adds other features that might be great — when Apple gets them working right.
Gone are the days where folks needed a document scanner sitting atop their desks. Instead, we have our trusty iPhones! When friends ask me which app they should be using to turn paper documents into PDFs, I point them in the direction of SwiftScan. Let me tell you why.
Apple is rolling out a new beta firmware for the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max with improvements to Automatic Switching.
The firmware carries the build number 5A5282d and version number 5.0.
Update May 2023: The end of season 3 certainly seems to have wrapped up the show, though Apple CEO Tim Cook would like a season 4.
There’ll only be three seasons of the massive Apple TV+ hit Ted Lasso. One of the series writers and stars says the plan is to end the show with the upcoming season three.
That’s bad news for fans. And for Apple too, which needs every successful show it can get for its streaming service.
iPadOS 16 gives Apple tablets some powerful new capabilities, but there have been protests that these are limited to iPad models with the M1 processor. Apple promises this isn’t a trick to force people to upgrade their computers.
The iPad-maker says that only the M-series processors can deliver enough RAM to display eight applications at once.
Apple rebuilt its Home app from the ground up for iOS 16, ensuring it will make managing HomeKit a breeze and support the upcoming Matter home-automation standard.
But for those who’ve been using an iPad as a hub for HomeKit, the house party’s over as of iOS 16’s release.
Bluetooth headphones are nearly ubiquitous, and an upcoming feature called Auracast will allow computers or phones to stream music to not just one Bluetooth receiver but all of them in the area.
While one goal of Bluetooth’s Auracast broadcast audio is to let people share their music with groups, it also has more practical uses.
One of the most-requested iPad features is here. Stage Manager in iPadOS 16 puts applications in resizable, floating windows. I’ve tested the first beta of the new system for several days now, and there’s a lot to like. And there’s plenty of frustration too. But some of that comes from this being an early beta.
Here’s my hands-on experience with the iPad’s new multitasking system, and why I think it’s going to change the way many of us use our tablets.
A new framework dubbed RoomPlan will allow apps to quickly create 3D floor plans of rooms using the LiDAR Scanner in recent iPhones and iPads.
The Swift API will allow real estate and e-commerce apps to scan and create a room’s floor plan. This can then be used for remodeling and interior design changes. Despite its wow factor, Apple did not talk about the RoomPlan API onstage during Monday’s WWDC22 keynote.
We see plenty of paired HomePod minis in our travels online among computer setups, but not many stereo twosomes of the OG HomePods, the big ones Apple discontinued that may one day return in some form.
So today’s featured M1 MacBook Air setup is not only super-clean, it rocks that killer sound system and boasts a pricey 5K monitor that rivals Apple’s Studio Display.
And it’s the first setup we’ve come across where someone hates on the wildly popular Logitech MX Master 3 wireless mouse.