Just Install iOS 16? Here's What to Set Up First

There are hundreds of new features for you to learn about in the new update of Apple's mobile operating system. We've created a guide that walks you through what you need to do after you upgrade.

Set Up Your Lock Screens

You can personalize your Lock Screen in the new version of the app. You can change colors, choose a wallpaper, use emojis, and more.

If you want to change your Lock Screen, you have to open your phone and long press on it. The Lock Screen can be created by tapping on the "+" button. Select your wallpaper and then tap on the "addwidgets" option to add your own. You can choose a color and a style for the time by tapping on the time.

You can create multiple Lock Screens and swap between them, just long press on the Lock Screen and you can change them.

There are more instructions on Lock Screen creation and a look at all of the different options available in the guide.

You can link the Lock Screen to one of your Focus Modes after you've created it. To get to the customization interface, long press on the Lock Screen and then tap on the "Focus" icon.

When you use the Lock Screen, you can choose to use the Focus mode. If you want to create a new focus, you can do so in the settings app, which has more information on the new focus mode.

Set Up Focus Filters

Focus Modes allow you to set up a focus that displays specific information from apps, like Calendar, Mail, and Messages. It's possible to set up a Focus that only shows your work calendar, work tabs, and your work email when you're in work mode.

Select a Focus mode, scroll down, and then choose the "add filter" option to set up Focus Filters. You can change your focus to meet your needs, and over time, filters will get more advanced, because Apple designed an application programming interface for developers.

There is more on how to set up Focus Filters in our guide.

Silence and Allow lists can be set up in the new Focus feature in Apple's mobile device operating system. You can choose people and apps that aren't allowed to notify you when a specific Focus is active. The focus section of the settings app contains Silence and Allow lists.

Add Your Medications to the Health App

There is a new feature in the Health app that allows you to track your medication. It's possible to keep track of all of your medications and vitamins with medication tracking, which will alert you if you don't take them on time.

It lets you know about potential drug interactions with anything that you're taking, and if you have an Apple Watch, it's easy to mark a medication as taken from your wrist.

If you want to use it, open the Health app, tap over to browse, and select theMedications interface. You can choose a look for your pill bottles. The Health guide contains more information on how to use the new medication feature.

Try Out the New iMessage Features

If you're communicating with other iMessage users who also have Apple's mobile operating system, you can change an iMessage up to 15 minutes after it's sent.

You can also mark a message as unread and recover deleted messages. It's not possible to use editing and unsending iMessages with those who have aversions to the operating system. The Messages guide contains more information.

You can now use the SharePlay feature in the Messages app to watch TV shows, movies, or use apps with friends, even if you don't have a phone.

Scheduled Send and reminders to follow up on a message you haven't heard back on are two of the new features in the Mail app.

Pin Your Favorite Tabs and Set Up Tab Group Start Pages

If you use a lot of tabs, you can pin them to make it easier to access them. To pin a tab, just open a website, long press on the URL bar, and choose the option.

You can now personalize a Start Page for each and every one if you use Tab Groups. To modify your home pages, open up a Tab Group and scroll down to the bottom of the screen.

We have a guide to help you use the new features in the browser.

You can drag subjects right out of images with the fun feature in Apple's new operating system. Pick the "Copy Subject" option if you want to remove it from the image.

You can put it into another app.

If you have duplicate photos on your device, you can get rid of them. It will detect anything that's a duplicate once you install iOS 16 on your device.

To see more than one duplicate, open the Photos app, tap on "Albums" and scroll down. You canMerge duplicate photos if you see a "Duplicates" album. You won't see the album if that's the case.

It's possible to fix a Contacts app with the help of iOS 16. If you have more than one contact card for the same person, you can use the Contacts app to find multiples.

You can use this feature byUpgrading toiOS 16. You will see a notice at the top if there are more than one contact.

Do a Safety Check

The "Safety Check" feature in the settings app is meant to make it easy for people to reset all of the data and location access that they've been granted. It's intended for people in domestic or intimate partner violence situations, but it gives a good overview of privacy settings for all users.

Go to the settings app and select Privacy and Security, then scroll down to Safety Check. You can get an overview of everything you're sharing and who you're sharing it with by tapping on Manage Sharing and Access. You can find more information in our guide.

Try the New FaceTime Handoff Feature

If you're on a call with someone, you can use a Mac or iPad to make the call. It's worth checking out if you want to swap from one device to another because calls and video chats transfer over smoothly.

More on iOS 16

There are a lot of features that are available in the newest version of the mobile operating system. If you want to learn more about what the new operating system has to offer, make sure to check out our overview.

You can discuss the new features on the forum.