Coming on Monday: What will be the new features of iOS 16.1?

iOS 16.1, the new update of Apple’s iPhone operating system, will be available for download on Monday. Released for iPhone users with iPhone 8 and newer models, this new update of iOS 16 brings a few features that are not currently available.

So, what will iOS 16.1 bring to users?

Access to Apple Fitness+ without an Apple Watch

iPhone users who install iOS 16.1 will be able to subscribe and access Apple Fitness+ even if they don’t have an Apple Watch. Fitness+ is a subscription service that includes guided workouts and meditations for $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

However, if you’re working on Fitness+ without an Apple Watch, you won’t be able to see metrics like calories burned or your real-time heart rate.

clean power charge

The iOS 16.1 update will also include an innovation called “Clean Power Charging”. Apple says this will help reduce your iPhone’s carbon footprint by allowing users to optimize charging when purer power sources are available.

Clean Power Charge will be an option that you can select in Settings > Battery > Battery Health and Charging. Under the Pak Power Charge option, Apple notes, “iPhone will seek to reduce your carbon footprint by selectively charging when lower carbon-emission electricity is available in your area. iPhone learns from your daily charging routine so it can reach a full charge before you use it.”

iCloud shared photo library

iOS 16.1 will let you create an iCloud Shared Photo Library instead of a standard shared iCloud album. This allows you to invite a total of six people to a library where you can add, delete, edit or favorite photos and images.

The camera app will introduce a new toggle that will allow users to choose to automatically post photos to the shared library. So, if you’re on vacation and taking a bunch of photos at the beach with a bunch of friends, with this option turned on, everyone will be able to access the photos from the shared album.

Live Events for third-party apps

When you update to iOS 16.1, your lock screen will have Live Events displaying information from sports games, ridesharing apps like Uber, or updates about a food order. This way, you can see how long it will take for dinner to arrive at your home, and you can see information about how long it will take. Or, as shown in the screenshot below, the score, innings, and count of a baseball game will be instantly available with game updates.

Of course, this innovation will be more useful on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which have always-on displays.