Jetpack announced the release of version 16.3, a major update that adds three new blocks, expands existing features, improves accessibility and security, and reorganizes settings to bring related controls together in the user interface.
Three New Blocks That Add Useful Functionalities
Jetpack 16.3 introduces three new blocks that make it easier to showcase video content, help visitors discover videos, and schedule appointments directly on a website.
1. Latest Videos Playlist Block
Automatically keeps a playlist populated with a site’s newest VideoPress videos, removing the need to update it manually as new videos are published. The block can be added within WordPress content.
2. All Playlists Block
Enables sites to display all VideoPress playlists together, giving visitors a single place to browse the site’s video collections. It can be inserted anywhere within WordPress content.
3. Zoom Scheduler Block
Adds appointment scheduling directly to WordPress posts or pages so visitors can book Zoom meetings without leaving the site.
Improvements To Existing Features
VideoPress
Jetpack 16.3 gives site owners greater control over their video content while improving the viewing experience for visitors.
- Playlist Improvements
Existing playlists gain greater customization and presentation control. - VideoPress Improvements
New controls expand how videos can be managed and shared, while also improving how the player loads.
Jetpack AI
Existing MCP setup guidance expands to cover additional AI apps and makes it easier to connect them. The setup page now includes ChatGPT and Codex alongside Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and others as well.
Daily Writing Prompt
This WP Admin dashboard widget that provides daily blogging ideas now includes a Freshly Pressed tab for discovering editorially selected posts from across the WordPress community. WordPress sites connected through Jetpack are automatically eligible to have their content displayed in this widget. The content shown here is manually curated by WordPress.com editors who look for original posts with a distinctive voice, clear headlines, relevant tags/categories, and good readability.
The official guidelines for inclusion list five these criteria:
- Publish original content
- Embrace your voice and style
- Use images when possible (a featured image)
- Make it easy to read (short paragraphs, minimize distractions)
- Add relevant meta data (tags and categories)
UI And Management Improvements
Forms
Jetpack 16.3 adds conditional logic to Forms, allowing site owners to tailor questions to each visitor’s answers and collect more relevant information. It also gives site owners greater control over deleting spam and other responses, with safeguards to prevent accidental permanent deletion.
Features Tab
Jetpack 16.3 replaces the Products tab with a Features tab that brings all Jetpack features into one place. This is one of those changes that makes a product more intuitive and easy to use.
Site owners can easily find, activate, and deactivate features, while seeing what’s available for free or with paid plans. The interface also makes managing multiple features easier.
Newsletter Sidebar
Jetpack 16.3 brings newsletter publishing controls together in a more organized sidebar, making it easier to manage email delivery and newsletter categories without navigating other editor settings.
Jetpack Stats Settings
Jetpack 16.3 moves Stats settings into the Stats dashboard, making them accessible to users of both Jetpack and the standalone Stats plugin. Previously, standalone Stats users lacked access to these controls. The update solves that problem while giving both groups one place to manage their settings.
The Jetpack GitHub pull request for this issue explains:
“The standalone Stats plugin has no screen for the Stats settings… Those settings only exist in Jetpack Settings > Traffic, which the standalone plugin does not have.”
What looks like a minor interface update is actually an important fix for the standalone version that vastly improves the user experience.
Reliability, Accessibility, and Security Improvements
Jetpack Connection Reporting And Reliability
This update improves a backend connection between a website and WordPress.com’s cloud services that power features such as Stats, Activity Log, VaultPress Backup, Search, Scan, and VideoPress. The improvement is to how Jetpack monitors and repairs the connection between a self-hosted site and the cloud services powering Jetpack features, reducing false warnings and unnecessary disruption.
Jetpack’s announcement explains:
“We fixed several cases where Jetpack reported a connection problem on a healthy site, including stale error notices and false failures in Site Health. When there is a real problem, every error now shows up in one notice that names the affected account. Reconnecting also repairs just the owner’s account now, instead of disconnecting every user.”
Accessibility
Jetpack 16.3 improves accessibility by making information tooltips easier to use with keyboards and screen readers. It also improves chart navigation and readability, addressing problems affecting people who use high-contrast displays or have difficulty distinguishing colors.
According to the Jetpack changelog in the WordPress repository:
“Tooltips: Keep focus on information icons when their tooltips open, and announce the content to screen readers.
Tooltips: Make information tooltips open from the keyboard and close on Escape.
Tooltips: Show a focus ring on information icons after clicking them.”
The update also fixed issues related to navigating and reading charts:
“Charts: Fix keyboard focus and tooltip selection.
Charts: Fix unreadable axis labels in high-contrast (forced colors) mode.
Stats: Prevent bar charts from flickering between the hovered bar and the keyboard-selected bar.”
Lastly, the official changelog lists an improvement for color-blind people:
“VideoPress: Keep the dashboard views trend chart’s comparison lines distinguishable, including for color-blind viewers.”
Security
Jetpack 16.3 strengthens security in three areas: handling incoming requests, verifying user logins, and validating stored website content. These changes improve how Jetpack handles potentially unsafe data and unauthorized access attempts. The changelog identifies them as security fixes.
The changelog states:
- “Security: Improve handling of request parameters in Infinite Scroll.
- Security: Improve login verification in Account Protection.
- Security: Improve validation of stored block attributes.
Takeaway
Jetpack 16.3 adds new ways to showcase videos and book appointments, while improving forms, AI setup, and content discovery. It also simplifies site management, reduces false connection warnings, and strengthens accessibility and security across the plugin.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/dee karen
