I’m excited for Apple’s new iPhone update coming on Monday! There are some great new features that I’m looking forward to, like being able to access Fitness+ without an Apple Watch, Clean Energy Charging, and iCloud Shared Photo Libraries.
I think these will be really helpful and make my life easier. I’m also curious to see how the Live Activities feature works with third-party apps. It sounds like it has the potential to be really useful.
Here’s a rundown of some of the new features coming in the update:
1) iCloud Shared Photo Library
With iOS 16.1, you can create a Shared Photo Library in iCloud instead of a standard shared iCloud album.
This will allow you and up to five other people to go to a library and add, delete, edit, or favorite photos and videos.
The Camera app will add a new toggle that will allow you to choose to automatically send photos to the shared library. If you’re on vacation with your family, everyone can snap pictures and see all of the photos in your shared album.
2) Live Activities from 3rd-Party Apps
iOS 16.1 has a new feature called “Live Activities.” This feature shows live updates from ride-sharing apps like Uber, sports games, or information on food delivery orders. You can see how long it will take for your dinner to arrive at your house. You can also see when it is supposed to arrive. Or, you can see the score, inning and count of a baseball game with updates on plays. This new feature will be most useful on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. These models have always-on displays, which means you can see new information without having to turn on the phone. Some apps will have this feature already on Monday. But, since it takes time for developers to adopt this new feature, it may take some time for your favorite apps to include Live Activities.
3) Fitness+ Without an Apple Watch
After upgrading to iOS 16.1 you’ll be able to subscribe to Apple Fitness+ even if you don’t have an Apple Watch.
Fitness+ is a subscription service that has guided workouts and meditations. You can pay $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. If you purchase a new iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, you will be able to get three free months of Fitness+.
Keep in mind if you work out without an Apple Watch, you won’t be able to see how many calories you burn or your real-time heart since you don’t have the watch on to monitor your heart rate.
4) Clean Energy Charging
The iOS 16.1 update will include a new feature called Clean Energy Charging. This will allow you to charge your iPhone when cleaner energy sources are available, which will help to decrease its carbon footprint.
After updating to iOS 16.1, you can turn on “Clean Energy Charging” go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. You’ll see the explanation… “In your region, iPhone will try to reduce your carbon footprint by selectively charging when lower carbon emission electricity is available. iPhone learns from your daily charging routine so it can reach full charge before you need to use it.”
5) Matter Accessories in the Home App
IOS 16.1 will add support for new Matter accessories to the Home app, which lets users control their smart home accessories.
Matter is a new standard that is trying to make it easier for you to use all of your smart home devices, no matter who designed them. So, you’ll be able to connect smart home devices with home hubs from different companies, like Apple, Google, or Amazon. You should’nt have to worry if a smart bulb you buy will work with your home system. As long as it supports Matter, it should be compatible.
Overall, the iOS 16.1 update is bringing some great new features to iPhone users. From the addition of iCloud Shared Photo Libraries to the new Live Activities feature, there are plenty of new things to get excited about. While some of these features will be more useful than others, all of them show that Apple is continuing to innovate and add new features for us to enjoy.
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