Apple's IOS 16 Tackles Personal Safety, Heart Data, Personalization

Personalization, personal safety, digital wallet and enhanced health features stood out in Apple’s product, iOS 16 and watchOS 9 announcements from its virtual Worldwide Developers Conference Monday from Cupertino, California. The company also launched the latest round of MacBooks, powered by the next-gen M2 chip, with laptops starting at $1,099 for the education market.

Apple is working to replace the physical wallet with expanding features in Apple Wallet, said Corey Fugman, senior director-merchant solutions, saying Maryland and Arizona are the first states to have launched the ability to store drivers’ licenses and identification cards on an iPhone; the company is working with 11 more states on deployments. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in select airports are accepting IDs stored in Apple Wallets, he said.

Keys in Apple Wallet can be used to access electronic door locks in homes, offices and hotels, Fugman said, and Apple is improving the ability to share keys via Messages, mail or What’s App. Recipients can add the key to their wallet with a tap, he said. The company is working with the Internet Engineering Task Force on a key-sharing industry standard so that iPhone users can share keys with Android users, he said.

In Apple Pay, Apple is making payment schedules available to consumers so they can pay over time, Fugman said. Using Apple Pay Later, iPhone users can split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks with no interest or fees. The option is available everywhere Apple Pay is accepted, he said.

A new feature to protect personal safety disables an iPhone user’s location sharing, which could be used by someone looking to escape from an abusive relationship, said Craig Federighi, senior vice president-software engineering. In a presentation, Katie Skinner, privacy engineering manager, noted many iPhone users share Apple passwords and access to their devices with their partner, making it difficult to get help if they need to. Apple developed Safety Check, a section in Settings where users can quickly review and revoke access a user has granted others to see data and location information.

Corey Wang, producer-human interface design, discussed Apple’s role in the upcoming Matter standard that's designed to enable interoperability among different smart home ecosystems. Wang noted the smart home is still in early stages and said Apple wants to help bring experiences “to as many homes as possible,” offering consumers a wide option of choices so they “don’t have to worry about what works with what.”

Wang said Matter allows smart home accessories to work together across platforms. Apple contributed HomeKit as the “foundation of this new standard,” she said. Over 130 compatible products are in the pipeline, she said, noting Apple will be able to build innovations on top of the underlying foundation. Privacy and security are ensured in Matter in a way in which “even Apple can’t see,” she said.

Also in iOS 16, iPhone users will be able to personalize the phone’s Lock Screen with style, color and photo options. They can digitally pull out a photo from a background and place it on the Lock Screen in a way that gives the image a sense of depth. They can add more information for “information at a glance” such as weather, battery levels, alarms, health progress and time zones. They can also get play-by-play information from a sports event on the screen for free. Subscribers to Apple News+ have access to premium coverage from local newspapers.

CarPlay is now available on 98% of cars in the U.S., said Emily Schubert, Apple's engineering manager-car experience. Coming in iOS 16 will be the ability to customize the instrument panel similar to the way Watch users can customize watch faces with options to use gauges or numbers for dashboard information, she said. Cars incorporating the technology will start to be announced late next year, she said.

In Apple WatchOS 9, users have access to additional information. Watch users with heart problems have been able to receive atrial fibrillation alerts notifying them of a condition requiring care, said Sumbul Desai, vice president-health. It’s important to know the time spent in “afib,” she said, because it could involve a serious condition such as a stroke. WatchOS 9 displays the time a user’s heart shows signs of an irregular rhythm with afib history. The feature also shows the time of day or week when a user’s afib is most frequent, she said. The app also provides lifestyle suggestions.