iOS 16.3 Update Released! Here's What's New

Apple released iOS & iPadOS 16.3 on Monday as an incremental update for iPhones and iPads.When you are ready for an update, you can navigate to Settings → General → Software Update on your iPhone or iPad and there the update is waiting for you.

Bug fixes and improvements

Apart from new features, iOS & iPadOS 16.3 also fixes a number of bugs that affected Apple devices.

For example, the much-reported problem with the horizontal line that affected iPhone 14 Pro & Pro Max phones is now being fixed, as well as an issue where wallpapers could turn black for no apparent reason.

Security

Feature is optional, but if you try to log in to your Apple ID on another device, you will need to authenticate in this way.It is noteworthy that hardware keys are not for everyone. Once this feature is enabled, users will no longer be able to use the six-digit code to log in, which means that losing a hardware key will effectively lock you out of your Apple ID forever, especially if you forget your password.

Another boost to security in iOS & iPadOS 16.3 comes in the form of Advanced Data Protection, which was originally introduced only for US customers with iOS & iPadOS 16.2, but is now available worldwide.This feature encrypts more of your iCloud data to keep your information private. If you've felt private and secure before, just wait until you upgrade.

This update provides support for hardware keys as manufactured by Yubico to protect your Apple ID and valuable data.Hardware key acts as the second factor in 2-factor authentication, so you can easily connect your hardware key to your device to authenticate yourself at login.

Emergency SOS

iOS 16.3 provides a newer method to enable the emergency SOS feature that your iPhone is equipped with.

The traditional usage method required users to press and hold their power and volume buttons for a certain amount of time to activate Emergency SOS, but it seemed to be activated in people's pockets and wallets without their knowledge.

Starting with iOS 16.3, there is a new option where the user has to release these buttons afterwards to actually activate Emergency SOS, which hopefully helps to suppress some of the reported false positives.

HomePod

iOS & iPadOS 16.3 also introduce changes related to the HomePod and HomePod mini.After the update, the Home app will display new information about the climate of the room where your HomePod is located, such as the humidity and temperature readings.To do this, you also need to update your HomePod firmware to version 16.3.Another change has to do with the introduction of a new command prompt on your screen when you try to use HandOff with your HomePod.