MacRumors

Apple in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 has overhauled the design of the Books app, simplifying the interface and adding some new customization tools.

In iOS 15, there's a toolbar at the top of the app that provides access to the chapter index, font adjustments, search tools, and bookmarks, but in iOS 16, everything has been moved to the bottom of the app.

There's a single tappable icon at the bottom of the book interface to access the settings. It provides a distraction-free reading experience, but it's worth noting that it can't be tapped away.

Tapping on the button brings up all of the available settings in the Books app. The top menu bar features the table of contents, while there's also an option to tap in to see all of your bookmarks and highlights.

The search interface is also available, and search does not appear to have been updated. There's a one-tap option for locking orientation, bookmarking a page, and accessing the share sheet.

Tapping on Themes and Settings brings up options to change the font size and the color of the background. There are a few new color options in iOS 16, including a lighter gray, a different shade of white, and a light yellow.

You can turn on vertical scrolling in this interface, and elect to activate Light Mode, Dark Mode, match the device settings, or match the ambient lighting with True Tone.

Tapping on Options brings up different fonts and the option to bold the text. There are easy to access Accessibility settings for adjusting line spacing, word spacing, and character spacing, along with toggling on full justification. Apple has also changed the way that pages turn.

All in all, the changes bring more customization options to the Books app on iPhone and iPad, and access to features like search and bookmarking still takes about the same amount of time despite the fact that they're now in a menu.

Apple in iOS 16 has brought its system wide translate feature to the Camera app, allowing the iPhone to be used to translate signs, packaging, and more in real time.

Using the translate feature is as simple as opening up the Camera app and pointing it at the text you want to translate. Tap on the text selection button in the app to select the detected text, and then choose the translate option to get an instant translation.

You can pause the view to get translations overlaid on text, and zoom in for a closer look. It's a useful feature that's perfect for signs and other wording that you might not understand when you're traveling.

The Google Translate app has long had a similar feature where you can activate a camera in the app and translate whatever text is around you, so this new iOS 16 feature basically puts the iOS Camera app on par with Google's Translate option.

Apple has also added new Quick Actions that can be used with this Camera feature and with other Live Text options across iOS. Quick Actions make data that's detected in photos, videos, and through the Camera app actionable. Flight information, shipments, foreign languages, currencies, URLs, and more can be tapped on so you can track packages, make conversions, visit URLs, and more, all from content within photos and videos.

iOS 16 is available to developers at the current time, with Apple planning to make a public beta available in July.

In iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, the FaceTime app finally supports Handoff, which means ‌FaceTime‌ calls can be swapped from one device to another.

If you get a ‌FaceTime‌ call on your iPhone while you're out of the house, you can answer it on the go and then swap over to the larger screen of a Mac when you return home. Or you can answer a call on your Mac and transfer over to an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad for a more portable ‌FaceTime‌ experience.

When a ‌FaceTime‌ call is handed off, connected Bluetooth headphones will transition to the new device too, so your call is not interrupted by the transfer.

Apple in ‌FaceTime‌ is also adding support for Live Captions, which let you see automatically transcribed dialogue during ‌FaceTime‌ calls. Live captions are available in English and are limited to the ‌iPhone‌ 11 and later, ‌iPad‌ with A12 Bionic and later, and Macs with Apple silicon.

Along with these new features, Apple is adding a "Collaboration" option that can be activated during a ‌FaceTime‌ call. Collaboration can be started during an active ‌FaceTime‌ call and it can be used with apps that include Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari. Third-party apps will also be able to support Collaboration.

Apple recently launched a feature that allows residents of participating U.S. states to add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age.

Starting with iOS 16, users will be able to present ID cards stored in the Wallet app in select apps that require identity or age verification. For example, Apple showed Uber Eats and Turo as two apps that could choose to accept IDs from the Wallet app, but it remains to be seen exactly which apps decide to implement the functionality.

Apple said users will be able to simply tap a button to seamlessly present their driver's license or state ID information in supported apps that require identity or age verification. Apple will provide users with an overview of information being collected by the app, and indicate if the data will be stored, and for how long. The user will be required to authorize with Face ID or Touch ID in order for the ID card to be presented to the app.

Developers will be able to add support for Wallet IDs to their apps by using a special entitlement that is part of the PassKit framework.

Arizona and Maryland are the first two U.S. states that let residents add their driver's licenses or state ID to the Wallet app. Apple said additional states are committed to supporting the feature, including Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Utah, as well as the territory of Puerto Rico.

Note that some states like Florida and Louisiana offer iPhone driver's licenses through their own apps, separate from this Wallet feature.

To add an ID to the Wallet app, users simply tap the "+" button in the top-right corner of the Wallet app and follow the on-screen instructions. The feature requires an iPhone 8 or later running iOS 15.4 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 8.4 or later. So far, the feature remains available in the U.S. only.

In addition to use in apps, the Wallet IDs are also accepted at select TSA checkpoints in select airports, as indicated on signage.

iOS 16 is currently in beta and will be released to all users in the fall.

With each new major operating system update, Apple continues to improve the Memoji characters that are available in the Messages app and across iOS, and iOS 16 is no exception. There are several new Memoji customization options that Memoji fans should be aware of.

Apple has added six new Memoji sticker poses, including a chef's kiss, a yawn, hands below the chin, dizzy with birds, and more.

There are 17 new and updated hairstyles to work with, including curly styles and updates to box braids and tight curl styles, along with a new bonnet option in the hat section.

There are quite a few new nose options, and a few additional neutral lip colors to choose from.

Apple has also made it possible to use any of the Memoji stickers as your contact image, opening up a number of new options. In iOS 15, only a selection of facial poses worked as a contact image, but in iOS 16, all of the stickers are available.

Apple yesterday introduced iOS 16, the newest version of the operating system designed to run on the iPhone. iOS 16 has an overwhelming number of changes, so we thought we'd do an overview to show MacRumors readers all of the new features that they can look forward to when the update comes out this fall.

You'll want to watch the video to see iOS 16 in action, but here's a list of all of the features that we go over:

• Lock Screen - The Lock Screen has been entirely overhauled. It's customizable, it supports widgets, and there are a bunch of new features you can play with.
• Notifications - To go along with the new Lock Screen, there are changes to notifications. They now come up from the bottom so they don't interfere with the Lock Screen widgets. Notifications also have a new design with bolder text and images, plus you can view notifications using a list layout, stacked view, or count view.
• Focus Mode - Different Focus Modes can now be linked to different lock screens, entirely transforming how your ‌iPhone‌ looks when you activate a Focus. Focus has new filters, updated schedules, easier setup, and a better silence/allow list.
• Home - The Home app looks entirely different with an updated layout that makes it easier to view and control your devices all on one screen. Your favorites and your rooms are all on the same main Home tab, and categories at the top give you quick access to lights, climate control, security products, and more.
• Dictation - You can now swap between voice and touch when using dictation, speaking text and then editing it.
• Live Text for Video - The iOS 15 Live Text feature that lets the ‌iPhone‌ detect text in photos has been expanded to video. If you pause a video, you can use copy and paste, lookup, and translate on text in the frame.
• Shared Tab Groups - In Safari, you can now collaborate on a tab group with other people. So if you're planning a trip, everyone can contribute links that everyone else can see, making planning and link sharing easier than ever.
• iCloud Shared Photo Library - With iCloud Shared Photo Library, up to six family members can share photos with one another seamlessly. Photos can be uploaded to the shared album automatically based on the parameters that you set, and you can even upload directly to the shared library from the Camera app.
• Maps - The Maps app now supports multiple stops, so you can add up to 15 stops into a route.
• Mail - Apple made major updates to the Mail app. Search is improved, there's an undo send feature, an option to schedule emails, a remind feature so you don't forget to reply to an email, and an option to remind you to follow up on emails when you haven't gotten a response. Mail now supports rich links and it will also alert you if you've mentioned an attachment and forgotten to add it.
• Visual Look Up - Apple added a curious new Visual Look Up feature that lets you grab the subject of an image, isolate it from the background, and drag it out into another app. It works automatically, and can be used in ‌Photos‌, Safari, Screenshots, and more.
• Messages - Editing a message, undoing a message, and marking a message as unread are all new iOS 16 features. You can recover deleted messages and use SharePlay with messages, just like you can in FaceTime. With SharePlay, you can watch a TV show or use an app alongside someone else, communicating in the Messages app while doing so. All of these features are limited to iMessage and aren't available for SMS messages.
• Medications - The Health app in iOS 16 has a medication tracking feature that reminds you to take your medicine or vitamins, and it integrates with the Apple Watch.
• Fitness - If you don't have an Apple Watch, you can use the Fitness app in iOS 16 to track your steps and activity, getting an estimate of calories burned.

iOS 16 is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple will make a public beta of iOS 16 available in July. The software will undergo several months of beta testing to allow for feature refinement and bug fixes before it is released to the public alongside new iPhones in September.

What is your favorite iOS 16 feature? Let us know in the comments below, and let us know if there's a specific feature you would like to see a video for.

Apple's Safari browser has a built-in password suggestion feature across iOS and macOS, and with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, it's getting more convenient than ever.

Across these platforms, there is now an option to edit a strong password that is suggested by Apple, which allows it to be tailored to site specific requirements. Websites sometimes have password creation requirements that include special characters, don't allow for special characters, need a specific length, or ask for other customizations not met by the strong password requirements, which can now be fixed with the edit option.

You can tap on a suggested password and choose the "Other Options" interface to access the "Edit Strong Password" interface. From here, you can change the characters that have been suggested. You can also opt for a quick access "Easy to Type" or "No Special Characters" option.

In macOS Monterey, iOS 15, and iPadOS 15, there are no options for suggested passwords other than opting to use it or choosing to create your own password, so this should make the built-in password feature more palatable to Mac and iOS users.

With iOS 16, Apple introduced a complete overhaul of the iOS Lock Screen, making it more customizable than ever and able to display information-rich widgets. This article shows you how to personalize your iPhone's Lock Screen in iOS 16.

In iOS 16, you can customize the Lock Screen with unique fonts, colors, and, for the first time, widgets. To get started, all you need to do is unlock your ‌iPhone‌ with Face ID or Touch ID, and then long press on the Lock Screen to enter the Lock Screen gallery.

The Lock Screen Gallery

If you have an Apple Watch, the interface you see will be familiar, since it's very similar to the way watch face customization works. Lock Screens are categorized here into Collections (stock Apple Lock Screens), Photos, and Colors. You can swipe left and right to choose a different existing Lock Screen, and then long press one to set it.

Alternatively, you can tap Customize to personalize the currently selected Lock Screen, or tap the blue + button to create a completely new one. Here we'll focus on customizing an existing Lock Screen.

Customizing Your Lock Screen

Tapping Customize brings up an interactive view of your Lock Screen with several options at your disposal depending on the type of Lock Screen. If you're customizing a "Color" Lock Screen, you can tap the colored circle on the left to change the color and hue, and you can swipe left and right to apply different styles to the image.

If you're customizing a "Photo" Lock Screen, the bottom options let you choose another picture (or a selection of pictures if its a Shuffle wallpaper) from your photo library, set a filter, and enable or disable the Perspective Zoom/Depth Effect.

Note that the filters available to you by swiping left and right are intelligently generated automatically for the chosen image, so you'll see different options here depending on whether, say, it's a depth photo or a Color wallpaper. (If it's a photo, bear in mind that choosing different filters may also apply different typeface styles to the time and date.) If you're customizing a Lock Screen from Apple's "Collections," the options at the bottom of the screen are more limited.

Up top, you'll see frames surrounding the time and date, as well as an area of space below the time. The center frame indicates that you can tap to edit the style of the time, while the frames above and below it can be tapped to add optional widgets.

The widgets that you can add above the time include another time zone, a set alarm, the next calendar event, a weather condition, your activity rings, the next reminder, and a chosen stock. Widgets that can be placed below the time are more info-rich and include device battery levels, Calendar, Clock, Fitness, Home, News, Reminders, Stocks, and Weather.

When you've finished customizing your Lock Screen, simply tap Done, and then tap the screen again to exit the Lock Screen gallery. Note that you can also customize the current Lock Screen by going into Settings -> Wallpaper & Lock Screens.

Apple seeded the first beta of macOS Ventura to developers yesterday for testing, and early adopters are beginning to discover smaller changes in the update. We've rounded up some of the more notable macOS Ventura tidbits that we have uncovered below.

"About This Mac" Redesigned

Apple has simplified the About This Mac window on macOS Ventura. The window still lists a Mac's type of processor, amount of memory, serial number, and the macOS version installed, but all other system information has been migrated to the System Settings app, which is a redesigned and renamed version of the former System Preferences app.

Clicking on the "More Info" button at the bottom of About This Mac opens the General menu of System Settings, which itself contains a "System Report" button that leads to a more advanced overview of a Mac's hardware, software, networking, and more.

Game Controller Menu

Speaking of System Settings, there is a new game controller menu in the app for managing game controllers connected to a Mac. The menu allows macOS Ventura users to map a controller's buttons and thumbsticks to a Mac's keyboard, adjust haptic feedback levels, create profiles with presets for multiple controllers, and more.

macOS Ventura features newly added support for some of the most popular racing wheels, pedals, and shifters for use in racing games on the Mac, including Logitech's G920 and G29 racing wheels, according to Apple's developer website. Apple also says that macOS Ventura supports many additional Bluetooth and USB game controllers, with users discovering that this includes the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons and Pro Controller.

Background Sounds

macOS Ventura brings preinstalled background sounds to the Mac. Apple says this feature allows calming sounds, such as ocean or rain, to mask unwanted environmental noise and help minimize distractions. The background sounds feature first launched on the iPhone and iPad with the release of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 last year.

Background sounds on the Mac can be turned on in the System Settings app under Accessibility > Audio. In this menu, you can choose which background sound to play, adjust the background sound volume separate from system volume, and optionally turn off background sounds when your Mac is asleep or in screensaver mode.

Other Features and Tidbits

• macOS Ventura adds Clock and Weather apps to the Mac.
• In the Photos app, the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are now locked by default and can be unlocked using your Mac's password or Touch ID.
• Playlists have improved sorting options in the Music app.
• Siri has received a slight redesign with a focus on simplicity and "more focused" results.

macOS Ventura will be released to all users in the fall — likely around October. Apple said a public beta will be available starting in July.

Image Sources: MacRumors Forums and Reddit

With iPadOS 16, Apple is continuing to improve the note taking and writing experience, introducing a new Straighten feature for text written with the Apple Pencil.

If you are taking notes in the Notes app or another app, you can now select all of your handwritten text and choose the "Straighten" option to neaten it up a bit. This won't help your handwriting, but it will change the arrangement of the writing on the page to better align it and to make it look more note like.

As you can see in our demonstration, the difference is subtle, but it does indeed work and it does make handwriting look just a bit neater. It should be helpful if you already have semi-neat handwriting that you just want to arrange better.

Apple says that the iPad's Scribble feature now also supports emoji, allowing you to draw your favorite emoji and have it automatically converted to the emoji you're aiming for. We haven't been able to get this to work as of yet, so it is not clear if it's in the first beta, but it should be a useful feature for those who often use their ‌Apple Pencil‌ systemwide on their iPads.

If your Contacts app is riddled with duplicates that you haven't been able to fix, iOS 16 has a solution. The update includes a dedicated feature for merging duplicate contacts, solving problems with multiple contacts once and for all.

In the iOS 16 Contacts app, if you have more than one contact card for the same person, the app will automatically detect the duplicate and let you know that duplicates were found.

The "Duplicates Found" interface is at the top of the app, and if you tap it, the Contacts app is able to merge all of the duplicate contact cards into one.

Prior to now, there was no built-in way to quickly manage duplicate contacts in the iOS Contacts app, so the new iOS 16 feature should be a relief for those dealing with Contacts issues. This feature did previously exist on the Mac, but it was not available on iOS devices.

Apple in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura is overhauling the Mail app and introducing a slew of new features that bring it more in line with competing mail services such as Gmail. One of those new features is a long-awaited Undo Send option, designed to let you quickly recall an email if you make a mistake.

Undo Send works for up to 10 seconds after you send an email, so you don't have a lot of time to change your mind if you do want to unsend an email that you've sent out. Google's Gmail service also has an undo send feature for emails, but you can customize the cancelation period to 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds.

For now, Apple is limiting undo send to 10 seconds, but it's possible the company could add other time options in the future.

There are several other new features coming to the Mail app. You can schedule your emails for the future, or have Mail give you a reminder about an email you opened but forgot to respond to. It will also let you move sent messages to the top of your inbox so you can get a reminder to send a follow-up, and it can notify you if you forget an important part of an email like an attachment or recipient.

Rich links are now supported in email messages so you can see more at a glance, and search is improved. Apple says that you'll see better search suggestions from the moment you begin a search, and it will also correct typos and use synonyms for your search terms to bring up what you're looking for.

These features are available across Apple's platforms for those running the latest software. Apple's updates are limited to developers at this time, but the company plans to release public betas in July.

Apple Watch Series 7 models feature larger displays compared to previous models, which allowed Apple to include a full on-screen keyboard that is exclusive to the Series 7. And now, watchOS 9 takes the keyboard a step further with a convenient new feature.

As noted by tech analyst Brahm Shank, watchOS 9 expands QuickType to the Apple Watch Series 7, providing users with suggested words above the keyboard as they type. The feature attempts to predict which words you will type next based on the first few letters of a word, and users can tap on a suggested word to insert it into a sentence while typing, which is useful given the Apple Watch's small keyboard.

QuickType was first introduced on the iPhone as part of iOS 8 in 2014, and the feature is also available on the iPad. QuickType is not to be confused with the similarly named QuickPath feature, which allows for swipe-based typing on the Apple Watch Series 7 keyboard.

Apple seeded the first beta of watchOS 9 to developers for testing on Monday, and said the first public beta will be available in July. watchOS 9 will be released in the fall, bringing this new QuickType feature to all Apple Watch Series 7 users.

Ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he expected the new iOS 16 operating system to support a future always-on display feature for the iPhone 14 Pro, and as it turns out, the iOS 16 code suggests the always-on display is indeed going to be implemented.

There are multiple references to an always-on display in iOS 16, as highlighted by 9to5Mac. There are a trio of new frameworks related to backlight management, a necessary part of an always-on display function. The frameworks mention an always-on display and are used by the Lock Screen and Springboard, suggesting that these mentions are not related to the existing Apple Watch always-on display.

The site says that there are also hidden flags within iOS 16 that allow Apple engineers to use the always-on display capability for testing purposes.

An always-on display has been rumored since always-on technology came to the Apple Watch, and it is a highly desired feature. It would let users see the time and other key iPhone information without needing to activate the screen.

The ProMotion displays planned for the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max are rumored to be capable of dropping to as low as 1Hz (down from 10Hz) to enable the always-on functionality without deeply impacting battery life.

Always-on display technology is likely going to be limited to the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max because the standard ‌iPhone 14‌ models are not expected to get the ProMotion displays necessary for the feature to work.

Apple yesterday unveiled iPadOS 16, the newest version of the iOS operating system designed for the tablet form factor. iPadOS 16 has many of the features that are coming to iOS 16, but it also has some iPad specific updates.

One of those new features is an updated multitasking system called Stage Manager, but many ‌iPad‌ users are never going to get to test out ‌Stage Manager‌ because it only works on M1 iPads. There are just three ‌M1‌ iPads at the current time, the ‌M1‌ 11-inch iPad Pro, the ‌M1‌ 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, and the ‌M1‌ iPad Air.

All other iPads that are using A-series chips simply will not get access to the new ‌Stage Manager‌ feature, and it is by far the biggest iPadOS 16 change.

Also available on Mac, ‌Stage Manager‌ is a whole new multitasking experience. You can overlap windows for the first time on the ‌iPad‌, and resize those windows as well. The window of the main app that you're working on is front and center, with your other recently used apps off to the left for quick access when you need to swap.

You can have overlapping windows of different sizes, similar to on a Mac, and you can group apps together using drag and drop gestures. ‌Stage Manager‌ supports groups of up to four windows, plus another four if you have an external display attached to your ‌iPad‌. ‌Stage Manager‌ also enables full external display support on the ‌iPad‌.

The 64GB fifth-generation ‌M1‌ ‌iPad Air‌ is the most affordable ‌iPad‌ that supports the ‌Stage Manager‌ feature, and it is priced at $599. The ‌M1‌ ‌iPad Pro‌ models are priced starting at $799 for the 11-inch version and $1099 for the 12.9-inch version, but we do not recommend an ‌iPad Pro‌ purchase at this time as a refresh is in the works.

Although Apple didn't focus on Apple Music during its WWDC keynote yesterday, there are a few changes coming to the app in iOS 16.

Lock Screen Player

The changes to ‌Apple Music‌ start on the new iOS 16 Lock Screen, where the ‌Apple Music‌ Now Playing widget is now located at the bottom of the display. This falls in line with iOS 16's new focus on de-cluttering the Lock Screen and pushing all notifications to the bottom portion of the screen, where you can choose to hide them throughout the day if you get too many.

For ‌Apple Music‌, the Lock Screen player has all of the expected controls for playback and connecting AirPods or other headphones. You can also expand the controls to a full screen view, which will enlarge the album artwork of the currently playing song and become your new iPhone Lock Screen image.

This is part of iOS 16's new "Live Activities" feature, which aims to help people stay on top of things happening in real time through various app widgets placed directly on the Lock Screen. This includes tracking live updates from sports games, workouts, ride share apps, food delivery orders, and more.

Favorite Artists

You can now add artists to your "Favorite Artists" list by navigating to their artist profile on ‌Apple Music‌ and tapping a new star button at the top of the page. After doing this, Apple says that you'll get better recommendations and notifications about new releases from that artist.

‌Apple Music‌ originally had a similar feature where you could follow artists, and you'd receive updates about their music and sometimes updates about upcoming releases. The new Favorite Artists feature seems more streamlined and focused on improving push notifications and recommendations surrounding your favorite artists.

Playlist Sorting

‌Apple Music‌ in iOS 16 lets you sort playlists by a few different orders: regular Playlist Order, Title, Artist, Album, or Release Date. Furthermore, you can choose ascending or descending order for each of these categories.

This is a notable addition given that ‌Apple Music‌ doesn't have any automatic sorting options. Any time you add a new song into a playlist, it's dropped to the bottom of the list, with the oldest songs remaining at the top. If you want to sort it, you have to manually drag it to where you want it to go.

With the new feature, you can choose to reverse the traditional Playlist Order so that new songs appear at the top. These sorting features are found in the ellipsis menu in the top right corner of the playlist screen on iOS 16.

UI Changes

Lastly are a few very slight UI changes that can be found within the full screen player in the ‌Apple Music‌ app. Apple has subtly updated the UI to feature slightly thicker playback and volume bars, among other small tweaks.

We've been recapping all of the latest news from WWDC, including iOS 16 tidbits and improvements coming to tvOS 16. For a full recap, check out our video that breaks down everything Apple announced during its WWDC 2022 keynote in 13 minutes.

While the Apple TV was an afterthought during the WWDC 2022 keynote, there is indeed a new tvOS 16 update for all Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K models, with the first beta released to developers for testing yesterday. Below, we've rounded up several new features and enhancements coming in the software update.

An overview of new tvOS 16 features for Apple TV:

• Cross-device connectivity: Apple says tvOS 16 enables developers to integrate their Apple TV app with their iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch apps to unlock new experiences that "feel more personal than ever." For example, developers can deliver more personalized workouts on the Apple TV based on motion sensor data from the Apple Watch, display real-time information on the iPhone while a video plays in their Apple TV app, or include more screens for gameplay.
• Expanded game controller support: Apple says many additional Bluetooth game controllers are supported on tvOS 16. Notably, this includes support for Nintendo's Joy-Cons and Pro Controller.
• HDR10+ support has been added to the Apple TV app (Update: Apple has since removed all mentions of this feature on its website, suggesting that this feature might have been abandoned or postponed).
• Multiuser improvements: tvOS 16 offers improved system integration for user profiles in Apple TV apps. Apple says with credentials stored in a shared keychain, users won't need to sign in and choose their profile every time they launch an Apple TV app that has been updated with this functionality.
• Matter support: Matter is a new standard that will enable compatible smart home accessories to work together seamlessly across multiple platforms, including Apple's HomeKit, Amazon's Alexa, and more. A home hub is needed to control Matter accessories in the Home app, which can be an Apple TV updated to tvOS 16 or a HomePod/HomePod mini updated to the latest software version.

Apple said the first public beta of tvOS 16 will be released in July, and the software update will be released to all users in the fall. It's likely that additional tvOS 16 features will be uncovered as beta testing continues over the next few months.

macOS Ventura features newly added support for some of the most popular racing wheels, pedals, and shifters for use in racing games on the Mac, including Logitech's G920 and G29 racing wheels, according to Apple's developer website.

Apple also says that many additional Bluetooth and USB game controllers are supported on macOS Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and tvOS 16. Among the new controllers supported are Nintendo's Joy-Cons, which can be used individually or in a pair as a singular controller, according to testing on iOS 16 by developer Riley Testut.

A new "buddy controller" feature on macOS Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16 combines inputs from multiple game controllers into one so a friend can help you while gaming.

macOS Ventura is available in beta for registered Apple developers, with a public beta to follow in July. Apple says the software update will be released in the fall, bringing the expanded support for game controllers and racing accessories to all users.