| Cult of Mac

Apple begins beta testing iOS 16.5 and macOS 13.4

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iOS 16.5 and macOS 13.4 betas
Apple is already looking ahead to iOS 16.5 and macOS Ventura 13.4.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded the initial betas of iOS 16.5 and macOS Ventura 13.4 to developers on Tuesday. This comes only a day after the public release of the previous versions.

iPadOS 16.5 beta 1, watchOS 9.5 beta 1 and tvOS 16.5 beta 1 are also available to devs.

How to remove duplicate photos on iPhone, iPad and Mac

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Get rid of all those copies
Find and delete copies of your photos on your iPhone.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

You could have dozens of copies of the same images in your Photos library, taking up space on your phone and in your iCloud account. Luckily, Apple offers an easy-to-use little tool that lets you find duplicate photos and delete the copies, all right from the Photos app.

Update: In iOS 16.4, released today, duplicates will now be detected between Shared iCloud Photo Libraries. If you have this set up, check for duplicates again — there’s likely to be hundreds more after updating.

These types of duplicate images can accumulate more quickly than you might expect. They arise if you make a copy of a photo to edit, if you screenshot a photo to bump it to the top of your Camera Roll, or if you and your partner both upload the same picture to your Shared iCloud Photo Library. In fact, I found hundreds of duplicates in my own carefully curated library.

It’s a surprisingly sophisticated feature that took Apple engineers a fair amount of smarts to cook up (more on that later). Here’s how to use Apple’s duplicate image remover and get rid of all those unnecessary files.

15 new features in iOS 16.4 you should try right away

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iOS 16.4 release candidate
After you upgrade your iPhone, try these new features in iOS 16.4.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple released iOS 16.4 on Monday, bringing significant changes and new features to its iPhone operating system.

Once you install iOS 16.4, the biggest point release of iOS 16 so far, check out these 15 features to try right away — including the new “high five emoji” combo.

Voice Isolation for phone calls finally coming to iPhone

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Voice Isolation for phone calls finally coming to iPhone
Voice Isolation isn't just for FaceTime anymore.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Voice Isolation feature iPhone users have become accustomed to in video chats will soon expand to regular phone calls. It will make participants in these voice calls easier to understand.

This will be one of the major new features in iOS 16.4, which is expected in late March.

iOS 16.4 and macOS 13.3 likely will launch next week

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iOS 16.4 release candidate
The iOS 16.4 release candidate means the full version should reach iPhones everywhere before the end of March.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded the release candidates for iOS 16.4 and macOS Ventura 13.3 to developers on Tuesday, signaling that beta testing for these upcoming operating systems is almost over. The same is true for the release candidates for iPadOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4.

These will usher in new emoji, a better way for devs to work with betas, and other changes.

iOS 16.4 beta 3: All the new features and changes

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New emoji will arrive in iOS 16.4 and macOS Ventura 13.3
iOS 16.4 beta packs plenty of new features and changes.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A week after the second iOS 16.4 beta dropped, Apple seeded the third build to developers. Unlike the first and second build, the third beta is light on changes.

You can find everything new in iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 beta 3 below. There’s also an archive of the new features spotted in beta 1 and 2.

Live weather, awesome astronomy and fun faces: Customize your iPhone’s Lock Screen in iOS 16

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There are a lot of ways to customize the Lock Screen in iOS 16.
There are a lot of ways to customize the Lock Screen in iOS 16.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

iOS 16 brings the most radical change to the iPhone Lock Screen yet. In the new operating system, you can customize and totally transform the look and feel of your phone. If you liked the themed custom Home Screens people were putting together using Shortcuts and Widgetsmith, you’ll love the level of creativity you can express with customized Lock Screens in iOS 16.

Read on to see all the features of the new iOS 16 Lock Screen.

Nearly all iPhones run iOS 16 but only half of iPads have updated

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Apple makes a multitude of changes with iOS 16.
iPhone users have adopted iOS 16 in large numbers.
Photo: Apple

According to official data from Apple, 81% of all iPhones released in the past four years are running some version of iOS 16. That’s a vastly higher percentage than Android users have installed the latest OS update from Google.

But iPad users upgrade at a far lower rate than iPhone users. Only 53% of Apple tablets released in the last four years have iPadOS 16.

Track your medications on iPhone in the Health app

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Don’t Skip Your Meds
Your iPhone and Apple Watch can help you track your meds.
Image: MorgueFile/Wikimedia Commons/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The Apple Health app on your iPhone will help you track your medications. It has a lot of advanced options for all kinds of medicine — you can set up schedules, log your activity and even get advice on drug interactions. If you can connect with your health care provider through the Health app, setting it up is incredibly simple. Otherwise, you can just scan the label on the bottle using the camera to import it.

Let me show you how to get started.