iOS 16 Beta 2 Tidbits: New Wallpaper Colors, Backup Over LTE, SMS Filtering and More

Apple today seeded the second betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 to developers for testing purposes, and the new betas introduce new features and refine some of the changes that Apple made with the first iOS 16 release.

Lock Screen Photo Wallpaper Customization

When customizing a photo on the Lock Screen, there are two new DuoTone and Color Wash overlay options to change the look of the photo.

customize wallpaper setting ios 16

Wallpaper Photo Editing

If you set a photo as your wallpaper, Apple lets you know that you can use pinch gestures to adjust the crop of the image.

ios 16 pinch to crop

Back Ups Over LTE

iPhone and iPad users can back up their devices over an LTE cellular connection, in addition to a 5G or WiFi connection. Apple introduced support for 5G backups in iOS 15, and has expanded it to LTE in iOS 16.

Astronomy Wallpaper Location

The Astronomy wallpaper now shows a green dot to let you know where you are located. The dot appears in the Earth wallpaper options, but it does not stay on the wallpaper at all times and is instead only visible when editing the wallpaper. These dynamic wallpapers are also now available on older iPhones.

astronomy wallpaper location ios 16

Wallpaper Editing

In the Settings app, the Wallpapers section has been tweaked to make it easier to customize the different wallpapers that you set for the Home Screen and Lock Screen. There are new "Customize" options under the Lock Screen and ‌Home Screen‌ options to make it clearer that there are settings that can be adjusted.

customize wallpaper setting ios 16
When you choose your look, there's also an option to "Set as Wallpaper Pair."

Apple Cash and Apple Card

The Apple Cash "Send and Request" interface has been changed in the second beta of iOS 16. It's now a single merged button instead of two separate buttons, and the balance is shown more clearly.

apple cash send request ios 16

For Apple Card, the "Weekly Activity" section also lets you know how much Apple Cash you've earned for the week. t

Screenshots

There's now a "Save to Quick Note" option when saving a screenshot, which joins the Save to Photos, Save to Files, and Delete Screenshot options.

ios 16 quick note screenshot

Delete Lock Screens

It's now easier to delete a Lock Screen by swiping upwards.

delete lock screen ios 16

SMS Filtering

According to Apple's release notes, developers are able to classify incoming SMS messages from unknown numbers into 12 sub-categories with Transaction and Promotion categories for improved organization.

For Indian users, Messages supports event extraction from SMS. EVent and appointment messages are shown as Siri suggestions and are also presented to users in Messages thread and the Calendar inbox.

iPadOS 16 Stage Manager

In iPadOS 16 beta 2 on compatible iPads, there is a new Stage Manager setting under the "‌Home Screen‌ and Dock" section of the Settings app. It displays options for hiding recent apps and hiding the dock while using ‌Stage Manager‌.

Messages Junk Reporting

For some U.S. carriers, Messages in iOS 16 beta 2 extends the "Report Junk" feature to allow users to report SMS/MMS junk to carriers.

report junk message ios 16

Translate

The Translate app now supports Turkish, Thai, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch.

HealthKit APIs

For developers, HealthKit workout APIs support multisport workouts with activities that include swimming, cycling, and running.

iOS 16 beta 2 also adds HealthKit support for the new running workout metrics that Apple announced at WWDC. Workout metrics include running power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, running speed, and stride length.

Other New Features

Know of a new feature in iOS 16 that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.

Popular Stories

iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

M5 Chip Achieves Impressive Feat in 14-Inch MacBook Pro Speed Test

Friday October 17, 2025 7:10 am PDT by
The first alleged benchmark result for the M5 chip in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced, allowing for some performance comparisons. Based on a single unconfirmed result uploaded to the Geekbench 6 database today, the M5 chip has pulled off an impressive feat. Specifically, the chip achieved a score of 4,263 for single-core CPU performance, which is the highest single-core score that...

Top Rated Comments

IMPOSSIBLEMAN Avatar
44 months ago
Always-on numbers row in the default keyboard, please Apple. ?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twocents Avatar
44 months ago
Why delete the Pride wallpaper.. it’s still June
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
44 months ago
Nice changes - Love the layout of the new Lock Screen. It looks stunning!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
44 months ago

Tempted to install the public beta... wonder when it will be out?
Suppose to be out in July. Next month. I say within the next 3 weeks.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
44 months ago
Excited for that new Lock Screen
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
srbNYC Avatar
44 months ago

The Astronomy wallpaper now shows a green dot to let you know where you are located.
I can't get the wallpaper to locate me. Help!

UPDATE: Found the "Astronomy" toggle in Location Services. (Not sure why folks found this post funny. I wasn't kidding. ? )
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)