Before you explore anything new in iOS 16, properly configure your iPhone.

Do you have an iPhone that is iOS 16 compatible? If so, you’ve undoubtedly already downloaded Apple’s mobile operating system’s most recent version. However, you should first spend some time setting up your iPhone to benefit the most from iOS 16 before exploring all of its new capabilities.

There are three things you must do right away after updating to iOS 16. All three ought to enhance your iPhone usage. Learn how to configure your iPhone for iOS 16 in the following paragraphs.

Learn about iOS 16’s hidden features, the reasons why the new iPhone battery symbol is so divisive, and how to get rid of the obtrusive search button from your iPhone’s home screen. How to purchase the new iPhone 14 is shown below.

No. 1: Add a fresh wallpaper selection to your iPhone’s lock screen.

The lock screen on iOS 16 has undergone a major revamp by Apple, enabling you to fully personalize a number of aspects, including the date and time, add tiny widgets to keep track of the weather and the most recent headlines and create numerous wallpaper profiles that you can quickly switch between.

And if you think that sounds appealing, the first action you should take after installing iOS 16 is to customize your lock screen.

Press anywhere on the locked screen with your finger to personalize your lock screen. When requested to unlock your device, do so. Once you’ve done that, a fresh lock screen interface will show up where you may browse and alter all of your lock screen wallpaper options.

To create a new wallpaper, hit the Plus button in the bottom right corner. You can then choose from a variety of Apple wallpapers, including those with emojis, astronomy, weather, and more. Some of these wallpapers come with widgets already installed, but you may easily add them afterward.

If you decide to upload your own photo, try to choose one with something or someone in the foreground. The new depth effect feature, which advances the time behind whatever item is in focus to create a layered type of aesthetic, can be used if the image is adjusted exactly right.

Then, to change the appearance, tap any of the lock screen’s components, such as the date and time. You can add teeny transparent widgets to that area of your background by selecting Add Widgets.

When you’re done, hit Add and select whether you want to use the wallpaper on your home screen and lock screen separately or together. Here is how Apple is altering the iPhone 14’s lock screen.

No. 2: Create a Focus profile to prevent alerts from deterring you.

Apple released Focus, an updated version of Do Not Disturb, last year. With Focus, you can choose to only receive critical alerts and notifications while blocking everything else. But if you want to lessen distractions on your iPhone, check out and set up iOS 16’s productivity function, which has undergone significant reworking.

Select the profile or profiles you want to configure under Focus in Settings. You can then select which people and apps to receive notifications from inside a Focus profile. You can also choose to hide notification badges, show silenced notifications on your lock screen, and have your lock screen and home screen wallpapers automatically change when your Focus profile is activated.

Furthermore, you may program when your Focus profile should activate (when you go to sleep) and turn it off (when you wake up). You can obtain your sleep data from the Health app and use it to pick an appropriate Focus schedule.

Finally, you may modify how applications and system settings relate to you by using Focus filters. For instance, you may apply an app filter to Safari to make only specific tabs visible or to the Mail app to make certain email messages visible to you alone. When your Focus profile is activated, you can apply a filter to the system settings to make Dark mode and Low Power mode automatically activate.

Once your Focus profile is complete, you may press the Focus control in the Control Center to activate any profile you’ve built by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen.

3. Configure iPhoto to eliminate duplicate images and videos in order to reduce clutter and free up storage.

Additionally, there is now a built-in tool in Photos that searches your camera roll for any duplicate images and videos if you need to free up some space on your iPhone. This is an excellent opportunity to perform some spring cleaning as well as get rid of files on your iPhone that are eating up space.

Go to the Albums tab under Photos, slide all the way down, and select Duplicates. To erase all of the duplicate images and videos at once, select Select > Select All > Merge after going through all of your images and movies. You can see the file size of each image or video at the bottom, so you should prioritize larger files first.