16 iOS 16 Settings You Should Change Right Now (2022)

Barring a few hiccups, exploring iOS 16 has been a pretty smooth affair for me. I have loved trying out the big-ticket features such as the ability to customize lock-screen. However, there are a few settings that have excited me the most but are slightly under the wraps. So, if you have started using the new iOS version and are all set to try out some of the best iOS 16 hidden features, you need to check out this list right now.
In this article, we’ll talk about iOS 16.1, the biggest update to iOS 16 since its initial release. This update comes with new features and changes, but also some new settings as well. So in this article, I will show you 16 settings some new and some other ones that I believe every iOS 16.1 user must check and have them configured the right way on their iPhone. And once you’re done, check out this list of 10 iOS 16 HACKS You Must Try!

iOS 16 Settings to Change

After digging a little deep into iOS 16, I have rounded up the settings that, once tweaked as per your preference, can prove really helpful. While not all of them may be in sync with your taste, I bet you will find a bunch of cool features that could impress you right away. Without any more ado, let’s get started!

1. Enable Live activities

Live activities is a new features that apple has added to iOS 16.1 that will allow you to basically see live updates from different apps right on your lock screen without even having to unlock your device. If you’re following a sports game, for example, you can see the updated score on the Lock Screen, or if you’re waiting for a Uber ride, you can watch for your driver to approach. Each app that offers this feature will have that setting, and you need to make sure that you have it turned on for the app that you want to use and turn it off for apps that you might not want to use live activities from those apps.

You can enable Live Activities for the Lock Screen on an ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 16.1 or later by following these steps.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Face ID & Passcode.
3. Enter your passcode to continue.
4. Scroll down and under “Allow Access When Locked,” toggle the switch next to Live Activities to the green ON position.

2. Enable or Disable Clean Energy Charging

Clean Energy Charging is a new feature in iOS 16.1 that aims to decrease the carbon footprint of the iPhone by optimizing charging times for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources. For users in the United States, iPhones running iOS 16.1 will try to reduce your carbon footprint by selectively charging when lower carbon emission electricity is available. Apple says the ‌iPhone‌ learns from your daily charging routine so it can reach full charge before you need to use it.

iOS 16.1 includes a process that runs in the background and collects carbon emission data from the local load balancing authority in your region, based on the device’s location.

The ‌iPhone‌ then downloads a carbon emission forecast from the authority and uses this combined data to control Clean Energy Charging so that the device charges when demand on the power grid is low and cleaner energy is available.

Apple says the Clean Energy Charging feature is enabled by default, so you don’t have to do anything for it to perform its function in the background. However, if you do want to turn it off and back on at any time, here’s how to find the feature.

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Scroll down and tap Battery.
3. Tap through to Battery Health & Charging.
4. Toggle on/off the switch next to Clean Energy Charging.

Note that if you’re running iOS 16.1 and you don’t see the Clean Energy Charging option, then the feature isn’t currently supported in your region.

3. Stop Your iPhone’s Side Button From Hanging Up a Call

Whenever you make or receive a call on your ‌iPhone‌, you can press the Side button on your handset at any time to end the call. This can be either a convenient method of hanging up, or, if you’re prone to pressing it by accident, an embarrassing way of bringing the conversation to an unintentional and abrupt end.

Fortunately, in ‌iOS 16‌ Apple has included an option to disable the end call functionality of the Side button. It works on ‌iPhone‌ 11 models and later, and just requires you to toggle a virtual switch. The following steps show you how it’s done.

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Scroll down and tap Accessibility.
3. Under “Physical and Motor,” tap Touch.
4. Toggle on the switch next to Prevent Lock to End Call.

4. Enable Keyboard Haptic Feedback on iPhone

In iOS 16, Apple has included an option for you to turn on haptic feedback when using the onscreen virtual keyboard. With ‌iOS 16‌, Apple made haptic feedback an optional feature for the built-in virtual keyboard, which means you don’t have to worry about the possibility of compromising your privacy by giving a third-party keyboard permission to log your keystrokes. Now you can use haptic feedback at the system level.

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
3. Scroll down, then tap Keyboard Feedback.
4. Toggle on the switch next to Haptic.

5. Enable/disable Crash Detection

Crash Detection is designed to detect severe car crashes in passenger cars. If you’re in a severe crash and unresponsive, your Apple device can automatically call emergency services on your behalf.

When a severe crash is detected, an alert displays on your iPhone‌ display for 10 seconds. If you’re still responsive, you can swipe the screen to call emergency services immediately or dismiss the alert if you don’t need to contact them. If after 10 seconds you haven’t interacted with your Apple device, a 10-second countdown will start. When it ends, emergency services are contacted.

When emergency services pick up, the following audio message from Siri begins playing on a loop with five seconds of silence between each replay: “The owner of this ‌iPhone‌ was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone.” ‌Siri‌ will then relay your estimated location with latitude and longitude and search radius both to emergency services and through your device’s speaker.

Crash Detection is supported on iPhone 14, iPhone 14‌ Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max.

No setup is required. Crash Detection is enabled by default on the above supported devices, so you don’t need to do a thing. If you’re concerned that the feature could mistakenly register a crash and call emergency services, you can disable it by following the steps below.

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Scroll down and tap through to Emergency SOS.
3. Under “Crash Detection,” toggle off the switch next to Call After Severe Crash.

If ever you want to enable the feature, simply toggle on the switch again in Settings.

6. Assign Focus modes to your lock screens

iOS 16 lets you create multiple lock screens, each with its own wallpaper, and then tie each wallpaper to a specific Focus mode. When you do that, changing your Focus mode automatically activates the lock screen assigned to it.

That way, you can have totally different looks on the iPhone’s lock screen for different activities, such as working out, chilling, listening to music and so on.

1. Press and hold on the lock screen.
2. Swipe to one of the saved ones, hit “Customize” and select a Focus mode to link it to this lock screen.

7. Enable/Disable Rapid Security Response Software Updates on iPhone

In iOS 16, Apple can deliver security updates to iPhones without having to update the entire operating system.

In the past, some of Apple’s most important point releases of its iOS mobile operating system have been linked to critical security updates that are designed to keep you and your private data safe and secure online.

Traditionally, one problem with these updates is that when a user opts to install them, the entire operating system must be updated and restarted.

In ‌iOS 16‌, Rapid Security Response is an option that can let you avoid the rigmarole of all that, allowing you to get important security improvements to your devices even faster, and have them applied automatically between standard software updates.

When you update to ‌iOS 16‌, Apple sets your device to install security updates automatically, but you can turn off the feature if you prefer. Here’s how to do so.

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap through to General -> Software Update.
3. Tap Automatic Updates.
4. Toggle off the switch next to Install Security Responses & System Files.

8. Enable the New Power On and Off Sounds

For the iPhone 14 series, Apple has added an optional new accessibility feature that plays a sound when the iPhone is powered on and off.

Apple added the startup and shutdown chimes as a new accessibility feature after many Blind users and people with low-vision reportedly asked the company for a clear way to tell whether their ‌iPhone‌ had restarted, and now anyone can enable them.

Here’s how to enable the new feature on ‌iPhone 14‌, ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max.

1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone 14‌.
2. Scroll down and tap through to Accessibility.
3. Under “Hearing,” tap Audio/Visual.
4. Toggle on the switch next to Turn On & Off Sounds.

9. Show battery percentage in the status bar

This is a highly-requested feature. Instead of going to the Control Center to discern the current battery percentage, iOS 16 allows you to turn on battery percentage in your iPhone’s status bar—just like it was in the good old pre-notch days.

It’s disabled by default, but you can turn it on by following the steps below:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on Battery.
3. Now, slide the switch next to “Battery Percentage” to the ON position.

This feature is unavailable on the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini, but it will work on all the other iPhone models that are compatible with iOS 16.

10. Adjust the Undo Send delay in Mail

iOS 16’s Mail app implements a ten-second delay, giving you an opportunity to undo the action by touching “Undo Send” at the bottom of your mail list.

To adjust the duration of that Undo Send timer, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Mail.
3. Tap Undo Send Delay.
4. Now, you can choose 10 seconds (default), 20 seconds and thirty seconds.
5. To disable the Undo Send feature altogether, choose “Off.”

11. Put a Spotlight button on the home screen

In iOS 15, the only way to access the Spotlight search option was to pull down on any home screen. The gesture no longer works on iOS 16 because you can now put a Spotlight button in place of the home screen dots at the bottom of the screen.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Home Screen.
3. Now, make sure to slide the switch next to “Show on Home Screen” under the “Search” section to the ON position.

Now you can quickly access the system-wide search feature by tapping a dedicated icon at the bottom of any home screen instead of pulling down.

12. Protect Mail activity from trackers

iOS 16’s Mail app introduces a new privacy feature that stops tracking pixels and similar from reporting how many times you’ve opened a message, whether you have forwarded it or not and so on. This feature is turned off by default.

To set it up, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Mail.
3. Tap on Privacy Protection.
4. Now, slide the “Protect Mail Activity” switch to the ON position.

This will hide your IP address and load remote content such as images in a private manner, thus making it harder for senders to follow your Mail activity.

13. Change notification style for the lock screen

iOS 16 stacks notification banners at the bottom of the lock screen.

To change that, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Notifications.
3. Choose “Count” underneath “Display As” for a cleaner appearance. Now instead of all the notifications stacking on top of one another, your iPhone will simply tell you how many unread ones you have.

14. Hang up a phone or FaceTime call with Siri

Siri does a lot of things. You can use the virtual assistant to send a text message, get directions or play music — but one thing she’s never been able to do is hang up a phone call. Weird right? Now that’s finally a possibility with iOS 16.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Siri & Search.
3. Make sure that Listen for “Hey Siri” is toggled on. If it is, you should see a new option underneath — Call Hang Up. Go into that option and toggle on Call Hang Up.

When you’re on a phone call or FaceTime video chat, simply say, “Hey, Siri,” and ask her to hang up your current call.

15. Skip Siri confirmation

In iOS 15, if you ask Siri to send a message to a contact and dictate the content, it asks for confirmation. The advantage of this is that you can check if Siri has transcribed your message correctly.

Nonetheless, it is another added step and takes more time. You can turn it off and send messages automatically with Siri. Here’s how,

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Siri & Search.
3. Tap Automatically Send Messages.
4. Toggle on Automatically Send Messages.

16. Lock Notes With A Passcode

In iOS 16, you can lock notes to protect your sensitive information. You can access your locked notes using your device passcode or a custom password.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Notes.
3. Tap Password.
4. If using this setting for the first time, you’ll see a new prompt appear.
5. Tap either Use iPhone Passcode or Create Password.
6. Authenticate the changes using the method offered (Face ID, Passcode, or Touch ID).

iOS 16 Settings You Should change immediately!

Well, those were the 16 iOS 16 settings that you should change to improve your experience using your iPhone. So, which one of these iOS 16 settings have you changed on your iPhone, and which ones are you skipping? Share your thoughts with us in the comments down below.