Apple unveiled iOS 17, a significant update that enhances the phone, facetime, and message communication experiences, makes sharing even simpler with AirDrop, and offers more intelligent input that increases typing speed and accuracy. The new features in iOS 17 include StandBy, a new way to display glanceable information while the iPhone is charging, and Journal, an app that makes it simple for individuals to practice gratitude.
According to Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, “With iOS 17, we’ve made the iPhone more personal and intuitive by carefully evaluating the features we all rely on every day.” Our primary means of communication are the phone, FaceTime, and messages, and this release is jam-packed with improvements that we believe our users will like. In addition, autocorrect gets even better, we’re introducing brand-new experiences with Journal and StandBy, and much more. AirDrop has also been reinvented with new sharing options. We are eager for everyone to give it a try.
Significant Phone Experience Improvements
The Phone app, which is important to the iPhone experience, gets a significant boost with customized Contact Posters, giving users a new means of self-expression. Users can alter their appearance, giving incoming calls an entirely new appearance, and select a lovely photo or Memoji treatments, as well as vibrant typography and font colors. With third-party calling apps, Contact Posters will also be accessible.
Users of Live Voicemail have the option to pick up the phone while a caller is still leaving a voicemail and can view a real-time transcription of the message as it is being left. Calls that are flagged by carriers as spam won’t show up as Live Voicemail but will be rejected right away. Live Voicemail transcription is handled on-device and is completely confidential thanks to the Neural Engine’s strength.
Apple TV now supports FaceTime’s extended features, reactions, and audio and video messages.
FaceTime now allows users to send audio and video messages to callers who are not immediately present, allowing them to exchange a message that can be listened to or watched later. FaceTime conversations can now include effects like hearts, balloons, fireworks, laser beams, rain, and more to make them more expressive. Simple motions may be used to activate the new effects, and third-party video calling apps can make use of them as well.
FaceTime is now available on the largest screen in the house thanks to an exciting upgrade to Apple TV 4K. With the help of Continuity Camera, customers can make a video call directly from Apple TV or start it on their iPhone before transferring it to Apple TV so they can view their loved ones on their television. Users of Center Stage will always have the ideal framing as they move around the space.
Redesigned Messages with Major Updates
In iOS 17, Messages receives important upgrades, such as a brand-new sticker experience with new emoji stickers and the capability to create Live Stickers by removing objects from photographs. Live Stickers may also be enhanced with effects by users, and a new keyboard drawer consolidates all of a user’s stickers for easier access across iOS.
Features in New Messages improve user communication. Messages now have a more streamlined appearance thanks to an expanding menu that can be opened with a single swipe and displays iMessage apps. With the use of search filters, search becomes more effective and accurate. Users can now begin a search and add more filters to it to receive more specific results.
Where the user last left off in the discussion is indicated by a new catch-up arrow, and responding inline is as easy as swiping on a text bubble. If a user provides their location, the chat will immediately change in real time. An audio message is immediately transcribed when sent so that recipients can read it right away or listen to it later.
Check-In, a vital function for when a user wishes to let a family member or acquaintance know that they have arrived at their location safely, is also introduced in Messages. When a user starts a Check-In, their friend or relative will be alerted right away when they arrive. The device’s position, battery life, and cell service status will all be momentarily shared with the chosen contact if they are not moving closer to their destination. End-to-end encryption is used for all exchanged information.
AirDrop and NameDrop make sharing simpler
iOS 17, AirDrop gains new ways to share, making it simple to send files to a coworker or images to a friend in a matter of seconds. With NameDrop, users may quickly exchange contact information by touching their iPhones or their iPhones and Apple Watch together. Users can start SharePlay to listen to music, view a movie, or play a game while holding their iPhone devices close to one another and using the same gesture to share content.
Enhancements to Autocorrect and Dictation Deliver More Intelligent Input
Using a transformer language model, a cutting-edge on-device machine learning language model for word prediction, autocorrect gets a thorough update, enhancing the user experience and accuracy each time they type. Moreover, it gets a new look to better facilitate typing, and sentence-level autocorrections can correct more varieties of grammatical errors. Text entry is now faster than ever thanks to users receiving predictive text suggestions inline as they type, making it simple to add whole words or finish phrases by simply tapping the space bar. A novel speech recognition model is used by dictation to increase its accuracy.
iPhone is charging, StandBy shows quick information
When the iPhone is lying on its side and charging, StandBy in iOS 17 gives consumers a full-screen experience with glanceable information that can be viewed from a distance. On a nightstand, kitchen counter, or desk, StandBy looks great. It can be customized to show a variety of lovely clock styles, favorite photographs, or widgets, such as Smart Stacks, which surface the appropriate widgets at the appropriate moment.
When viewed from a distance, StandBy makes iPhone even more useful thanks to its support for Live Activities, Siri, incoming calls, and larger notifications. StandBy keeps track of a user’s chosen view when charging using MagSafe. By tapping the screen, StandBy may be opened at any moment, and on the iPhone 14 Pro with the Always-On display, it is always accessible.
The Journal: A New Approach to Appreciating Life’s Moments
A new iPhone software called Journal encourages users to think and express appreciation through journaling, which has been found to enhance wellness. Personalized suggestions can be given to encourage a user’s journal writing using on-device machine learning. It’s simple to start a journal entry thanks to suggestions that are intelligently curated from recent activity, including photographs, people, places, workouts, and more. Scheduled notifications can also encourage writing.
Journal is designed to secure a user’s privacy and make sure no one — including Apple — can see a user’s entries. This is done through the use of end-to-end encryption, the ability to lock the app, and on-device processing. Developers will be able to include journaling ideas in their apps with the new Journaling Suggestions API.
Included in iOS 17’s additional features are:
- Safari enhances Private Browsing security to further protect users from both browsing trackers and unauthorized users of their devices. In order to further prevent websites from monitoring or identifying a user’s device, advanced tracking and fingerprinting measures are used. Private Browsing is now locked while not in use, enabling a user to continue using the device while still keeping tabs open.
- Users can share passwords with a select group of trusted contacts for simpler and more secure password and passkey sharing. To keep passwords current, everyone in the group has the ability to add and update them. Sharing is end-to-end encrypted because it takes place through iCloud Keychain.
- New mental Health capabilities are available in the Health app. Users may readily access depression and anxiety assessments frequently used in clinics, services available in their area, and a journal of their daily moods and brief feelings. They can also identify what might be contributing to their state of mind. In addition, lowering myopia risk in youngsters and reducing digital eyestrain for adults are also possible with increased viewing distance from the device. Screen Distance in Screen Time encourages users to move their device farther away after holding it closer than 12 inches from their face for a prolonged amount of time. This is done by using the TrueDepth camera.
- Offline Maps have been added to Maps, allowing users to download an area and receive turn-by-turn directions, check their anticipated arrival time, locate locations in Maps, and more while offline. Maps also help electric car users by providing real-time information on the availability of charging stations, making it simpler than ever to find the thousands of trails in parks across the United States.
- Up to five users can share an AirTag, enabling friends and family to monitor a lost item through Locate Mine. Each member of a group will be able to play a sound, see where an object is located, and use Precision Locating to locate a shared AirTag when it is nearby. Moreover, this functions with every other Find My Network accessory.
- Shared Playlists, a feature of Apple Music, making it simpler than ever to listen to music with friends, and SharePlay in the car enables everyone to easily influence the music being played. Even those without an Apple Music subscription can manage the music on their own devices.
- A user’s preferences are now being learned by on-device intelligence, making AirPlay content sharing even simpler. Users will be able to simply watch their preferred content on the TV when traveling thanks to AirPlay’s compatibility with supported hotel televisions. Before the end of the year, this capability will be made available at a few hotels, starting with those owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts. It was built on a foundation of privacy and security.
- The personal audio experience is redefined by the addition of strong new capabilities to AirPods, such as Adaptive Audio, Customized Volume, and Conversation Awareness. In addition, Automatic Switching and call controls have been improved, which makes AirPods more simpler to use.
- Users of the Home app now have the option to view up to 30 days’ worth of activity data for contact sensors, alarm systems, garage doors, and door locks. Also, to add even more ways to link the house, two well-liked HomeKit lock features, tap to unlock and PIN codes, are now accessible for Matter-compatible locks.
- A grocery list in Reminders automatically classifies newly added goods into categories to make shopping simpler. Users can alter the grouping of the items, and the list will retain their selections.
- It is now possible to use Visual Look Up in paused video frames. Users may now recognize objects in images and videos, such as food, businesses, signs, and symbols, as well as lift specific subjects.
- Just speaking “Siri” will launch Siri. Once active, users don’t need to reactivate the assistance to issue subsequent orders.
- To identify more images of a user’s favorite people, as well as cats and dogs, the People album in Photos makes use of on-device machine learning.
- Communication Safety beyond Messages has been expanded as part of privacy upgrades to help keep children secure when sending and receiving content via AirDrop, Contact Posters, a FaceTime message, and when using the Pictures picker to select content to send. Together with still photographs, it also extends to cover video content. Adult users can now avoid seeing unwelcome nude photographs and videos thanks to the Sensitive Content Warning function. Similar to Communication Safety, Sensitive Content Warning handles all image and video processing locally on the device, keeping Apple out of the picture.
- Updates to the accessibility features of the iPhone include Assistive Access, an interface that can be customized to help users with cognitive disabilities use the device more easily and independently; Live Speech, which allows nonspeaking users to type and have their words spoken in person or on phone and FaceTime calls; Personal Voice, which allows users at risk of speech loss to create a voice that sounds like them; and Point and Speak, which assists users who are blind or have low vision.
Being accessible
Members of the Apple Developer Program can access the developer beta of iOS 17 starting today at developer.apple.com, and the public beta will be accessible at beta.apple.com starting next month. In the fall, a free software upgrade for iPhone Xs and subsequent models will provide new functions. Visit apple.com/ios/ios-17-preview for more details. Features could be modified. It’s possible that not all features are accessible in all locales, in all languages, or on all devices. Visit apple.com for more availability details.
