iOS 16 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

iOS 16
Support status
Version of the iOS operating system

iOS 16 home screen on an iPhone 14 Pro
Developer	Apple
General availability	September 12, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-09-12)
Latest release	16.7.8 (20H343) (May 13, 2024; 12 months ago (2024-05-13))
Repository	Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Available in	41 languages
Kernel type	Hybrid (XNU)
License	Proprietary software with open-source components
Preceded by	iOS 15
Succeeded by	iOS 17
Receiving security updates for iPhones that do not support iOS 17. Widespread third-party app support. Drops support for all A9 and A10 Fusion chips, including the iPhone 6S/6S Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 7/7 Plus, and iPod Touch (7th generation).
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iPadOS 16 (derivative for iPad)

iOS 16 is a big update for the iOS operating system that runs on iPhones. It was the sixteenth main version released by Apple. This new version came after iOS 15.

Apple first showed off iOS 16 at their Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 6, 2022. It was released to the public on September 12, 2022. Later, iOS 17 took its place on September 18, 2023.

iOS 16 was the first version since the very first iPhone OS that only worked on iPhones. It stopped supporting the last iPod Touch. It was also the last iOS version to work on iPhones with a 5.5-inch screen, like the iPhone 8 Plus.

Cool New Features
App Updates
Safety and Privacy
Supported iPhones
Release Timeline
Images for kids
See also

Cool New Features

iOS 16 brought many exciting changes to how iPhones work and look. Here are some of the main updates:

Lock Screen Fun

You could make your lock screen look just how you wanted!
You could change the font and color of the time and date.
Small widgets could be added next to the date.
Other widgets could be placed below the time.
You could set up many different lock screens.
Live wallpapers were removed to make way for new customization options.
The lock screen also worked in landscape mode.
When playing music, tapping the album cover made it fill the screen.

Focus Mode Gets Smarter

You could set different lock screens for different focus modes.
Focus filters let apps show different content. For example, Safari could show only work tabs.
The Mail app could show emails from specific contacts.
You could choose which apps and contacts could send you notifications.

Notifications Look Different

Notifications now appeared from the bottom of the lock screen.
You could choose how notifications looked: as a count, a stack, or a list.
You could group notifications together easily.
"Live Activities" showed ongoing updates right on your lock screen. This was great for tracking sports scores or food deliveries.

Control Center Updates

A new menu showed apps that recently used your camera, microphone, or location.
There was a new quick button for notes.
The Shazam feature now shared its history with the main Shazam app.

Battery Percentage in Status Bar

iPhones with Face ID could finally show the battery percentage in the status bar. You no longer had to swipe down to see it!

Better Dictation

When you spoke to type, the keyboard stayed on screen. You could switch between speaking and typing easily.
You could even add emojis using your voice.
Auto-Punctuation added periods automatically when you paused.

Live Text Gets Smarter

You could select and copy text from videos.
Quick actions let you do things like convert prices or translate text.
This feature now worked with Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian.

Improved Visual Search

Visual Search could pick out objects and people in photos.
You could then drag and drop them into other apps.

Siri Improvements

You could end phone calls and FaceTime calls by saying "Hey Siri, hang up."
Siri could announce notifications when your phone was on speaker.

Spotlight Search Upgrades

A new button on the Home Screen let you open Spotlight quickly.
The search box moved to the bottom, making it easier to reach with one hand.
You could find more image results from apps like Messages and Notes.
Quick actions let you start a timer or run a shortcut.

Translate App Updates

You could use your camera to translate text live.
New languages were added, including Dutch, Indonesian, Polish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Spoken Content Voices

New voice options were added for many languages.
More languages were supported for spoken content.
You could listen to voice samples before downloading them.

Accessibility Features

"Door Detection" helped visually impaired people find doors. It told them how far away a door was.
A new setting let you prevent calls from ending when you locked your phone.

Wi-Fi Network Management

You could now see, edit, or delete saved Wi-Fi networks.
You could also view network passwords after confirming your identity with Face ID or Touch ID.

Cellular Network Setup

You could transfer an eSIM from another iPhone using Bluetooth.

iCloud Backup

Backups to iCloud could now be done over 4G, not just 5G and Wi-Fi.

Face ID Works Sideways

On iPhone 13 and newer models, Face ID worked even when your phone was held horizontally.

Keyboard Haptic Feedback

You could turn on small vibrations when typing. This made the keyboard feel more like a physical one.

Gaming Controller Support

iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and tvOS 16 added support for Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controllers. This was great for mobile gaming!

Augmented Reality Fun

A new tool called RoomPlan let apps quickly create 3D maps of rooms. This used the LiDAR Scanner on newer iPhones.

App Updates

Many built-in apps got new features in iOS 16:

Messages App

You could edit messages up to 15 minutes after sending them.
You could delete messages within 2 minutes.
You could mark a whole conversation as unread.
SharePlay was added to Messages. You could watch movies or listen to music with friends without a FaceTime call.
You could get back deleted messages for up to 30 days.
Collaboration: You could invite others to work on projects. You'd get updates in Messages when someone edited a shared document.

FaceTime App

Live Captions automatically wrote down what was said during a FaceTime call.

Mail App

You could schedule emails to be sent later.
You could cancel recently sent emails within ten seconds.
You could set reminders for emails you hadn't replied to yet.
Search worked better and corrected typos.
New "rich links" showed more details about links in emails.

Maps App

You could now add up to 15 stops to your routes.
You could ask Siri to add new stops while navigating.
The app could calculate the cost of public transport fares.

Photos App

You could share photos from your library with up to five contacts. They could also edit or delete these shared photos.
Your Hidden and Recently Deleted albums were now protected by Face ID or Touch ID.
You could copy filters and effects from one photo to others.
You could search for specific text inside images.
A new "Wallpaper" crop option made photos fit your screen perfectly.
The app automatically found and grouped duplicate photos. It kept the best version and merged data.

Camera App

A new button let you choose if a photo went to your shared library or just your personal one.
The Camera app had a live translate feature built into its view.

Safari Browser

Shared tab groups: You could share groups of tabs with others and see what they were looking at.
Pinned tabs: You could pin important tabs to the top.
Tab group start pages: Each tab group could have its own start page.
Extension syncing: Extensions could sync across all your devices.
Website Settings syncing: Settings like page zoom could sync across devices.
Added support for AVIF image format.

Contacts App

The app automatically found duplicate contacts. You could merge them easily.
When sharing contacts, you could choose to share only specific information.
You could group contacts into lists for better organization.
You could export contact lists to a file.

Calendar App

You could copy and paste events between different days.

Files App

New quick actions let you convert images to different formats (JPEG, PNG, HEIF).
You could also resize images to small, medium, large, or original sizes.

Books App

The reading settings toolbar was moved to a pop-up panel at the bottom. This made it easier to reach.
You could adjust line spacing, character spacing, and word spacing.
A new theme adjusted page colors based on the light around you.

Health App

You could add and manage the medications you take.
"Sleep stages" let you track your sleep phases with an Apple Watch.

Apple News App

A new "My Sports" section showed highlights and news for your favorite sports teams.
Expanded local news coverage.

Weather App

New sections showed details about air quality and local forecasts.
Hourly forecasts for the next 10 days were available.
Detailed graphs showed trends for temperature, wind, and humidity.
You could get government alerts for severe weather events.

Fitness App

The Fitness app was now available even if you didn't own an Apple Watch.

Home App

Added support for Matter, a new standard for smart home devices.

Apple TV App

iOS 16 allowed devices to connect with tvOS 16 for new experiences between Apple TV, Apple Watch, and iPhone.

Safety and Privacy

iOS 16 added important features to keep your information safe.

Lockdown Mode

Lockdown Mode is a special, very high-security setting. When turned on, it limits some features of your iPhone, apps, and web browsing. This helps protect users from very rare and advanced attacks, like those from powerful spyware. It's not for everyone, but for people who might be targeted by very serious threats.

Passkeys

Passkeys let you log into websites and apps without using passwords. Your phone creates these special keys, and you use Face ID or Touch ID to approve logging in.

Safety Check

Safety Check helps people in abusive relationships. When activated, it quickly resets all permissions given to people, apps, and devices connected to an iCloud account.

Clipboard Security

Apps and websites now need your permission before they can copy things from your clipboard. This helps protect your private information.

Private Access Tokens

This new technology helps websites know you're a real person without asking you to solve annoying CAPTCHA puzzles. It protects your privacy at the same time.

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)

BIMI helps you know if an email from a brand is real. It shows the brand's logo next to the email's sender name.

Supported iPhones

iOS 16 works on iPhones that have an A11 Bionic chip or newer. This means it no longer supports older iPhones with A9 and A10 Fusion chips. This included the iPod Touch and the first iPhone SE.

While iPhones with an A11 Bionic chip can run iOS 16, they have some limited features. iPhones with an A12 Bionic chip or newer get all the new features.

Here are the iPhones that support iOS 16:

iPhone 8 & 8 Plus
iPhone X
iPhone XS & XS Max
iPhone XR
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
iPhone 12 & 12 Mini
iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13 & 13 Mini
iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max
iPhone SE (3rd generation)
iPhone 14 & 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max

Release Timeline

The first test version of iOS 16 for developers came out on June 6, 2022. The official version was released to everyone on September 12, 2022. Apple continued to release smaller updates to iOS 16, fixing bugs and adding security improvements, until May 2024.

Images for kids

The official icon for iOS 16.
A look at the iOS 16 home screen on an iPhone.