Apple has recently released iOS 16, the new and improved version of their operating system. The update includes changes to the lock screen, messages and email apps, and much more. The update also includes changes to the layout of many commonly used apps. While iOS 16 includes hundreds of updates, not all of them are important. Here are the top 3 changes that every student will want to familiarize themselves with:

Messages:

Although the messages app appears unchanged, a lot of improvements have been made. The biggest one being the ability to edit and undo messages shortly after sending them. You can edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending, whereas you only have 2 minutes to undo a sent message. These additions, including the ability to recover deleted messages and mark messages as unread, will be useful for students who still use messages, instead of other apps like Snapchat and Discord.

Lock Screen:

In the iOS 14 update, Apple made it much easier to customize your home screen with custom icons and widgets. In iOS 16, they’ve done a similar thing to the lock screen. The lock screen now works similarly to the Faces feature on an Apple Watch, giving you the ability to have multiple lock screens pre-saved, with multiple fonts, styles, images, and widgets. While older and less tech-savvy generations may struggle with maneuvering the new lock screen features, students should be able to figure everything out with ease.

Focus:

Focus, Apple’s attempt to rebrand the Do Not Disturb feature, was released last year in iOS 15. Focus wasn’t a big improvement over Do Not Disturb, only adding a few new features and UI changes. iOS 16, however, is taking Focus to the next level, improving accessibility and adding unique customization features. The new update gives people the ability to link certain lock screens to certain types of Focus, as well as setting up app-specific boundaries called “Focus Filters” which allow you to choose which information is shown and hidden depending on what type of Focus you have activated.

For a detailed list of every change made in iOS 16, visit Apple’s website HERE.