iOS 16.2 is officially out now and by the looks of it, it’s packed to a T. There are a bunch of new features coming in across a wide span of categories from multitasking enhancements to tighter privacy controls. The update also brings a new way to have fun and usher in the festivities just in time of New Year. There’s something special for iPhone users in India as well— 5G support.
Clearly, there’s lots to talk about. But let’s get the basics out of the way before we dive into the specifics. iOS 16.2 is the second major update to iOS 16, the first being iOS 16.1 which came out over a month ago. Apple usually doesn’t do staged roll outs which is to say most— if not all – iPhones should be getting iOS 16.2 right about now. You can check for the update’s availability by heading over to your iPhone’s general settings. The fresh update weighs in at about 1.29GB. It should be smaller in case you’re an existing beta tester). An equivalent version, called iPadOS 16.2, with iPad-specific features is also rolling out simultaneously.
iOS 16.2 is available for iPhone 8 and above. The iPhone SE 2 is also getting the update. (Apple is also keeping some older iPhones seemingly alive by pushing out iOS 15.7.2.)
Now that the update is live and –hopefully—kicking on your iPhone, here’s a quick round-up of all the top features of iOS 16.2:
- Freeform is a new app that Apple is introducing with iOS 16.2. It will also be available on iPad and Mac running iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1, respectively. You can think of it as a digital whiteboard. Apple says Freeform is a collaboration tool giving users a “flexible” canvas to add and preview “a wide range” of files inline without having to worry about layouts or page sizes and without having to leave the board, also. These boards can be accessed on multiple devices since all data is stored in iCloud.
- Speaking of iCloud, Apple is expanding the total number of data categories protected via end-to-end encryption from 14 to 23 with iOS 16.2. iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos are now covered under a new Advanced Data Protection system. Apple says the only major categories not included – as of writing— are iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendar because “of the need to interoperate with the global email, contacts, and calendar systems.”
- iOS 16.2 feature drop also includes Apple Music Sing, a dedicated karaoke-style mode in Apple Music that lets you have precise control over the vocal volume so you can sing along your favourite track— duets also supported— with the help of on-screen beat-by-beat lyrics. The feature is available on iPhone 11 and above, iPad Pro 3 and later, iPad Air 4 and above, iPad Mini 6, iPad 9 and later, and Apple TV 4K 3.
- Apple is fairly new to the always-on display game on iPhone and evidently, its first attempt has been getting mixed reviews. Many users have complained that the always-on display on the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is brighter than they’d like, and a bit distracting as well. With iOS 16.2, Apple is giving you more control over this functionality letting you selectively turn off your lock-screen wallpaper (and even notifications) for a relatively cleaner lock-screen when your iPhone is in sleep mode and always-on is enabled. While at it, it is also adding new sleep and medications widget so you can access relevant data quickly from the lock-screen itself.
- A few other features worth mentioning include improved search in Messages so you can search for items based on content, a smarter AirDrop that can –now—automatically revert to “Contacts Only” after 10 minutes to prevent unwanted requests to receive content, and crash detection optimisations on iPhone 14 series. iOS 16.2 also finally unlocks 5G support on iPhones in India. You can read more about it in our full coverage report here.
