Listen to this articleWorld News, June 6, 2023. Apple has unveiled iOS 17, a significant update that enhances the personalization and intuitiveness of the iPhone. The release introduces major updates to communication apps, easier sharing with AirDrop, more intelligent text input, and new experiences with Journal and Standby. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, expressed excitement about the updates, emphasizing the focus on improving the features users rely on daily.
The Phone app receives a major upgrade with the introduction of Personal Contact posters. This feature allows users to customize their appearance, give a fresh look to incoming calls, and choose visually appealing treatments for photos or Memoji. Additionally, contact posters will be available for third-party calling apps. Live voicemail offers real-time transcriptions and allows callers to leave messages. Spam calls are immediately rejected, ensuring a more streamlined voicemail experience. The live voicemail transcription is processed on the device, guaranteeing privacy.
FaceTime now supports audio and video messages, providing users with the ability to share messages when the recipient is unavailable. FaceTime calls become more expressive with reaction options such as hearts, balloons, and laser beams. These effects can be easily activated through gestures, and third-party video calling apps can utilize them as well. FaceTime is also extended to Apple TV, allowing users to start a video call on their iPhone and seamlessly transfer it to the Apple TV for others to watch. Center Stage ensures perfect framing even when the user moves around the room.
Messages receives significant updates in iOS 17. A new stickers experience is introduced, featuring new emoji stickers and the ability to create Live Stickers from photos. Users can add effects to make Live Stickers come to life, and a convenient drawer in the keyboard keeps all stickers easily accessible. Messaging features are enhanced with an expandable menu for iMessage apps, powerful search filters for precise results, catch-up arrows to indicate the last read point in conversations, and the ability to reply inline by swiping up on text bubbles. Real-time location sharing and automatic transcription of audio messages further enhance communication.
AirDrop becomes even more user-friendly, allowing easy file sharing and playlist collaboration. SharePlay in the car enables all passengers to contribute to the music playing, and on-device intelligence learns user preferences for content sharing through AirPlay. AirPods receive powerful new features, including Adaptive Audio, Personalized Volume, and Conversation Awareness. The Home app adds extended activity history viewing and new features for HomeKit-compatible locks. Reminders introduce a grocery list with automatically grouped items, and Visual Look Up can identify subjects in paused video frames. Siri can now be activated with a simple voice command, and the People album in Photos utilizes on-device machine learning to recognize favorite people, as well as cats and dogs.
Privacy updates include expanded Communication Safety features, covering AirDrop, Contact Posters, FaceTime messages, and Photos picker, to protect children when sending and receiving content. A new Sensitive Content Warning feature helps adult users avoid unwanted explicit images and videos. All processing for these safety features occurs on-device to ensure privacy. Accessibility updates encompass Assistive Access, Live Speech, Personal Voice, and Point and Speak, empowering users with cognitive disabilities, nonspeaking individuals, those at risk of speech loss, and visually impaired individuals to utilize the iPhone with greater ease and independence.
