iOS 16 is months away from an official release, but there are new features that are discovered by users testing it. The latest feature can benefit many of us here in India when it comes to conversion metrics in our iPhones. Recently discovered in a tweet by the editor-in-chief of MacStories, which shows that Apple’s first-party apps can detect text and provide options for converting data. This includes temperatures, time zones, and other unit-of-measure conversions as well. While the tweet does not indicate that the feature is region-specific, there is a possibility that it will be available for all regions.
As seen in the screenshot, the feature works similarly to how the date and time are captured in a text message. While previously you could create a calendar invite with the time provided, this requires us to manually update the details according to our respective time zones. The feature currently works in Apple’s Notes, iMessageMail and Calendar apps.
Great new iOS 16 feature: built-in unit conversion everywhere, including Messages. This supports temperatures, currencies and more. Finally, I no longer need to explain to my American friends what Celsius temperatures mean 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/VWkK19U4pyJune 16, 2022
The feature can be activated by selecting the highlighted text. For example, if someone sends you a text message with the meeting time with the mentioned time zone. You can press and hold the underlined text and options are provided to directly convert it to the current timezone. While the screenshot shows that the new feature allows you to preview the conversion, it’s unclear whether creating a new calendar event will also convert the time zone.
Available in all apps?
While the feature has been suggested to work with Apple’s own apps, it’s unclear whether this is a system-wide feature that will work with third-party apps. We are optimistic that it will be essential for Apple to support the feature in some of the most popular apps used by everyone on iOS. Like WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook Messenger.
The new feature is especially useful for those who are connected with friends, family and customers based in different countries. This would bridge the communication gap between people who want to share information instantly. The sender and recipient of the information no longer need to convert the units and then post their message.
iOS 16 was unveiled during WWDC and brings a lot of visual changes to mobile operating systems. O update is scheduled to be released to all users by the month of September this year.