How to Fix the Most Annoying iOS 16 Features on Your iPhone
If you're used to doing things a certain way, some of the features and adjustments that address frustrating problems from iOS 15 and before may appear irksome.
Fortunately, many of the enhancements can be simply configured or quickly rolled back to way it was on iOS 15 owing to a number of new customization settings. Therefore, you can disable some of the features that keep you from really appreciating your iPhone. You'll quickly forget that the bothersome features ever existed once you've done it!
- Stop your side button from cutting off calls.
Whether you wanted to cancel the call or FaceTime or not, hitting the Side button on your iPhone in iOS 15.7 and earlier ended the call immediately. The same problem affected audio calls made via third-party programmes like WhatsApp, Google Voice, and Facebook Messenger.
Therefore, if you developed the habit of pushing that button, you might have discovered that you were abruptly interrupting calls after switching to the iPhone.
With iOS 16, Apple resolves this issue. Finally, you may set the Side button to simply lock your screen rather than cancel a call. Toggle 'Prevent Lock to End Call' on by going to Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch.
- Featured Photos and Memories can be disabled.
There is now a way to turn off Apple's display of your featured photos and memories on all of your iPhones.
While Featured Photos and Memories can be a sweet way to recall events, there are occasions when they are either too personal or you just don't want to see them. On iOS 16, choose Settings -> Photos, then select 'Show Featured Content' to disable them. When turned on, your iPhone will automatically display Featured Photos and Memories in locations like For You, Search in Photos, and Home Screen Widgets. It could not be turned off and was always on on iOS prior to version 16.
Battery Percentage Status Bar Visibility
With the introduction of Face ID, Apple removed the battery percentage option from the status bar that had been an option on Touch ID devices, but iOS 16 brings it back at last. Face ID-enabled iPhones feature the numbers inside the battery symbol rather than beside it, unlike Touch ID devices.
However, there is a little flaw in the design: when the device is turned on, the battery percentage is displayed in numerical form, but the battery symbol indicates that the battery is full even though it is not. If you disregard the numbers, it may fool you into thinking your battery is full when it is actually practically empty.
Go to Settings -> Battery and turn on 'Battery Percentage' if you're one of the folks who misses having the battery percentage displayed in the status bar. You may toggle the battery icon off or update your iPhone to iOS 16.1, which fixes the problem, if you get increasingly annoyed by it appearing full when it isn't (right screenshot below). In any case, you can always bring down the Control Center to see the traditional battery %. (swipe down from the top right of the screen).
- On your home screen, remove the new search button.
Mixed opinions have been expressed about the new Search button on the home screen. Some people think it's useful, while others think it's unnecessary. It accomplishes exactly the same task as swiping down from any location on the home screen. It's also placed in a place where you could accidently tap on it; if you do, it will take you a few taps and swipes to undo if you didn't mean to search for anything.
However, many iPhone users are unaware that they can slide down to access Search, so it would make sense to include a prominent choice for that somewhere on the screen.
Go to Settings -> Home Screen and turn off 'Show on Home Screen' under Search. Then swipe down to continue searching on your iPhone.