Wondering why you can’t escape Apple news today? That’ll be the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) the company held last night – presenting us with a look at the biggest MacBook Air out there, an M2 Ultra chip, and (after much umming and aahing) a serious look at the long-rumoured Vision Pro. Hidden in all the umming and aahing was some important stuff, with the reveal of iOS 17 amongst them.
Despite being one of the smaller updates we’ve seen in a while, it’s making important changes to Phone, Messages, and FaceTime, along with a few new additions. We don’t have the full update yet – that’ll happen sometime in September, just in time for the launch of the iPhone 15. Until then, all we’ve got to go off is Apple’s conference which supplied a rough idea of where iOS 17 is headed.
Imparting knowledge (and voicemails)
One of those directions is a big focus on communication. WWDC made a lot of noise surrounding communication. Or rather, a lack of noise in the case of Live Voicemail. The new feature can transcribe voicemails into text in real-time, making it easier to ignore that third call regarding your car’s extended warranty. Fortunately, Live Voicemail isn’t giving ‘spam calls’ the time of day, declining those messages instead.
Sticking with the idea of voicemail, FaceTime is gaining the ability to ‘leave’ messages for others. Reactions, a new feature that’ll add animations like hearts, fireworks, balloons, rain, and more, is activated by user gestures. Make a heart with your hands and it’ll push out… well, you get the idea.
The updates to Messages are minimal and for the most part, uninteresting. Live Stickers are a thing now (yay!), search functionality is improved and it’s getting easier to navigate it all. We didn’t mind the addition of check-ins — a new way of letting friends and family know when you’ve arrived home safely. They’ll even see your location as long as your share it with them.
Dropping Names
AirDrop’s improvements mostly involve a new feature known as NameDrop. Tapping together two iPhones like they’re dolls (sorry, action figures) in the possession of children will allow said iPhones to share contact info instantly. It’ll allow for the sharing of music, movies, games, and more, though the scope of how much it’ll transfer remains a mystery.
Go Duck yourself
Along with an enhanced keyboard and better dictation, Autocorrect is where Apple’s input budget went this year. Autocorrect now uses what’s called a “transformer” language model, and can correct entire sentences if need be. And as Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief put it; “In those moments where you just want to type a ducking word, well, the keyboard will learn it, too.”
Something new? Finally
Apple hasn’t just been improving the same tired features of old. Believe it or not, some innovation went into creating some totally new features and apps, though we’d advise not getting your hopes up too high.
The first of the new is a Journal app that keeps track of your life for you. Everything you’ve done throughout a day – people you’ve spoken to, the music you listened to, places you’ve been – is saved, ready to be reviewed at the end of the day. Oh, and you can jot down your own journal updates. Duh. The app will remind you to journal daily and offer suggestions of what happened throughout the day so you always have something to write about.
There’s a new Standby Mode on the way too, and we’re honestly surprised Apple was the first to the finish line here. Activated when the screen is off and horizontally placed, the phone will show off handy information such as the time, scrollable widgets, Siri functionality, large-facing notifications, and Live Activities that you’re subscribed to. It’ll make keeping up with Manchester United’s continual losses simpler than ever.
And, bringing the conversation away from innovation is iOS 17’s updates to Siri, dropping the need for a “Hey” and activating through a simpler “Siri” greeting. We heard mention of some minor updates coming to offline Maps and improvements coming to the Photos app though specifics are scarce on those for the time being.
That’s the gist of it. There’ll be more announced as we near the September release. iOS 17 will be available for devices going as far back as the iPhone 11 series and above and for the iPhone SE (2nd gen), iPhone XR, and the XS series.
