Pro iOS 16:
Apple brings a lot of new features in their updates every year, but this is by far one of the best updates they’ve done. They went all out this year with a completely overhauled lock screen, significantly improved iMessage experience, Mac webcam substitution, and many other small tweaks.
The new lock screen is a breath of fresh air. I’ve been using iPhones for almost 10 years now, and in all that time, the lock screen has barely changed. Now, it features customizable widgets, fonts, and colors so that you can further personalize your experience. While the fonts and colors are neat, the standout feature is the widgets. Apps can now display certain information on your lock screen, and you can customize what you want to show. I love this feature since it means I don’t have to open my phone as much and potentially get distracted. You can also create different lock screens and easily swap between them in case you get bored of one or create a background with shuffling photos. One neat detail is that if your background photo has a clear background and foreground, a small part of the clock will be hidden by the foreground to create a unique sense of depth on the lock screen.
I’m a hasty, impulsive, and inaccurate texter, so the ability to edit and unsend iMessages is a godsend to me. Now, iOS 16 allows users to edit messages within 15 minutes of sending them. This implementation is one of the best, as it gives people a chance to go back and correct minor mistakes and minimizes abuse. For example, had this 15-minute limit not been there, a text could be edited so that someone agreed to something they didn’t want to. There’s also a mark on edited texts, which makes it harder to abuse, but I am disappointed that an edit history isn’t available. Messages can also be unsent within 2 minutes of sending, and it leaves a message in chat so that the recipient knows something was deleted. Both features were implemented in a way that improves the messaging experience without significantly compromising the integrity of transcripts.
I’ve been using a MacBook Pro for over four years, and the webcam is just awful. Apple has been improving its webcams, but they still pale in comparison to dedicated webcams. However, Mac users can now use their iPhone as a webcam with iOS 16 and MacOS Ventura. The latest iPhone can record in 4K at up to 60 FPS and has fantastic video processing software, and all of that can be used in webcam mode. While it may seem inconvenient for your phone to be unusable while serving as a webcam, Macs can already send and receive texts and calls, and many apps also have websites you can use while your phone is occupied. One unique feature that comes with these webcam capabilities is Desk View. If your phone is mounted on top of your monitor, it can use the Ultra Wide lens and some clever processing to create a top-down view of your desk. It functions similar to an overhead camera a professor might use to put a paper on the screen, and it can do this while still recording your face.
Besides the substantial changes, all iOS updates come with a myriad of smaller changes, and iOS 16 is no exception. One of my favorite new additions is the haptic keyboard. This feature adds vibration feedback with every keystroke to make typing on the iPhone feel more like typing on a physical keyboard. Apple also improved one of my most used features, dictation. It can now use punctuation automatically, and the keyboard stays open while dictating, allowing easier editing. Lastly, iPhones can now provide live captions for FaceTime calls, so people like me with terrible hearing can rejoice.
This update provided long-requested improvements to not just the iPhone but to the Apple ecosystem. However, most of the change is at the user’s own discretion. By default, features such as widgets, keyboard haptics, and FaceTime captions are disabled. Apple hardly forces changes in user experience, and their transitions always feel smooth. When I pick up my iPhone, despite how much the software has changed over time, it still feels like the same smooth and intuitive experience I bought ten years ago.
Anti-iOS 16:
Simply put, I don’t like radical change. And I’m not going to pretend like I have Fawwaz’s immense tech knowledge. I don’t. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with upgrading a phone’s operating system. But was all of that change necessary at once? I don’t think so. In particular, I don’t think this new iOS is the smooth and intuitive experience that Fawwaz believes it to be. But I am not Fawwaz, and I am not as cool or hip to technology as Fawwaz is.
Admittedly, there’s probably more to like about all of these upgrades than there is to not like. My issue lies primarily with the cosmetics of it all.
My iPhone looks different to me now, and not in a way that’s easy on my eyes. I don’t like how the notifications are all scrunched together on the lock screen towards the bottom, stacked on top of each other like they’re files. Apparently, I’m told that there is a way to undo this, but why was it done in the first place? Did anyone think it was a good idea? Did anyone think that would look aesthetically pleasing?
The feature to unsend messages is very cool to most people, but I truly believe that if you feel the need to unsend a text message that you probably shouldn’t have sent it to begin with. Also, typos are usually very funny, and I say that as a long-running editor of this newspaper. Someone messing up a word or relying too much on Autocorrect is just something that should be expected, and accepted. Is that ridiculous? Yes? Does it feel like sacrilege to me that messages can now be edited? Also yes.
Fawwaz said above that “Apple hardly forces changes in user experience” and while I don’t know much about their product to argue with that, I do think that these changes really don’t benefit every single user. Most of them? Sure. But sometimes if something isn’t really broken, you shouldn’t make massive changes that alienate some users.
I do suppose it’s still better than using an Android phone though.
