Apple has unveiled software updates that would allow iPhone users to recall or edit text messages after they have been sent, along with plans for a “buy now, pay later” feature for shoppers with Apple Pay.
The iOS 16 software features were previewed at the technology giant’s worldwide developer conference yesterday and an official release is expected during the autumn.
Updates to the messages function will not only allow users to change messages once they have been set, beating Twitter to a mooted feature, but also enable them to recover recently deleted messages and mark conversations as “unread” so they can come back to them again later.
A new privacy tool called Safety Check will also become available, which the company said could be helpful to users whose personal safety is at risk from domestic violence by quickly removing all access they have granted to others. It includes an emergency reset that helps users to easily sign out of iCloud on all their other devices, reset privacy permissions and limit messaging to just the device in their hand.
Apple Pay Later will provide users in the US with a way to split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments over six weeks, with no interest or fees. “IOS 16 is a big release with updates that will change the way you experience iPhone,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice-president of software engineering said.
The company also unveiled plans to better integrate its software into cars, with a new car dashboard that it said would be able to display instruments such as speed and fuel mileage.