What are The New Features of iOS 16.4?

April 3, 2023

By dayannastefanny

Apple has released version 16.4 of its iOS mobile operating system. This includes the introduction of new emojis and fixes, as well as notifications on the home screen of the web app and a new feature that prioritizes speech over background noise during a call.

A new set of 21 emojis for iPhone includes elements such as pink hearts, shaking faces, various animals (donkey, moose, goose, jellyfish, blackbird, wings, etc.), fans, and wings. In addition to emojis, the technology company has integrated web application notifications on its home page and call functions that isolate the voice from ambient noise. As documented on Apple’s support page, incident detection has also been optimized for iPhone and iPhone 14 Pro devices.

New settings arrive in iOS 16.4

Apple’s browser now has authentication notifications. There are currently many websites that offer the ability to send you notifications about their content, but Safari, at least on iOS and iPadOS, has been unable to display these notifications. I expect this to change after the update.

It is important to note that Safari notifications will also be able to be displayed on the lock screen or home screen, as it works with other apps. During WWDC 2022, Apple announced that the iPhone will get a voice partition for mobile devices. This feature has been delayed several times for unknown reasons, but it is now available in iOS 16.4.

How does it work? The system takes care of filtering noise so that you can prioritize your voice. This way, you will be able to hear better during the call, especially if there is noise around you.

In the Accessibility settings, iOS 16.4 has the option to dim a video automatically when it shows bright lights as a flash or strobe effects. And in the Weather app, supports the ‘VoiceOver’ screen reader.
The new iOS update will also detect if there are duplicate photos and videos in a shared album in iCloud and fixes several bugs, one of them being that it failed purchase requests from children on parents’ devices.

Other improvements

In addition to the features mentioned above, the update also brings several improvements and bug fixes, including:

VoiceOver support for maps in the weather app.
A new accessibility setting that automatically reduces video brightness when light flares or strobe effects are detected.
Keyboard support for indigenous languages such as Chickasaw and Choctaw.
Transliteration support for keyboards of languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi, and Urdu.
Fix an issue where to Ask to Buy purchase requests from children often did not appear on the parent’s device.
Fix an issue where Matter-compatible thermostats could become irresponsive when connected to Apple Home devices.
Crash detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

What devices is iOS 16 compatible with?

The iPhones that are left out are the iPhone 7, the original iPhone SE, and each of the previous generations. iOS 16 can be installed on the following devices:

iPhone SE second and third generation
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
iPhone X and XR
iPhone XS and XS Max
iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max (comes pre-installed)

What we love most about iOS 16?

Our own first tests have made it clear to us this new features. The new lock screen of iOS 16 is the one that will leave the biggest effect on users. Its levels of customization will bring much more diversity or properties to the iPhone, with which for many things the terminal will not be missing or unlocked. Improved concentration methods have also left their mark on our own tests.

Automatic subject cropping in our own images also seems like magic, eliminating any need to learn the same tools in photo retouching programs. Success for those who want to send those subjects in messaging applications easily. The Passkeys have also given us quite a good feeling, replacing the classic passwords.

However, everything must be said, iOS 16 has also provoked criticism. Not all is well in Apple’s signals, and its compatibility leaves several iPhone 7 owners in the gutter. It shouldn’t be too funny for third-party developers who see how the news of iOS 16 takes away the meaning of their own applications.

Siri would have new ways to receive information from its users

Apple is testing new natural language generation features for its voice assistant, Siri, a work in progress from the most recent beta version of tvOS 16.4. This update of its operating system for ‘smart TV’ shows what is internally known as Bobcat and for which a new framework for Siri’s capabilities has been enabled, as indicated by the portal 9to5Mac.

This media indicates that this new technology is being tested from the most recent beta version of tvOS 16.4, although it will soon be established in the rest of the operating systems, that is, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS. Likewise, as for devices, while tvOS is responsible for powering Apple TV and HomePod, for the moment these new features are only enabled on its smart TVs.

Currently, the U.S. company is testing natural language generation to tell jokes with Siri on Apple TV, although it is also experimenting with its use on timers. It should be recalled that The New York Times advanced last week that the iPhone manufacturer was working on artificial intelligence (AI) similar to ChatGPT and that it would not be integrated into Siri due to its “cumbersome design”. However, Bloomberg journalist and analyst specializing in the brand, Mark Gurman, contradicted this publication via Twitter, suggesting that Apple was not focused on manufacturing this type of technology.

Siri allows new actions and scheduling

Similarly, in January this year, a function was implemented with which users can schedule actions and automation to perform them in a period that has been determined, for example, at a specific time or specifying a time such as “within half an hour”.

Said update of Apple’s operating system to iOS 16.3, began operating along with the rest of the brand’s operating systems, the company included some features that bring users closer to comfort at home with devices connected to the house and voice commands directed to Siri. That being the case, it must be said that Apple has introduced a new feature for Siri in intelligent homes. Until then, the voice assistant allowed users to request actions by a voice performed simultaneously.

But now, with the update, Siri can schedule actions and automation to be performed later, at a time that the user has specified. For example, as Apple explained on its website HomePod (2nd generation), users will be able to program the kitchen lights to turn off at 10:00 p.m. at night. Similarly, you can set action commands to be performed only periodically with a voice command, such as closing the blinds every day at dawn.