Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 16.1 to developers on Wednesday, and the beta brings a handful of new features that didn’t make the public release of iOS 16 on Monday.
iOS 16.1 adds a toggle to enable “Clean Energy Charging” which is designed to lessen the iPhone’s carbon footprint when charging the device.
The “Battery” section of the Settings app, includes a “Clean Energy Charging” toggle switch that when enabled, selectively charges your device when lower carbon emission electricity is available in an effort to provide a more green charging method.
Apple says that the iPhone will still receive a full charge before it’s needed based on a user’s daily routine, and the feature can be toggled off if desired. The feature is enabled by default.
Now, tapping on the “Customize” interface on the Lock Screen shows an option to choose between customizing either the Lock Screen or the Home Screen, making it easier to customize the look of your iPhone from one location, no longer requiring users to go through multiple steps.
A new “Matter Accessories” section is now included in the Settings app, indicating that Apple is preparing for the fall launch of the Matter smart home standard.
The Matter Accessories section indicates that it will display all Matter accessories that have been added to a connected service. “These can also be added to additional services with an app that supports Matter,” reads the text.
Matter is designed to allow interoperability between smart devices from different companies, allowing HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Assistant devices, as well as other devices, to work together.
In the release notes for the update, Apple says that pairing Matter accessories first requires a profile installed on your device. There are also several other known issues with the Matter standard at the current time, with workarounds available on Apple’s site.
Workaround: Install the profile available at Developer Downloads.
Workaround: Use the Remove Accessory option from the Accessory details view.
Workaround: Ensure your device is connected to your Wi-Fi network.
Workaround: Use More Options in the QR code pairing flow to select the accessory you’d like to pair.
iOS 16.1 brings back the Live Activities API that was available for testing purposes during the extended iOS 16 beta. Live Activities are currently unavailable to users, as there are no apps that support it, but developers can begin working on support.
iOS 16.1 now allows users to remove the Wallet app from the iPhone entirely. In iOS 16 and earlier versions of iOS, the app could be removed from the Home Screen, but not deleted. It can now be completely deleted.
iOS 16.1 bring battery percentage to the battery icon in the status bar on the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini, all of which did not support the feature in iOS 16.
There are sure to be other new features and fixes to be found in the coming days, and we’ll share any new features that are discovered.