Photo credit: Apple
Apple’s Vision Pro headset dominated the headlines at Monday’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) event. But Apple will also release a major update for iOS later this year. The upcoming iOS 17 update will introduce many nice-to-have features such as personalized call posters, stand-by mode, live voicemail and an improved sticker experience.
And Apple didn’t mention many of the new iOS features on stage due to time constraints. Here’s the list of things that didn’t make it to the keynote:
Photo credit: Apple
The company is also expanding its image cropping feature, which allows users to single out objects from images and videos. With the new update, users can “look up” these objects to find more information about them.
Photo credit: Apple
The Photos app now recognizes your pets like cats and dogs and places them in the people area. A Freeform update introduces new drawing tools like a watercolor brush, calligraphy pen, highlighter, variable-width pen, and ruler. With iOS 17, Apple will apply a nudity filter to “nude photos and videos that show the private parts of the body typically covered by underwear or swimsuits.” This is important to prevent unsolicited nudes from appearing. Users will see a popup asking if they want to see a confidential photo. Aside from agreeing to see the image or not, users can also tap “Ways to get help.” However, it is not clear what resources the company will allocate to this option. This feature will be available system-wide with images received via AirDrop, the system-wide photo picker, FaceTime messages, contact posters in the phone app, and third-party apps.
Photo credit: Apple
In addition, users have the option to blur a sensitive image before viewing it. The Mail app supports auto-filling of one-time verification codes.
Photo credit: Apple
Additionally, in the Password section of Settings, you can turn on automatic deletion of emails and messages that contain verification codes after you’ve entered those codes with AutoFill.
Photo Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
There is a new pronoun field for your contacts. iOS 17 will introduce a few new wallpapers, including a category called Kaleidoscope. Apple is introducing a shared playlist feature for Apple Music so you can create a list with your friends. You can also react to songs in the Now Playing queue, presumably during a SharePlay session. This feature will be available later in the year.
Photo credit: Apple
The company has also finally introduced a crossfade option in the Music app. In addition, the Now Playing bar in the app has been slightly redesigned. Apple News+ subscribers now get access to Crosswords and Mini Crosswords. Sherlocking The New York Times, right?
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News+ subscribers also get access to audio stories through Apple’s Podcasts app. iOS 17 brings three new Memoji stickers: Halo, Smirk, and Peekaboo. The Reminders app features a new grocery list that automatically categorizes items for shopping.
Photo Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
The app also allows you to change groups and view items in a column in kanban format. With iOS 17, users can share an AirTag with five people and use the Find My app to pinpoint the item’s location. iPadOS 17’s PDF autofill feature is coming to iOS too. This allows you to quickly fill in contact fields from the information stored on the device. Likewise, the Notes app lets you view and markup PDFs. Several timers are also coming for iOS 17.
Just like iPadOS 17, the iOS 17 update will also bring interactive widgets. This allows you to control music or mark a task as complete without having to open an app. The Health app in iOS 17 provides a summary of your friends’ training achievements, such as streaks and awards. Users can create a custom plan for meditation and workouts on Apple Fitness+. Apple allows you to sign in to your iPhone using a nearby device or a phone number or email ID listed in your account. With Spotlight Search, you can toggle system settings like Wi-Fi right from the search screen.
Photo Credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch
AirPods pop-ups are now available in dark mode when your phone is also in dark mode. AirPods have a new mute/unmute feature that you can trigger on iOS 17 by pressing and holding the stick. With the weather app you can see the weather of the previous day.
Photo credit: Apple
This is not an extensive list and we will expand it as people using developer betas discover more features.
Notably, iOS 17 is expected to be generally available in the fall. Before that, Apple will release a public beta in the coming weeks. As such, some of these features could be subject to change before Apple releases the final version of iOS 17.
