If there's one thing you're likely to interact with on your iPhone more than any social media app and platform, it's the notifications asking you to keep checking back on those apps, and the iOS 16 update could make a big change to how they work.
This comes from top Apple leaker and analyst Mark Gurman, who, in his Power On newsletter (opens in a new tab), made a prediction about iOS 16, likely to debut at the WWDC 2022 conference in June.
According to Gurman, iOS 16 will get "pretty big improvements across the board, including an update to notifications and new health tracking features," presumably referring to the iPhones' built-in pedometer and Apple Health app with that last comment.
Gurman suggests that the Apple Watch will also get health improvements, so perhaps the changes to Apple Health will change the way they play together.
It's worth noting that Gurman also states "I don't expect a complete redesign of the iOS interface", so it probably won't be as big of a change as, say, the widgets that were added in iOS 14.
Now, it's not clear what Gurman means by "significant improvements," so changes to these two features could affect the user interface (the part you see) or the code and algorithms that run the program (the parts you see). does not see).
Either way, if these are the main selling points of iOS 16, Apple will likely make it clear at WWDC.
Analysis: the war of attention
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings doesn't see the streaming platform's rivals like Amazon, Disney and Apple, but rather as sleep games or video games, as mentioned in this 2017 interview (opens in a new tab) .
Tech giants are constantly fighting the "war for attention," competing to make their platforms and apps the way you spend your time and money. When it comes to smartphones, notifications are the foot of this war.
Notifications are not designed to remind you of an important event in an app; they are designed to bring you back indoors and away from countless alternatives. If you get a Twitter message or Instagram comment, which social media platform do you open? Certainly not Facebook.
However, as time goes on and users become more tech-savvy, this infantry becomes less effective: we are numb to all the notifications we receive. If you're like me, you ignore more notifications than you pick up your phone.
With that in mind, iOS 16's notification changes are almost necessary, changing notifications from "that annoying 'ding' you ignore" to a really helpful reminder of important events.
Perhaps that change could be in how they look, so you have more ways to respond: Some Android phones let you respond to third-party app notifications with quick replies, saving you the hassle of spending hours going into the app and typing a response. response.
Alternatively, it could be artificial intelligence to stop the overwhelming flood of notifications you may receive. Maybe if you're in a busy group chat, or have a viral tweet or email thread with constant replies, the iPhone will bundle those replies into a single notification to save your ears.
For now, only Apple knows what notifications the iOS 16 updates will bring. But it will have to figure out where its priorities lie, with users or with the tech giants, because each new change could have consequences in the war for attention.