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iOS 16 Wishlist: Features MacRumors Readers Want to See in the Next Version of iOS

Apple doesn’t give two iCraps about what people want. They will continue to build things that they can monetize the most and if it happens to match up with a feature that consumers actually want, then it’s serendipity. Apple likes to pretend that they are focused on what customers want but fine words butter no parsnips.
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
Exactly right. I'd love to see this for ALL of the Apple OSs:
  • Snow iOS
  • Snow Monterey
  • Snow iPad OS
  • Snow watchOS
  • Snow tvOS
...even for two years if it takes it. Get back to "just works" in everything. Imagine the joy in hardly ever finding a bug that affects use of Apple stuff. Imagine not having to simply "assume another bug" and hoping Apple will "eventually get to it."

Might that make for a boring WWDC or two? Maybe. But I sure wish I could spend much more time getting things done than trying to figure out ways around pesky bugs to then get things done.
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I’m running Snow High Sierra.
 
A black button which, when you press it, lights up black on a black background to tell you that you’ve pressed it.
 
I’ve waited years for the ability to share my entire photo library with my spouse. Right now we have to be logged into a single iCloud account for this to work but it leads to many other issues. I would love to see this implemented as an option so we can each use our own iCloud accounts.
 
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and please, the possibility of controlling Apple TV with voice. I can now turn it on and turn if off with Siri but I cannot open apps, or I cannot ask Siri to search for a video in YouTube app in the Apple TV, play, pause, etc
 
iansilv said:
An optional setting to “float” the most used apps to the first page of app display. I am often too lazy to sort my apps, maybe have a reordering of them for just the top “X” used apps in the past seven days where X represents the number of available app spots on the front home screen around widgets…
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you can already do that with widgets. You can place 3 Siri app suggestion widgets in one page to get what you want.
 
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ninecows said:
Per app/site/message thread language switching of the keyboard.

Just as the majority of iOS users I often have to switch between my native language and English. If I forget and just start typing the keyboard will really work against me.

I regularly visit English pages and have English speaking colleagues.

Now if iOS would remember that message threads between me and English John should be kept in English and automatically switch to English when I text him and then switch back to Danish when I text my wife.

It could do the same for webpages: if it’s a .com switch to English. If it’s .dk switch to Danish.

I known it’s only a single button press, but still I forget and since we’re just dreaming about infinite programming resources at Apple there’s no reason it couldn’t be done automatically
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Yes, this. Or automatically identify the language being typed and switch.
 
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MacRumors said:


There's just over a week to go until the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference, which is one of the biggest Apple events of the year. We've heard surprisingly little about iOS 16 this year, so we're in for some major surprises when June 6 rolls around.

iOS-16-mock-for-feature-wishlist.jpg

As we wait for the keynote event, we thought we'd share some iOS 16 wishlist items from MacRumors readers, because who knows? We just might see some of these features in the next-generation version of iOS. Everything on this list is sourced from iOS 16 discussion on the MacRumors forums.

Interface

  • More control over placement of app icons on the Home screen
  • Option to hide or move dock
  • Option to add more apps to dock
  • Always-on clock on Lock screen
  • Customizable quick launch buttons to replace Camera and Flashlight
  • Dark mode icons
  • Split view on iPhone
  • A screen for most recently used apps
  • Battery percent in status bar
  • Support for themes and a theme store
Widgets and Control Center

  • Lock screen widgets
  • Interactive/live widgets
  • Control Center API for third-party apps
Notifications

  • Clear all button for notifications
  • LED visual for notifications
  • Mac-style browser notifications
  • Option to snooze notifications
  • Universal notifications - notifications clear from all devices when read on one
Apps

  • Scheduled texts in Messages
  • RCS support for Messages
  • Read receipts and typing indicator for Messages group chats
  • Option to delete all attachments in Messages
  • Edit feature for Messages
  • Scheduled sending and snooze in Mail
  • Equalizer settings for the Music app
  • Non-precise location sharing in Find My
  • Find My location history
  • HomeKit guest mode
  • Better organization in Settings, including submenu for third-party apps
  • Option to prevent a photo from being synced to all devices
Miscellaneous

  • Different ringtones for each SIM
  • Better budgeting tools for Apple Card
  • Folder/app locking
  • Face ID authentication instead of CAPTCHAs
  • Stock keyboard haptic feedback
  • Option to share actual Focus status (working, sleeping, etc)
For the iPad

  • Calculator app
  • Weather app
  • Support for separate app windows
  • Support for multiple users
What's Rumored

In years past, we've had early versions of iOS leak out, giving us a fairly good idea of what to expect. That's not the case this year, and we only have a few details on what could be included in iOS 16.

The iPhone 14 Pro models won't have a standard notch, which means we could see some minor design changes, and there are rumors about Health app improvements, such as a medicine management tool.

Unspecified notification updates are in the works, and we could see emergency satellite messaging features and updates related to car crash detection. iPadOS 16 might be getting new multitasking features, and we could also see support for services that Apple is working on, such as a hardware subscription service.

You can read a bit more about what might be coming in our dedicated iOS 16 roundup.

What Else Do You Want to See?

Hoping for suggestions that aren't featured in our list? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: iOS 16 Wishlist: Features MacRumors Readers Want to See in the Next Version of iOS
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There’s still no way to share a single Photos library without being signed in tj the same Apple ID. My wife and I use the same Apple ID so all of our photos go to the same library. But there are benefits to having separate AppleIDs even within Family Sharing. We would use family sharing, but there’s no way to use a different Apple ID just for photos. Come on, Apple!
 
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clintage3 said:
There’s still no way to share a single Photos library without being signed in tj the same Apple ID. My wife and I use the same Apple ID so all of our photos go to the same library. But there are benefits to having separate AppleIDs even within Family Sharing. We would use family sharing, but there’s no way to use a different Apple ID just for photos. Come on, Apple!
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Yeah… that’s really annoying. We’re struggling a lot with syncing the best pictures of the kids and vacations.

But allowing shared library will come at a price: you need to be certain that you’ll never take a photo that your spouse is not supposed to see. Like just a screen dump of that ring you’re planning to buy her. Also my wife is taking a s***load of screen dumps of whatever she wants to remember and random pictures that I don’t need. And so am I. So I don’t see any good way of ensuring sharing only the relevant photos unless you manually put them in a shared album ?‍♂️
 
How could you miss one of the most requested things to be able to turn off?

THE DREADED HOMEBAR!!!

Of course, they should get rid of the obtrusive useless homebar entirely, but the LEAST THEY COULD DO is to give us an option to get rid of it. It’s easily removed on a jailbroken phone, and it serves no purpose. Who doesn’t know by now how to close an iPhone app lol, all it does is block content and look horrible.

The rest of the list is a pretty good start, new and dark icons would be a welcome change. Bringing interactivity back to the widgets is a must, the current widgets suck and are a step backwards. Letting us place icons anywhere on the screen or like Android does it how they still have to be in a grid pattern but anywhere in the grid so you can choose where to leave blank spaces to show wallpapers or for widgets.

Of course, I don’t expect one thing on this list to make it, seeing how little they have done in the past couple of years. We’ll probably get some more useless crap nobody asked for. A few apps will see some slight changes and that’s about it, Apple only cares about the iPad, the macs, and the watch, iOS is so ignored by apple these days, it’s baffling at how this massive company loaded with talent and riches can’t even offer up what Android had years ago.

That Homebar, kill it.

Almost forgot to add that the PHONE app gets zero attention these days, remember, this is still a phone, and while Google has been actually innovating and adding incredible new tech to their phone app Apple last updated it when like ten years ago maybe? I can’t remember.

Yea of course Apple has that whole polish thing down and the smoothness of iOS, but after using an Android phone for the last couple years, every time I use my iPhone I feel like I’ve gone back in time ten years. iPhone notifications are absolutely dismal, atrocious, and so effing basic, smartphone eh? Feels like a jitterbug compared to Android notifications, there’s nothing smart or elegant about them.
 
redbeard331 said:
Almost forgot to add that the PHONE app gets zero attention these days, remember, this is still a phone, and while Google has been actually innovating and adding incredible new tech to their phone app Apple last updated it when like ten years ago maybe? I can’t remember.
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Like: Set an automatic reminder to call in x minutes again when called person is busy?
 
Regarding the home screen and icons:
  1. Allow option for free-form placement (i.e. turn off grid enforcement)
  2. If turning off the grid is non-negotiable, then allow allow adjustment of icon size and spacing (like MacOS)
  3. Stop forcing icons to fill grid from top to bottom. Allow app icons to live anywhere on the grid the user prefers.
  4. Allow apps to be renamed and text options like font color available on a per app basis- often with certain wallpaper, white text can become unreadable against bright areas.
With the larger screen sizes, reaching an app near the top of the screen requires two hands, long fingers, or potentially drop-inducing finger gymnastics. Previously I've filled my screen with *junk* apps near the top to push my frequently used apps within a reasonable reach radius of my thumb. Now I can achieve similar results with widgets. Still a workaround.
 
Years ago, when jailbreaking was more commonplace, I had something from the Cydia marketplace that moved banner notifications so they were only in the top bar (where the notch is now). It was nice because you didn’t randomly leave your app when an ill-timed push notification came through. I’m not sure how it would be doable with the notch, but I’d love to see notification banners shrink and not be so obtrusive when actively using an app.

I’d like shortcuts to be able to be opened on a schedule without interaction required (VZ call filter has to be launched weekly or it disables, so a 2am launch would be nice), I’d also like to have shortcuts more easily shareable and editable on a Mac or browser since long ones can be hard to edit on a phone, and launching a custom app shortcut without first launching shortcuts would be nice.

I’d also like to get the iPad copy/paste keyboard icons on iOS. There’s room.
 
ForkHandles said:
the paradigm for translation is that you type the text in messages, select All , the choose translate. Not that intuitive though!
I agree that a copy button is absolutely required.
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You're right--and I thought the same thing after posting when I actually received a message in Spanish and Messages auto-translated it. Also, thinking about it further, the app seems to be designed a little more for in-person usage, which I can see the utility for, and I give them credit for not just wanting to produce the exact same thing that Google has already made. I respectfully rescind this one (but yes, I would still like a Share button)!
 
One thing sprang to mind right now, autolock timer. Currently we got, on the iPhone:
  • 30 seconds
  • 1 minute
  • 2 minutes
  • 3 minutes
  • 4 minutes
  • 5 minutes
  • Never
On iPad:
  • 2 minutes
  • 5 minutes
  • 10 minutes
  • 15 minutes
  • Never
This makes no sense. Why should Apple decide the autlock settings? Make it custom so I can decide if I want the iPad to autolock after 1 hour.
 
Would like split screen but be able run to separate session of the same app and be able to log in to apps with different accounts in each session.

Never going to happen but I'd still to be able to create smart playlist in iOS. I'm not even sure it can be done in the mac os app still. Probably the only reason I'd buy another mac os device. Such a handy feature that no other music services have to my knowledge.
 
The ability for iOS to keep SMS messages in sync when they get deleted would be a major improvement, pain in the ass deleting them from the phone only for all of them to remain on the watch.
 
gsmornot said:
The two main things I would ask for are AI improvements for photos and improvements for Siri. When I search something simple in photos like dog, it finds some dog photos but misses many of them. I cant go through (could but dont want to) all 25k photos and tag them but that is a lot of work. I would like to see better search results so I can find that photo quicker. Siri updates everyone wants. I guess I ask complicated questions because the number of times I have heard “I cant get that on iPad” makes me limit my use to very simple tasks. Turn on a light. Set a timer. Those are helpful but I want to ask more complicated questions while talking to other humans in the car and see if I win the debate. Ha.
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Agree 1 million percent. And bring back Siri’s ability to search photos. Don’t just make the search manually, because if you’re trying to help with accessibility, I have nerve damage in my fingers. I want to search by voice.
 
I would also like for Siri to tell the pollen count and type of pollen when giving the weather report.
 
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