There’s no denying that WWDC 2023 could end up as one of the most important events in the history of Apple, and the technology market on the whole. There’s a lot to be said about the new Apple Vision Pro headset, but the company kicked off its yearly developer conference with a showcase of what’s to come from iOS 17.
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Contents
- iOS 17 Compatibility
- iOS 17: Improvements to Phone and FaceTime
- iOS 17: Messages Is Streamlined
- iOS 17: AirDrop Gets Even Better
- iOS 17: Standby and Journal Offer Better Quality of Life
- iOS 17: Better Autocorrect and iOS Keyboard
- iOS 17: Safari Is Even More Useful
- iOS 17: Even More Changes
- When is iOS 17 Coming?
iOS 17 Compatibility
If there’s one thing that Apple is extremely good at, it’s being able to provide years of support for its various devices. While other smartphones are limited to three or four years of software updates, that’s not the case with the iPhone. However, there are times when Apple has to decide to stop supporting older models, and usually we see one or two drop off when a new major release is announced. If you want to know if your device is eligible, here’s the entire list of iPhone models that will receive the upgrade to iOS 17.
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
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iPhone 14 Pro Max
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iPhone 13
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iPhone 13 mini
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iPhone 13 Pro
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iPhone 13 Pro Max
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iPhone 12
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iPhone 12 mini
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iPhone 12 Pro
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iPhone 12 Pro Max
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iPhone 11
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iPhone 11 Pro
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iPhone 11 Pro Max
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iPhone XS
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iPhone XS Max
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iPhone XR
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iPhone X
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iPhone 8
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iPhone 8 Plus
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iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)
During the WWDC ’23 Keynote, Apple and Craig Federighi started off by announcing a bunch of new features coming to the Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps. In what may seem like a bit of a minor update, iOS 17 now offers Contact Posters which provides a “new way for users to express themselves.”
Instead of just using a basic picture or Memoji, Contact Posters can be customized with photos of your choosing, while also providing customization for how your contact information will appear when calling someone. However, these won’t just be available for making calls from the Phone app, as Apple also states these will be available for “third-party calling apps.”
One of the more intriguing updates is Live Voicemail, which seems to work similarly to Google’s “Call Screening.” Essentially, while someone is in the process of leaving you a voicemail, you can see a live transcription of what’s being said. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a “Message” and “Accept” button, giving you the ability to answer the call before they are finished leaving a voicemail.
Another feature coming to iOS 17 is the addition of audio and voice messages through FaceTime. Basically, this is just providing the ability to leave a voicemail with FaceTime, but you can now leave a short video message, which feels like something that Apple should have offered a long time ago.
Other features for FaceTime include the ability to send Reactions during calls, which can be “activated through simple gestures.” Finally, FaceTime is coming to the Apple TV 4K thanks to Continuity Camera. Start the call from either the Apple TV or your iPhone, and use your iPhone’s camera to enjoy a FaceTime call or SharePlay session with your friends or loved ones.
Apple has long made it possible to use stickers with Messages, even making it possible to download or purchase sticker packs from the App Store. With iOS 17, Stickers are getting a huge overhaul, as not only are there new emoji stickers, but you can now create your own Live Stickers using your own Live Photos. All of these are now found in a new menu drawer within the keyboard, as opposed to the old way of needing to swipe in the bar above the keyboard to find your Messages apps and stickers.
Conversations have also been tweaked and revamped, as it’s now possible to use search filters when you’re looking for something specific. If you’re in a group chat, there’s a new “catch-up arrow” letting you know where you left off in the conversation. Lastly, in the event that someone responds with an audio message, it will be automatically transcribed so you won’t have to worry about having everyone around you listen to it.
The last major feature coming to Messages in iOS 17 is Check In. This makes it easy for you to share your location with a friend or family member. You can send a message to the contact letting them know you’re expected arrival time, and they will be notified when you reach your destination. But Check In will also show your device’s location, battery level, and cellular status in the event that you don’t reach your destination on time and the other person just wants to be able to check on you.
AirDrop is one of the best and most popular reasons to enter the Apple ecosystem. With iOS 17, there are a few new features designed to make the experience even better. Starting off with NameDrop, you can just bring your iPhone or Apple Watch close to another iPhone user and swap contact information. This also works if your hands are full and want to do so while wearing an Apple Watch.
Have you ever tried sending a file to someone else using AirDrop, one of you needed to get going, but the file wasn’t finished transferring? Apple is hoping to solve that with iOS 17 as AirDrop will be able to rely on your internet connection to send and receive files even if you leave AirDrop range.
Currently, if you put your iPhone on a MagSafe charger, you’re greeted with the same boring Lock Screen that you always have to look at. iOS 17 is changing that thanks to StandBy, which essentially turns your iPhone into a “bedside clock.”
With the help of Smart Stacks of widgets you can glance over and see what the time is, what your calendar looks like for tomorrow, and more. There are even full-screen layouts that just show the time or lets you showcase some of your favorite photos. The best part is that this is available for all iPhone models capable of running iOS 17. However, those with the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max will be able to take advantage of the Always On Display while you’ll have to tap the screen to see StandBy on other models.
Leading up to WWDC ’23, rumors began swirling about Apple working on another all-new application. Those rumors were confirmed as Apple showcased its new Journal app during the Keynote. There was a lot of focus on mental health at WWDC, and Journal has the potential to be quite an intriguing addition.
With Journal, you’ll be able to “reflect on and relive special moments”, complete with being able to add photos, music, and more to your entry. iOS 17 takes advantage of on-device machine learning to provide personalized suggestions, but you’ll also be able to just write out your entries if you want to.
Over the past few years, there have been quite a few complaints about the built-in keyboard on your iPhone and iPad. Mainly when it comes to words being autocorrected to something completely different from what you were trying to type. With iOS 17, any words that have been autocorrected will be “temporarily underlined” so you can quickly revert back to the original word that you typed out.
Another new addition is something we’ve seen Google implement in its various apps, and that’s the ability to view predictions as you type. This is now built into the keyboard on your iPhone and iPad, and you can just tap the space bar to autocomplete words or even complete sentences.
With iOS 16, Apple implemented quite a few changes to Safari, including things such as being able to receive push notifications from websites, pinned tabs, and the ability to customize start pages in tab groups. In iOS 17, Safari is getting even more new features, headlined by the ability to create and use different profiles within the app.
Having separate profiles means that you can have dedicated Tab Groups based on a profile you’ve created. But you’ll also be able to have different extensions enabled depending on which profile you are actively using. Plus, Safari in iOS 17 makes it easy to switch between the different profiles when you’re finished working for the day.
Lastly, there are a few new changes to the Private Browsing feature of Safari. Whenever your private tabs are not being used, Private Browsing will lock them, so they can’t be viewed by anyone but you. This also will block trackers from loading, and removes any tracking added to URLs.
iOS 17: Even More Changes
While it might not have seemed like much during the WWDC ’23 Keynote presentation, iOS 17 is chock-full of a lot of changes and new features. We’ve covered the big ones above, but here are even more features and additions that you’ll find when iOS 17 hits your iPhone.
- For easier and more secure password and passkeys sharing, users can share passwords with a group of trusted contacts. Everyone in the group can add and edit passwords to keep them up to date.
- 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.
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Increasing the distance the device is viewed from can help children lower their risk of myopia and gives adult users the opportunity to reduce digital eyestrain. Screen Distance in Screen Timeuses 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.
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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.
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AirTag can be shared with up to five other people, allowing friends and family to keep track of an item in Find My. Everyone in a group will be able to see an item’s location, play a sound, and use Precision Finding to help pinpoint the location of a shared AirTag when nearby.
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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.
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Sharing content using AirPlay is even easier with on-device intelligence now learning a user’s preferences. AirPlay will also work with supported televisions in hotels, allowing users to easily enjoy their favorite content on the TV when traveling.
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Reminders features a grocery list that automatically groups added items into categories to make shopping easier. Users can change how the items are grouped and the list remembers their preferences.
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Siri can be activated by simply saying “Siri.”
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Visual Look Up is now available in paused video frames.
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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.
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Privacy updates include the expansion of Communication Safety beyond Messages to help keep kids safe when sending and receiving content via AirDrop, Contact Posters, a FaceTime message, and when using the Photos picker to choose content to send. It also expands to cover video content in addition to still images.
When is iOS 17 Coming?
Apple is just getting started with the latest version of iOS. The first Developer Beta is available for developers starting now, with a Public Beta program set to open sometime in July. We’ll continue seeing iterations made to the platform over the next few months, before iOS 17 is released for everyone this Fall.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
phillytim says
NOT SUPPORTED IN IOS 17:
iPhone X
iPhone 8
iPhone 8 Plus
https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-17-preview/