A month after iOS 16.6 was released by Apple, the company is now making iOS 16.6.1 available to all iPhone users. Despite being a minor update, the previous version broke support for one of the most important parental control features, Screen Time.
According to The Wall Street Journal, after updating to iOS 16.6, parents couldn’t set restrictions on their kids’ devices. That said, imagine if you added a one-hour period of social media usage. After that period, a message wouldn’t appear locking all those social media apps on your kids’ devices, meaning they could keep using Instagram, for example.
Besides parental control, Screen Time is very useful to avoid having your data stolen if you get robbed. By adding a screen time for bank apps or e-mails, after that period, you’ll need to add a different passcode to continue accessing these apps. That said, if you are robbed, even if your iPhone is unlocked, the criminals won’t be able to access this data.
With iOS 16.6.1, Apple is likely fixing this screen issue, although the company only mentions “bug fixes and security improvements.” Apple acknowledged this bug with WSJ: “We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset,” an Apple spokeswoman said. “We take these reports very seriously, and we have been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation.”
Interestingly, iOS 16.6 only added “important bug fixes and security updates,” while it actually brought more bugs. iOS 16.5, on the other hand, offered a few new features:
- My Sports tab: iOS 16.5 brings the highly-requested My Sports tab to Apple News. You can follow your favorite sports, teams, leagues, and athletes there. It’s also possible to access scores, schedules, and standings for the top professional and college leagues.
- Siri improvements: While users can ask for quite some time for Siri to take a screenshot of the iPhone screen, iOS 16.5 makes it possible for the assistant to start a screen recording for the first time. Users must say, “Hey Siri, start screen recording,” and the screen recording will begin.
- Pride wallpaper: iOS 16.5 includes the recently-announced Pride celebration wallpaper for the iPhone. It has some interesting UI tweaks.
If we discover anything else new with iOS 16.6.1, we’ll make sure to update this article. Apple has also released macOS 13.5.2 and watchOS 9.6.2. Below, you can learn more about iOS 17.
