Apple announces first iOS 16 features

While the world community is languishing in anticipation of upcoming novelties from Apple, some of which will be presented already this summer, the company itself is adding fuel to the “fire of interest”. On the World Day for Special Features Awareness the Apple giant shared some interesting announcements that you can watch at https://my-mac.org/.

First of all, the company announced new useful features expected in iOS 16. There are also some interesting features in watchOS 8. The updated functionality is aimed at helping users who are visually impaired. With the upcoming tools, it will be easier for them to navigate as well as be informed through their Apple gadgets.

Door detection

The first useful function relates to the navigation system. With its help, visually impaired people will be able to navigate while in any room. Apart from detecting the location of a door, the gadgets will also calculate the exact distance to the door and provide the user with a description. At the same time, the user will get a hint on what to do to open the door. It will be possible to use the novelty on an iPhone with LiDAR.

Remote control of a smartwatch

Apple Watch Mirroring is a feature that allows you to monitor and control your smartwatch remotely through the smartphone to which it is paired. The principle of operation is quite simple: any action on the iPhone (tapping the display, gesture and other configured special features) will take care of the corresponding action on the Apple Watch. The feature will be available on the VI, VII and VIII generations of smartwatches.

Live captioning

The upcoming feature will be available starting with the 11th generation iPhone. It requires a processor from A12 and Apple Silicon. The feature will only be available to users in the US and Canada from the launch. The novelty will work in real time, taking care of the transcription of almost all audio content. It will also function for FaceTime calls, video content (duplication of existing content), live streaming, etc.

Game controllers

The feature will be useful for those who like to play games. Game controllers connect to each other, allowing several users to participate in the gameplay at once. This way one can help the other.

Updates to Apple Books, Apple Music and Apple TV+

Basic “Apple” functions will also get their new features, which will be useful for people with visual, speech, hearing impairments, etc. The “book” app, for example, will feature settings that provide maximum user-friendliness: adjusting font size, contrast. The “music” app, will get playlists to help train pronunciation. Apple TV+, in turn, will be enriched with a large number of movie productions featuring actors with disabilities.