iOS 16 could have a new Focus configuration that won’t be compatible with older software

You may have heard about reputable analyst Mark Gurman’s recent insights about the upcoming iOS 16 update and the fact that there will be some improvements to the notification system. Well, now code found by 9to5Mac in the iOS 15.5 beta gives us some more information about the topic, corroborating Gurman’s initial report.

iOS 16 could bring big changes in Focus mode

We are still two months away from Apple showcasing iOS 16 (which will happen during WWDC, scheduled as an online conference from June 6 to June 10), but they are already some exciting rumors to get us hyped up for the OS update coming to iPhones.

Analyst Mark Gurman recently stated that iOS 16 will bring some updates to the notifications on iPhone, and now, code in Apple’s beta is corroborating that and adding a few more exciting glimpses of info.

References in the codes of macOS 12.4, which was released to developers this month, suggest that Cupertino has set its eyes on some big changes for Focus mode. In case you don’t know what Focus mode is, it is a feature introduced with iOS 15 that lets you manage which apps and notifications you want to see during different times of the day, for example during Sleep mode, or during Work or Personal mode. Now, it seems iOS 16 will bring more customizations to Focus mode, and those won’t be compatible with iOS 15. The discovered hint is basically a warning message telling a user that the chosen Focus mode requires a software update to be enabled. Additionally, the message warns that some settings can be lost on other devices that have newer software.

Put in simple terms, for example, if you still didn’t update your iPad and made some changes in the Focus settings, your iPhone (if already updated it to iOS 16) will not have the same settings. It seems that the newer software will have quite a different Focus configuration, and it won’t be able to sync with your other Apple devices if they are running older software.

Here’s what the warning may look like:

But that’s not all. Reportedly, Apple is also working on new features for Apple News, and it seems some of the content displayed in the news app will require iOS 16 and will not work with iOS 15. Additional info shows a string in the code that will show a list of devices that cannot be updated. As we can suppose, older models that don’t support iOS 16 will not be able to get it, as it is each year.For now, iOS 15 is supported even on the iPhone 6s, released back in 2015. We suppose the new iOS will drop the iPhone 6s from its list of supported iPhones, but this remains to be seen and we’ll know more when Apple officially unveils the operating system.

Another interesting thing that Gurman mentioned in his report to come with iOS 16 is a new multitasking interface for iPadOS 16 (yeah, this could improve the iPad experience a lot as multitasking UI is arguably not the most capable out there on a tablet). Additionally, some new health-tracking features are to be introduced with watchOS 9.

As we already mentioned, we will get to see what iOS 16 will bring during WWDC 2022, which is scheduled from Monday, June 6, 2022, to Friday, June 10, 2022. During the conference, Apple will introduce iOS 16 to the public, but the update itself will arrive to supported iPhones with the new iPhones when they come this fall. As we mentioned above, WWDC 2022 will again be an online conference and it will most likely have a keynote during which Apple will showcase in detail the new operating system. We will probably know for sure which iPhones support it soon enough after the announcement.