Apple’s Far Out event was jam-packed with one announcement after the other. We saw the Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods Pro all get a refresh. The iPhone 14 series is the major announcement, and the lineup will ship with iOS 16 out of the box. But current-gen iPhone users need not wait long to experience the stable iOS 16 update. In fact, you can get iOS 16 starting next week.
Apple’s iPhone 14 and 14 Plus launch press release reads: “iOS 16 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 12.” So if you are an iPhone 8 and above user, Apple will roll out the latest iOS version for you on September 12.
The upcoming iOS 16 is one of the biggest updates to the iPhone’s operating system in recent years. It includes improvements to the overall UI, including a new way to reach Spotlight Search, updates to Messages and other apps.
Another standout feature is the ability to lift subjects from the background of photos. As we noted in one of our features, iOS 16’s background remover does a brilliant job in well-lit scenarios. It will be one of the most-talked-about features when the stable update goes live and as people discover they can tap and hold an image to remove the background. It works well on pets and objects to clear out the background from the edges. It’ll be interesting to see how much it’s improved with the A16 Bionic chipset on the iPhone 14 Pro series, as Apple seems to be relying on the portrait mode data to lift the subject from the background.
Big changes in iOS 16 are coming to the lock screen. You can now add a touch of personalization to your iPhone’s lock screen, including widgets and a revamped wallpaper selector. Apple is also including more sharing features with SharePlay on Messages so users can watch movies and listen to music together while using the Messages app to chat. Finally, iOS 16 will end captchas, thanks to Apple’s Automatic Verification system. You’ll no longer need to prove your humanity to a computer.
Apple doesn’t say what time on September 12 it’ll roll out iOS 16, but at some point that day, you can expect the update to land on your iPhone.
Reddit is giving your scrolling habits a new twist with two homepage feeds designed for different moods. The new 'For You' feed pulls you into communities you never even knew you wanted. Meanwhile, Following keeps things familiar with posts from communities you have already joined.
The update is rolling out globally over the next few weeks, giving you a choice between discovering something new and catching up with your usual favorites.
At the 2026 Android Dev Summit, Google has announced some interesting features coming to both Android XR and Android CLI. Developers can now build and test apps for smart glasses without owning the hardware, while Android's command-line tools are getting upgrades that help AI coding agents test applications and identify performance problems. Both announcements could eventually mean better apps for both Android and extended reality hardware users.
Building Android XR apps without owning smart glasses
Google updated its adaptive Compose skill to help developers adapt existing Android apps for laptops, foldable phones, tablets, and other form factors, including the upcoming Googlebook platform. The goal of this update is to help AI coding agents customize apps for different screen sizes and input methods without developers having to maintain separate codebases for different devices.
The new skill goes beyond responsive layouts, adding support for desktop-focused features and foldable-specific interface adjustments. Google is also signaling that adaptive app experiences will be more prominent on Google Play, with the company planning to pay more attention to how apps and games perform on foldable devices next year.