Category: iPhone

iphone 16 experiences

whbeebe

I’ve had over a month to work with my iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18.2.1 (the current release). Overall the experiences have been decent. Some experiences haven’t lived up to the hype (Apple Intelligence), but neither has anything leaped out as a must-needed new feature. They’re all nice-to-haves, but I could have lived without them with the current level of capability I had with my iPhone 11 Pro Max from 2019.

One nice-to-have feature is the ability to now put widgets on the home screen, as well as the ability to put any icon on to any location of the screen. In the past the iOS screen forced all the icons to line up, starting at the upper left corner, from left to right, then top to bottom. Now I can put widgets on the screen that allow me to read important information without having to open an associated app for that information. The two I’ve added to my home screen are Breathable, which gives me a meter for the Air Quality Index, or AQI, and Weather Strip, which gives me one of the best weather forecasting apps I’ve ever used.

My current widget setup

These sit up at the top. The AQI meter gives me the value where I live, in a very clear and convenient meter that shows how good or bad the value is, as well as the numeric value. The source of the data is the EPA, which is indicated by the small EPA logo at the upper left corner. The Weather Strip’s weather widget gives me a reasonably accurate three day forecast, as well as the current weather conditions where I live, which is Dr. Phillips, Florida. As a contrast, let’s set up the Apple weather widget in the place of Weather Strip and compare them.

The Apple weather widget is majority text, a lot of it at small font sizes that makes it difficult to read unless I pull the iPhone up close. What’s more, the Apple weather widget is giving me the local weather forecast for Orlando. I don’t live in Orlando. But because iOS only knows about Orlando, that’s all I get. The main app will allow me to select Dr. Phillips, which I’ve done, but that selection doesn’t transfer to the widget. The Apple weather widget also gives the AQI in tiny text, which I assume is Orlando, not near where I live. This is an example of an app trying to do too much, poorly duplicating what the AQI meter is doing.

There’s a bigger issue I have with the Apple weather app; it’s a hot mess, inaccurate at the best of times. Apple purchased Dark Sky, an app I used to use, in order to supposedly “incorporate” the best Dark Sky features into the Apple weather app. I’ve never seen a change for the better with the Apple weather app; in fact, in my use it’s only gotten worse over time. Thus I’ve gone to using the Weather Strip.

Apple Intelligence

Screenshot

I have not been impressed with Apple Intelligence. Not to beat up just Apple, I’ve not been impressed with any of the artificial intelligent products being pushed out by all the major AI players. Apple Intelligence has been inaccurate to the point where Apple slapped a BETA tag on Apple Intelligence symbol. All beta signifies to me is that Apple is admitting how buggy it is. As a consequence of all these shortcomings I’ve disabled Apple Intelligence on my iPhone. I discovered, rather to my delight, that once disabled I got a battery life boost. Battery life went from good with Apple Intelligence enabled to fantastic with Apple Intelligence disabled. I think that’s a quite fair trade; more battery life for turning off Apple Intelligence.

Speaking of turning features off, make sure you turn off Photo’s Enhanced Visual Search. The feature was introduced sometime during the iOS 18 updates, and it was enabled by default. Apple says Enhanced Visual Search is supposed to allow you to search for photos “using landmarks or points of interest” it will identify on your behalf. Apple will identify this on your behalf using a combination of on-device ML combined with cloud-based landmark dictionary. My problem is I don’t trust the software, and more significantly, I didn’t opt into this “feature.” I didn’t even know it was there until I read an article about it in The Register. I’ve turned it off, and frankly, I recommend you do the same.

Links

Apple auto-opts everyone into having their photos analyzed by AI for landmarks — https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/apple_enhanced_visual_search/

my iphone 16 review, part 2

whbeebe

This is a continuation of my first kinda-sorta review (see link below).

Screen

The 16’s screen is a little longer and a little narrower than the 11’s. Both screens are OLED screens, both Super Retina XDR displays. As far as I’m concerned I see absolutely no difference between the two. That’s great by me, as both are gorgeous to look at. The iPhone 11 display was still in pristine shape when I traded it for the 16.

The notch is obviously gone, in its place the Dynamic Island. I’ve watched it in action enough to appreciate how it’s blended into many functions on the screen. For example when face ID is working, the island expands into a rounded square showing the operating state of face ID and when face ID’s successful it briefly shows a big green check, then shrinks back to the island. I never had a problem with the notch the way some (i.e. “influencers”) did. I don’t have a problem with the island either. I consider both to be well executed.

Case

The 11’s case is stainless steel, while the 16’s is titanium. I purchased the 11 with a dark green (Midnight Green) body, while I purchased the 16 in black. Both cases are IP68 waterproof. I never had a problem with the 11 getting wet (an issue here in Florida during the hurricane season), and I don’t expect any problems with my 16. The biggest difference is that the 11’s edges were rounded while the 16’s are flat, harkening back to the iPhones 4 and 5 series. I have a transparent Supcase that cost all of $20, and with the way it wraps around the iPhone’s body, I’m not all that aware of flatness vs roundedness. I had an Otterbox case on the iPhone 11. With all of that I notice no difference in overall handling between the two.

One nice feature/update is the replacement of the ring/silent switch with a button that can be reprogrammed for different tasks. Ironically enough I programmed my button toggle silent mode when I press it. The old switch was always accidentally getting knocked, putting the 11 into silent mode, and I would miss calls because of that. The button is stiff and so far can’t be accidentally pressed and toggled.

Cameras

I know all about the big changes in the cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. I can tell that the camera island on the back of the body is much bigger than the island is on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I’ve tried the iPhone 16 camera casually, nothing serious mind you. So far I’m not all that inspired to go running out and use it to create some sort of visual artistic masterpiece that winds up being noticed by Apple itself. I’m sure I’ll discover more about the camera as time progresses.

Speaking of buttons on the case, there is a new Camera Control button that you can press to bring up the camera app as well as use it to take a photo. I also noticed that if I just touch the button and then slide my finger when the camera app is active that I can select between the available camera magnification factors. All of this reminds me of a rangefinder camera setup, except in this case done poorly. I’m not all that inspired by the button due to its very skinny nature; a regular camera release is nice and round compared to this. I also don’t like the placement because I inadvertently squeeze it when I pick the 16 up at the bottom. I’ve spent a decade of iPhone use learning to pick the iPhone up at the bottom so I didn’t trip the power button or the volume controls. To avoid any issues with the Camera Control, I’ve gone into Settings and disabled it.

More Final Thoughts

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is a solid upgrade compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I’m sure there are features I’ll discover in the future that will further justify the purchase of the 16. I will note that if the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s radio and Lightning port for Apple Car Play hadn’t begun to show operational deficiencies that I would have not traded the 11 in for the 16; the iPhone 11 Pro Max was still that good after five years.

Links

my initial iphone 16 review