iOS 16 Hidden Features You Might Not Know About
Set to come out this fall, iOS 16 is the next-generation version of iOS, and it is laden with tons of major changes, such as an all new customizable Lock Screen. There are also a number of smaller, lesser known features, and in our latest YouTube video, we highlight some neat additions that you might not know about.
- Pinned Safari Tabs - You have been able to pin a Safari tab on Mac for some time, but pinned tabs didn't work with iOS 15 That's changed in iOS 16, and now you can have your favorite tabs pinned, including within Tab Groups.
- Merge Duplicate Contacts - Tired of having multiple contact cards for the same person? In iOS 16 you can merge duplicate contacts together right from the Contacts app.
- Get Rid of Duplicate Photos - The iOS 16 Photos app can let you know if you have multiple photos of the same thing, giving you the opportunity to delete the extras to save space. Duplicate photos are listed in a new "Duplicates" album that appears if you have duplicates to deal with.
- Copy and Paste Photo Edits - Want all of your photos to have the same aesthetic, or have improvements you want to make to an entire batch of images? That's possible with the new copy and paste feature for photo edits, which lets you copy edits from one photo and apply them to another photo with a tap.
- AirPods Updates - It's simpler to manage AirPods settings in iOS 16 with a new dedicated section that pops up in the Settings app when AirPods are connected. iOS 16 also adds a new Personalized Spatial Audio feature that uses the TrueDepth camera to scan your ears and the area around you, providing a unique listening experience tuned just to you.
- Face ID in Landscape Mode - iPhone models running iOS 16 support Face ID in landscape mode, making it easier to unlock the iPhone when it's not held in the standard portrait orientation. The feature is limited to the iPhone 13 and later.
- Notes Passcodes - Rather than creating a new password for a note, you can now simply use your device passcode or Face ID/Touch ID to lock a note, which is much easier.
- Haptic Feedback for Keyboard - There's a keyboard setting in iOS 16 that lets you enable haptic feedback that can be felt when you're typing. The vibrations are for each key tap, offering users a physical confirmation that a letter has been pressed.
- Hidden and Deleted Photo Protection - In iOS 16, you need to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID before the Hidden and Recently Deleted photo albums can be accessed. This essentially locks these albums from view should someone have your device passcode.
- WiFi Password - If you've ever been frustrated by an inability to access the WiFi password of the network you're using, that's changing in iOS 16. In the iPhone's WiFi settings, you can see the password of the network that you're connected to.
More iOS 16 Coverage
For a full rundown on everything that's new in iOS 16, we have a dedicated iOS 16 roundup. Have a favorite iOS 16 feature? Let us know what it is in the comments.
Popular Stories
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).
The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps.
More features and changes will follow in future ...
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released by the end of next week.
Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings.
iOS 26.4 will...
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more.
With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump.
First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year.
Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
The first alleged benchmark result for the M5 chip in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced, allowing for some performance comparisons.
Based on a single unconfirmed result uploaded to the Geekbench 6 database today, the M5 chip has pulled off an impressive feat. Specifically, the chip achieved a score of 4,263 for single-core CPU performance, which is the highest single-core score that...
