What iOS 16 and Android 13 Tell Us About the Future of Smartphones – CNET

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference.

Google, meanwhile, detailed a major revamp to its Wallet app during its I/O conference last month that brings it up to speed with Apple. The new Google Wallet will store personal documents like payment and transit cards, vaccination records, boarding passes and student IDs, much like Apple Wallet. Google is also working with government agencies to support digital IDs. 
Google and Apple have also refined their respective visions for turning our phone into a connection hub for other appliances around us. Google explained how Android 13 would make your phone better at connecting to other devices with support for fast pairing, automatic audio switching between devices, and the ability to more easily sync messages between your phone and computer. It also revealed a new split-screen interface for Android Auto that should make multitasking easier when you’re on the road.
Google’s new visual search tool details products on a busy store shelf.
Your iPhone or Android phone is about to become even more tightly woven into the nondigital aspects of your life. That’s one of the main takeaways from iOS 16 and Android 13, the latest mobile software updates from Apple and Google, coming later this year. Both tech giants want to turn your phone into an electronic wallet for storing your legal ID, pushing your phone closer to your identity than ever before. The companies also continue to improve the way phones communicate with cars, smart home gadgets and other everyday devices. 

Replacing the physical wallet

Read more: What WatchOS 9 May Reveal About the Next Apple Watch Apple’s new iOS-inspired CarPlay interface.
The digital wallet was a big focus during both Apple’s iOS 16 announcement and Google’s Android 13 preview. The most significant change coming to Apple Pay is a new option called Apple Pay Later, which splits the cost of a purchase into four equal installments over six weeks. With iOS 16, identification cards stored in Apple Wallet can also be used to verify your age within apps. The addition comes after Apple first added support for digital IDs last year. 
“In fact, these days there are only two things I don’t leave home without: my phone and my wallet,” Sameer Samat, Android and Google Play’s vice president of product management, said on stage. “So the question is, can my phone replace my wallet?”

People have already embraced the idea of replacing physical credit cards with smartphone-based payment apps. Usage of in-store mobile payment systems like Apple Pay is expected to surpass 50% of all smartphone users in the US by 2025, according to a 2021 report from eMarketer. Apple’s new Pay Later option and Google’s renewed focus on its own mobile wallet could make the notion of leaving your physical wallet at home even more appealing.
Google showed off an ambitious expansion of its Lens app called “scene explorer” at Google I/O, which essentially applies its search prowess to the real world. You’d wave your phone’s camera across a shelf of products, and it would overlay information and ratings on screen to help you find the right pick. Google search head Prabhakar Raghavan cited the ability to find nut-free snacks or scent-free lotion at a physical retail store as an example. 
The more intimately our phones are tied to daily essentials like wallets, credit cards, cars and home appliances, the harder it’s going to be to move away from them (or switch between iPhone and Android). The concept isn’t new; the industry has moved in this direction for years. But the changes in iOS 16 and Android 13 bring important refinements to Apple’s and Google’s respective approaches that will likely accelerate such efforts.
As the smartphone becomes the link to everything from your credit card to your thermostat and car, Apple and Google are making its aesthetic more personal. When iOS 16 launches this fall, your iPhone will get a brand-new lock screen with support for Apple Watch-esque widgets and new photo effects for background images. Google is expanding its Material You with premade color sets that can be applied across the entire operating system.

Your phone, everywhere

Apple and Google both believe the camera will continue to play a big role in how we interact with the world around us. In iOS 16, you’ll be able to translate text into different languages using a new camera option in Apple’s Translate app. During its WWDC keynote presentation, the company demonstrated how this could be used to translate an entire restaurant menu into a different language. You’ll also be able to track a flight or convert currency just by tapping on text in a photo. 
Google is adding digital driver’s licenses to Google Wallet. 
Read more: A New Apple Watch SE Sounds More Exciting Than the Series 8. Here’s Why
The execution may be different, but the concept is similar. We’re already accustomed to ordering food, taxis and household essentials with the press of a button on our phones. Now Apple and Google want to make our phones a critical part of accomplishing those tasks in the real world too, and the camera will be a major part of that. 
There’s a lot more to iOS 16 and Android 13 than new wallet functionality, camera tools for scanning real-world objects and improved connectivity. These updates not only signal how essential the phone is becoming to both our online and offline lives, they also point to where the industry is heading next. 

Apple simplified the process of managing HomeKit devices with a redesigned home app for the iPhone. But perhaps the biggest area where Apple plans to broaden the iPhone’s reach is in the car. The company teased a revamp of its CarPlay software that looks like an entire operating system for automobiles, complete with app icons, widgets and other user interface elements that are reminiscent of the iPhone and Apple Watch. 

Taken together, Apple’s and Google’s updates represent another step toward their common objective of making physical wallets obsolete — a shift that’ll inevitably make us even more reliant on mobile devices. 
Google reiterated this ambition just before detailing the new updates at Google I/O in May.