Apple has released iOS 16.1 bringing, iCloud Shared Library, the ability to use Apple Fitness+ without an Apple Watch and more.
iCloud Shared Photo Library
Apple delayed iCloud Shared Photo Library in the iOS 16.0 release, in order to work out some of the bugs, but it is now available in the iOS 16.1 update. With ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library, a total of six people can share one Photo Library, making it easier to seamlessly sharing photos and videos with up to five other people
Setup rules allow you to easily contribute past photos based on start date or people in the photos when you set up or join a library and Library filters for quickly switching between viewing the Shared Library, your Personal Library, or both libraries together
Shared edits and permissions let everyone add, edit, favourite, caption, and delete photos.
In addition, a Sharing toggle in the Camera lets you choose to send photos you take straight to the Shared Library, or enable a setting to share automatically when other participants are detected nearby using Bluetooth.
Lock Screen/Home Screen Customization
When tapping on the “Customize” interface on the Lock Screen, there’s now an option to choose between customizing either the Lock Screen or the Home Screen, rather than just the Lock Screen.
This makes it easier to customize the look of the iPhone from one spot without having to go through multiple steps.
Wallet
iOS 16.1 adds the option to remove the Wallet app from the ‌iPhone‌ entirely. In ‌iOS 16‌ and earlier versions of iOS, the app could be removed from the ‌Home Screen‌, but not deleted.
It is now able to be deleted entirely for those who do not want to use Apple Pay or other Wallet features.
Key sharing enables you to securely share car, hotel room, and other keys in Wallet using messaging apps such as Messages and WhatsApp.
Savings account enables Apple Card customers to grow their Daily Cash by depositing it in a high yield savings account
Screenshot UI
When you close the Screenshot editing tool, there is an updated interface in the upper right corner that gives the options to delete a screenshot, copy and delete, or save it.
This menu used to be at the bottom of the ‌iPhone‌.
iOS 16.1 other features
Apple Fitness+ is now supported on iPhone even if you don’t have an Apple Watch
Live Activities from third-party apps are available in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen for iPhone 14 Pro models.
iOS 16.1 adds support for the Matter smart home connectivity standard. Matter allows for interoperability between smart devices from different companies, so HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Assistant devices, for example, can work together.
A new setting – Clean Energy Charging (U.S. only)Â that can try to reduce your carbon footprint by selectively charging when lower carbon emission electricity is available
iOS 16.1 adds battery percentage to the battery icon in the status bar on the ‌iPhone‌ XR, ‌iPhone‌ 11, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini, all iPhones that did not support the feature in ‌iOS 16‌.
Apple has updated the Wallpaper section of the Settings app to allow users to swap between wallpapers from this interface. The design has also been tweaked, making the options to add new wallpaper more obvious.
In the Books App, Reader controls are automatically hidden as you start reading
This update also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:
- Deleted conversations may appear in the conversations list in Messages
- Dynamic Island content is not available when using Reachability
- CarPlay may fail to connect when using a VPN app
iOS 16.1 will run on all iPhones from iPhone 8 onwards. To be exact, that’s iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE second generation, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
As normal, to update to iOS 16.1, go to your iPhone Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 16.0.3 when you can.
