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At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) recently, iOS 16 was announced. Apple also announced updates for iPadOS and MacOS, but this article will focus on updates for the iPhone. There are lots of improvements coming this fall. Here are just a few that may help you in your practice.
1. Talk it out or type it out
Dictation gets several improvements in iOS 16. It seems people really like talking to their phones. Apple reported that iPhone users make close to 18 billion dictation requests per month. That’s a lot of words converted to text.
To help improve this experience, Siri dictation will now add punctuation as you speak. For lawyers used to adding those verbally, this may require adjusting how you dictate, much like autocorrect changes how you type. Personally, I have noted an increase in people using voice-to-text capabilities on their phone. The main reason is, it is much faster than tap-typing. I don’t think this trend will change.
The best improvement is that dictation now works with the keyboard visible on the screen. That means you can edit text with either your voice or the keyboard. It appears that you will be able to select words/phrases that need to be corrected and voice-dictate the changes or type those changes. This will be a welcome improvement for those who do a lot of writing on their devices.
2. New lock screens
Last year, Apple introduced Focus modes on its devices. This year, Apple seems to be improving this feature and allowing you to customize not only your phone when it is unlocked and in a Focus mode, but actually trigger a Focus mode by connecting it to a custom lock screen. Taking a cue from the Apple Watch and the “complications” you can add to the watch face, you can now do similar customizations with widgets for the lock screen on iPhone.
You can customize the information that appears on the lock screen. You can create multiple lock screens and swipe through the lock screens, much like you change the face on the Apple Watch.
In addition, Apple is introducing a widget that is called “Live Activities.” This widget type will allow live, updated information at a glance. This could be nice for scores, flight status, order tracking and the like.
3. Message improvements
Have you ever sent a text message and wish you could take it back? Or sent the message and noticed a glaring typo or embarrassing autocorrect mistake? In iOS 16, for up to 15 minutes after you send a message, you can edit it (or delete it). The recipients will be able to see that the message has been edited, but you can now correct those embarrassing mistakes, hopefully before someone grabs a screenshot and makes you Insta-infamous.
One item I will use is marking messages as unread on your device, so you can come back to it later. I know I’m guilty of reading a message and intending to reply, only to forget about it as additional messages push it down the list. Now, if the message is one I want to be sure to come back to, it should be easier to find.
4. Mail updates
Apple’s Mail app gets some nice new features, including scheduling emails, cancel delivery after sending (i.e., putting a delay between hitting send and the email being sent) and attachment reminders. You can also snooze email for review when you have time. Apple also claims that search is much better in Mail now. Only time will tell, but improved search is always a good thing.
5. Photo updates
One major use of iPhone for many people is the camera. Apple continues to improve the camera and Photos experience with each update. Live Text was introduced last year, giving you the capability of copying text from a photo and pasting it somewhere. Now you can do that in videos and with objects. The example used at WWDC was removing a dog from the middle of a picture and pasting the dog’s image into a message. It reminded me of peeling a sticker off a sheet of stickers, but with a digital photo. It’s amazing how hard this was to do with professional photo editing applications, and now it is simply a tap on a phone in your pocket.
In addition, there are better family sharing options in Photos, which is a welcome addition. Having four iPhone users in my house, it will be nice to give everyone access to the photos they want without having to text them or adding photos manually.•
Seth R. Wilson is an attorney with Adler Attorneys in Noblesville. In addition to practicing law, he helps manage the day-to-day technology operations of the firm. He writes about legal technology at sethrwilson.com and is a frequent speaker on the subject. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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