After the release of iOS16, everyone was waiting for the announcement of the release date of iOS16.1 update and information about new features not included in iOS16 back in September this year.
Finally, Apple announced that iOS16 will receive a significant update on Monday, October 24th.
The September release of iOS16 included many changes for several iPhone apps and a few new features added to iPhones, including message editing, lock screen widgets, updated fitness app for fitness lovers.
However, the iOS16.1 update is a major one having at least seven new features like Clean Energy Charging, Live Activities, iCloud Shared Photo Library & Matter Support.
In addition to the new features, the iOS16.1 update will make tweaks and fixes for the current iPhone apps.
Here is a detailed list of the updates included in the iOS16.1 update.
Clean Energy Charging
For iPhone users in the United States, the iOS16.1 update includes Clean Energy Charging feature with the Battery settings to reduce iPhone’s carbon footprint by optimizing charging times for when the energy grid uses cleaner energy sources.
iOS16.1 update also enables battery percentage for many iPhone models such as iPhone XR, 11, 12 mini, and 13 mini.
It will have a dynamic battery indicator icon when the Percentage is enabled.
Matter Accessories for Home App
Matter, a new connectivity standard that allows compatible Smart home accessories to work across multiple platforms, including Google’s Home, Apple’s HomeKit, and Amazon’s Alexa, is now supported in iOS16.1 update.
Using the Home app and Siri to control Matter accessories will need to use HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV 4K, or Apple TV HD as a home hub.
Apple Card and Wallet
With iOS16.1, Apple Card users can open a Goldman Sachs high-yield savings account.
Users can manage this account through the Apple wallet app. Users can have cash cashback rewards automatically deposited into it, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.
Wallet app key sharing
The Apple Wallet app will also allow people to safely share car and hotel room keys with friends and family using messaging apps like Messages and even Whatsapp, as promised during the iOS16 preview.
This feature needs support from hotels and car manufacturers.
iCloud Shared Photo Library
iOS16.1 introduces The iCloud Shared Photo Library, a new way to share photos with your loved ones.
It will be a separate library where users can share photos and videos with up to 5 additional users by giving them access to the shared library. All users having access will be able to edit, caption, share and delete photos. The camera app is updated now to include a toggle that allows users to add photos to the iCloud Shared Photo Library as they take the photos.
Live Activities for third party apps
The live Activities feature of iOS16.1 keeps you up to date on activities going on in real-time, right from your Lock Screen. Live Activities are interactive notifications that will appear on the lock screen and keep you up to date. Consider sports scores, delivery status reports, and other activities you might check from your phone’s lock screen.
Dynamic Island Reachability Support
iOS16.1 includes upgrades to the reachability support for Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro. This feature can be enabled in settings and will make it easier to access Dynamic Island with one hand.
Apple Fitness app without a watch
Apple Fitness Plus will be available to iPhones without an Apple Watch with the iOS16.1 release.
It is consistent with apple’s previous decision to include the Fitness app in iOS16 regardless of whether a user owns one of the Apple watches or not.
Users who do not have the Apple Watch will not get real-time data on their fitness activities like heart rate, calories burned, etc. Instead, they will get estimated metrics of calories burned based on information entered in the Fitness app.
Entire Apple’s fitness library having more than 3000 workouts, will be available to users running iOS16.1 in any of the 21 countries where Apple’s fitness subscription service is available.
Apple iOS16.1 update, release date
iOS16.1 update will be for all iPhone models which can run iOS16, including the iPhone 8 and newer. The update will be released on, October 24th. Once it is available, you can install it directly from your iPhone’s Settings app.
