Apple on Wednesday introduced its latest software update ioS 16.2 in India and enabled its users to hop on to the 5G era. However, apart from 5G support, the update brings several new features to the iPhone.
Here is a list of the new features:
Freeform
Apple has introduced an app that can act as a whiteboard where users can collaborate with others and let them edit the files as well. This was announced earlier this year at the WWDC event and now is finally available. It's simple to use as it's just a board where you can draw objects and lines, insert media, attach documents or notes, and annotate stuff.
End-to-end encryption for iCloud data
Apple has always taken privacy seriously and with this update, they take it forward as the company launched end-to-end encryption for iCloud data with a new Advanced Data Protection mode. With this feature, emails, contacts, and calendar events that are synced to iCloud will be encrypted and locked. If anyone else tries to decrypt the data, including Apple are likely to find gibberish.
AirDrop restriction
Apple had recently restricted access to AirDrop in China when the feature was misused during the protests. Now, this limitation has been made global. Now the file-sharing feature will be restricted for 'everyone' to just 10 minutes.
Apple Sing
A karaoke mode has been introduced in the latest update, The feature, called Apple Sing, will be available to all users with iPhone 11 and above, along with iPad and Apple TV. It uses a combination of enhanced real-time lyrics synced for karaoke and on-device machine learning for splitting vocals from the music track. It also separates and highlights background vocals for a better group experience. Apple calls it ‘beat-by-beat’ lyrics that will make Karaoke easier when relying on Apple Music.
Miscellaneous
The Weather app now has a dedicated news section to show local news stories. Apple is also adding Home Screen widgets for Sleep. These widgets inform you about recent sessions and stages. It also lets you quickly see the medication plan.
The updates are available to users with an iPhone 8 or later, except for 5G in India which has been made available for users using iPhone 12 or later and Apple Sing that is for iPhone 11 and above.