iOS 16.5 is Gonna be Amazing — Here’s Why
It brings back the iOS 16.4 nostalgia
All the unattributed images below are by the author.The iOS 16.4 update was a tsunami of new features and changes.
And lately, Apple released iOS 16.5 Beta 1. Though it isn’t as stunning as iOS 16.4, it’s got a few nice features — and some amazing features announced by Apple are yet to come.
And I’m sure it’s gonna be Amazing too. Let’s start with the features that arrived →
#1. A new way to record screen
So, tell me how you generally record screen? From Control Centre, right?
With iOS 16.5, you’ve got a new way to do that. After years of its existence, Siri just got skilled enough to record your screen (yeah, I’m a bit sarcastic).
To do that, just say any of these commands by triggering Siri:
- “Start a screen recording”
- “Start recording my screen”
- “Start screen record”
- “Screen record”
Any similar commands would work too — even to stop recording.
But here’s the buglist (as of Beta 1)
(1) On Dynamic Islands (DIs), the red dot that comes up is different from the regular one.
Regular one:

The one for Siri screen recording:

Notice the difference?
The first one’s a big dot. The second one’s a small dot in a circle.
(2) It doesn’t countdown 1, 2, 3 before starting recording.
(3) You can’t record with mic enabled.
“Hey Siri! Record screen with mic on” starts recording screen, but your voice isn’t recorded.
(4) Siri screen record isn’t registered by Control Centre.
If you’re on iOS 16.5 now, try this for yourself →
Start Siri screen record, open Control Centre, and look at the ‘Screen Recording’ block. It isn’t red.

It should be red, right? While recording screen. But it isn’t.
The irony: You can start a normal screen record even while Siri screen record is on.
(5) It’s not optimised for Dynamic Island yet.
I think the build code of this new feature is notch’s, not Dynamic Island’s. Coz
- you can’t interact with Siri screen record by long-pressing island, which’s possible with the regular one.
- To stop record, you need to click on island, and click ‘Stop’ on the box that comes below. Now you’ll get a notch-type notification saying it’s saved to Photos — the exact way it happens for notch iPhones.
Lot of improvements needed.
Anyways, considering it’s Beta 1, I hope Apple’s working on fixing these issues — and’s getting Siri reliable on screen recording by the next betas.
#2. Your last chance, pirate developer
Until iOS 16.4, if you wanted to enrol yourself for iOS Dev Beta updates, you had to pay $99 a year, download and install the beta profile to your device.
This is laughably pointless as anyone could bypass the $99 paywall by getting the profile from their friend or a website — and receive betas for free. (I’ll call them pirate developers)
Apple realised this lately, and has revamped the enrolment process. The profiles are discontinued, and you can (should) now join Beta DIRECTLY from the Software Update section.

More info in #5 of this article →
But in case if a pirate dev’s still using a freely acquired profile, he’ll see this after he updates to iOS 16.5.

Meaning: This would be his last Beta update unless he enrols in the Apple Developer Program for $99.
Read this article if you wanna try out Beta updates, or if you’re a pirate dev →
#3. Breaking News
News gets big upgrades this time →
(1) New Sports Section
Previously, you had ‘Sports’ in Today tab of Apple News. But considering the rising popularity of sports, Apple brought a dedicated tab for it on the Navigation bar.
These were the tabs in iOS 16.4 →

They’re now →

If you’ve observed it, Apple merged ‘Following’ and ‘Search’ (See the new ‘Following’ icon below).

(2) Persistent Navigation bar
Previously, if you headed over to your Saved Stories, History, any Channel or Topic, the Navigation bar disappeared.
To access it, you had to come back.
But now, the bar stays persistent — wherever you are in News.
Lastly
We’re still yet to get
(1) iMessage Contact Key Verification

- Alerts you if an attacker ever succeeds in breaching iCloud servers and eavesdrops on your encrypted communications.
- Allows you to compare other person’s verification code in person, on FaceTime, or other calls.
I’ve first mentioned it in #2.1 of this article →
(2) Apple Card Savings Account

This is a long-awaited facility of Apple.
Apple’s partnered with Goldman Sachs to offer a high-yield savings account — right in the native Wallet app.
This works pretty much like a bank (actually more) that offers you nice interest rates, cashbacks, and rewards.
Best part, there’s no
- opening fees,
- minimum balance,
- minimum deposit, or
- transfer fees.
I’ve first mentioned it in #3.2 of this article →
(3) Custom Accessibility Mode
Thanks to 9to5Mac for finding out ‘Custom Accessibility Mode’ in iOS 16.2’s code.
This lets you restrict your device to fewer apps and lesser functionality — and lock it behind your passcode — maybe to save battery or for parental controls.
Though CAM first appeared in back then, it’s still yet to arrive. Hope it comes out right with iOS 16.5. I can’t wait till iOS 17.
Isn’t iOS 16 awesome?
255+ new features of iOS 16: A Compilation (Always Updated):
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