WWDC: What’s new and coming in iOS 17 for iPhone?

Apple says the release makes iPhones more personal and intuitive, but iOS 17 is also a triumph of product naming with crack team terms such as Name Drop and StandBy. Apple took time to go through all the new features at WWDC. Here is the whistle-stop guide.

What Apple said

“With iOS 17, we’ve made iPhone more personal and intuitive by deeply considering the features we all rely on every day,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

“Phone, FaceTime, and Messages are central to how we communicate, and this release is packed with updates we think our users are going to love. We’ve also reimagined AirDrop with new ways to share, autocorrect gets even better, and we’re introducing all-new experiences with Journal and StandBy, plus so much more. We can’t wait for everyone to try it.”

Also read: WWDC: What’s new in macOS Sonoma?

Personal, private, functional

One feature, personalized Contact Posters, mean iPhone users can customize an image that shows when they call people, they can also choose fonts for incoming calls and photos, and more. The feature is available to third party apps.

Live Voicemail gives users the ability to see real-time transcription as someone leaves a voicemail, and the opportunity to pick up while the caller is leaving their message. Calls identified as spam by carriers will be instantly declined. Transcription is handled on-device.

FaceTime improvements

FaceTime now supports audio and video messages so when a person tries to contact somone who cannot take the call they can leave a message that can be looked at later. FaceTime calls also gain Reactions such as hearts, balloons, fireworks, laser beams, rain, and more. These are also available to third party apps.

FaceTime is also now supported on Apple TV. This makes use of Continuity Camera and means users can initiate a video call directly from Apple TV, or start the call on iPhone and then hand it off to Apple TV, to see friends and family on their television. Center Stage means users will have perfect framing even as they move around.

 

Messages also gets improvements including new stickers, new Live Stickers based on objects lifted from Photos, and effects. An expandable menu that can be accessed with a simple tap to display iMessage apps gives Messages a sleeker look.

Search has been improved so you can now drill down to what you are looking for using multiple searches. A new catch-up arrow indicates where the user last left off in the conversation, and replying inline is as simple as swiping on a text bubble. If a user shares their location, it will update in real time. Sent audio moments are automatically transcribed for reading immediately or later.

Personal safety in Messages

Messages also introduces Check In, an important feature for when a user wants to notify a family member or friend that they have made it to their destination safely. After a user initiates a Check In, their friend or family member will automatically be notified as soon as the user arrives at the destinatoin.

If they are not making progress toward their destination, useful information will be temporarily shared with the selected contact, such as the device’s location, battery level, and cell service status. Any information shared is end-to-end encrypted.

Easier Sharing with AirDrop and NameDrop

AirDrop makes it easy to share a file with a colleague or send photos to a friend in seconds, and with iOS 17, AirDrop gets new ways to share. NameDrop allows users to easily share contact information by simply bringing their iPhones together, or by bringing an iPhone and Apple Watch together.With the same gesture, users can also share content or start SharePlay.

Improvements to Autocorrect and Dictation

In an improvement that will really make things easier, autocorrect receives a comprehensive update with a state-of-the-art on-device machine learning language model for word prediction which should make for far more accurate typing. It also receives a refreshed design to better support typing, and sentence-level autocorrections can fix more types of grammatical mistakes. Users will now receive predictive text recommendations inline as they type. Dictation becomes more accurate thanks to a new speech recognition model.

What is StandBy?

iOS 17 introduces StandBy, giving users a full-screen experience with glanceable information designed to be viewed from a distance when iPhone is on its side and charging. StandBy is perfect on a nightstand, kitchen counter, or desk, and can be personalized to display a range of beautiful clock styles, favorite photos, or widgets, including Smart Stacks, which surface the right widgets at the right time. The feature offers support for Live Activities, Siri, incoming calls, and larger notifications.

Apple’s latest new app

Journal is a new app that helps iPhone users reflect and practice gratitude through journaling. It exploits on-device machine learning and can make personalized suggestions to help you enter information. Suggestions are made on the basis of recent activity, including photos, people, places, workouts, and more. Your privacy is protected, the app can be locked and all activity takes place on the device, protected by end-to-end encryption. A new Journaling Suggestions API means developers will be able to add journaling suggestions to their apps.

Additional features in iOS 17 include:

• Safari adds greater protection for Private Browsing, both from trackers as a user browses, and from people who might have access to a user’s device.

• For easier and more secure password and passkeys sharing, users can share passwords with a group of trusted contacts.

• The Health app offers new mental health features. Users can log their daily moods and momentary emotions; see what might be contributing to their state of mind; and easily access depression and anxiety assessments often used in clinics, plus resources available in their region. Screen Distance in Screen Time uses the TrueDepth camera to encourage users to move their device farther away after holding it closer than 12 inches from their face for an extended period of time.

• Maps adds offline maps, so users can download a specific area and access turn-by-turn navigation, see their estimated time of arrival, find places in Maps, and more while offline. Maps also makes it easier than ever to discover thousands of trails in parks across the United States, and supports electric vehicle drivers with real-time charging availability information.

• AirTag can be shared with up to five other people, allowing friends and family to keep track of an item in Find My.

• Apple Music introduces Collaborative Playlists that make listening to music with friends easier than ever before, and SharePlay in the car allows all passengers to easily contribute to what’s playing.

• AirPlay will work with supported televisions in hotels, starting with brands from IHG Hotels & Resorts.

• The Home app adds the ability for users to view up to 30 days of activity history across door locks, garage doors, alarm systems, and contact sensors.

• Reminders features a grocery list that automatically groups added items into categories to make shopping easier.

• Visual Look Up is now available in paused video frames.

• Siri can be activated by simply saying “Siri.”

• In Photos, the People album uses on-device machine learning to recognize more photos of a user’s favorite people, as well as cats and dogs.

• Privacy updates include the expansion of Communication Safety beyond Messages to help keep kids safe when sending and receiving content via AirDrop. A new feature, Sensitive Content Warning, helps adult users avoid seeing unwanted nude images and videos. All image and video processing for Sensitive Content Warning occurs on-device.

• Accessibility updates include Assistive Access, a customizable interface that helps users with cognitive disabilities use iPhone with greater ease and independence; Live Speech, which gives nonspeaking users the option to type and have their words spoken in person, or on phone and FaceTime calls; Personal Voice, which gives users at risk of speech loss the option to create a voice that sounds like theirs; and Point and Speak, which helps users who are blind or have low vision read text on physical objects by pointing.

Availability

The developer beta of iOS 17 is available now with a public beta coming next month.

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