iOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and HomePod Software 16 Now Available

Originally published at: iOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and HomePod Software 16 Now Available - TidBITS

Apple has released iOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and HomePod Software 16. Here’s how to get the updates, a brief summary of what’s new, and our advice on when to upgrade.

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So I updated my iPhone to iOS 16. Not liking the font on the current Lock Screen, I attempted to change it but am only given the option of creating a new screen. So if I have a photo I found that I want to keep, I have to find it again to just change the clock font? I tried different approaches, but it always has the option of Customize-Add New.

Is there a way to make a minor change that does not involve recreating it?

Same here. I created a new wallpaper pair after which I could change the font etc.

Same here. Fortunately, I was able to find the lock screen and wallpaper photos in my Photos collection and marked them as favorites so that I could select them from a small group.


As you can see, I needed to crop a little to get the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls to fall between icon columns.

Note: You can delete Lock Screen sets from the selection parade by pushing them toward the top of the screen.

One other tvOS 16 addition: the Hover Text accessibility feature. see Use Hover Text to see enlarged text for items you select on Apple TV - Apple Support

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Even more information on the tvOS 16 release notes (released on September 12)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207936

Tidbits, along with other major Mac publications seems to have missed that there were some Mac releases on Monday. these were Monterey 12.6, Big Sur 11.7 and Safari 16.

A few publications discussed Safari 16 on Tuesday, and when I went to Software Update to download it, I discovered the OS upgrade there also. Apparently, the OS update is primarily for security issues.

We missed nothing! Agen put those in our Watchlist:

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My apologies. However, my memory is that upgrades to the current MacOS usually get a full article (or included in an article with other system upgrades) rather than a watchlist note.

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Can you set it so that the Home Screen background rotates as well? I set up a series of photos for the Lock Screen but don’t see a way to get the Home Screen to also rotate by whatever hourly or tap or whatever setting you choose.

My 3rd generation iPhone SE has decided that it isn’t going to upgrade to iOS 16. Fairly annoying because I upgraded from an iPhone 7 to get upgrades and only wanted a small phone. One suggestion is that I delete Network settings and reenter, if there are no better ideas I will do that on the weekend.

Odd. On mine, I choose Settings > Wallpaper > Customize, and am presented with the option to customize all aspects of the lock screen, including font and picture.

So there isn’t a Customize button at the bottom, just a blue + button? Josh said something about this in an article I’m editing, but it doesn’t match what I saw either, I don’t believe. I seem to remember that I just customized the screen that was there.

And barring that, you can create a new one and then delete the previous one—just swipe up to delete Lock screen while you have the list of Lock screen showing.

I wasn’t able to customize my pre-IOS65 Lock Screen. I needed to re-create it, and, after customization, delete the original.

Note: I find the default time font to be much too bold and there is only one choice to narrow it slightly.

This is by design. Your old Lock Screen and wallpaper are kept in case you don’t want the customized Lock Screen features, and/or want to keep the wallpaper that you used before. If you used a standard Apple iOS or device wallpaper, it’s likely no longer a choice for a custom Lock Screen.

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There is a Customize button, but if you tap it on the default Home screen, it tells you to go create a new one. Kind of sloppy design imo.

Doh! Ok, the penny finally dropped: The behavior @aforkosh is describing is for only lock screens created prior to updating to iOS 16 (there was a little typo in the original post that ran afoul of my pitiful lack of intuition). Indeed, if I long-press the lock screen in iOS 16 and switch back to my old lock screen, I see exactly what is being reported. Interestingly, this seems to be the only way to switch back; Settings > Wallpaper only appears to let you create a new lock screen, or customize the current one.

Interestingly, when I went to update my iPhone 12, I was presented with BOTH iOS 15.7 and 16; 15.7 was the pre-selected update so I went with it. I’ll wait to see how 16 does before installing it.

That choice should apply to anybody running iOS 15 on an iPhone. 15.7 contained a critical security update (and perhaps bug fixes, though I’ve seen no mention). I think Apple realized the need to get 15.7 out quickly and still allow those who are less cautious than you and I the opportunity to be 16 early adopters.

Worked fine on an XS and XS Max for me.