iOS 17 is the seventeenth and current major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone and the successor to iOS 16. It was announced on June 5, 2023, at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, and released publicly on September 18, 2023.
Development
According to Mark Gurman, iOS 17's internal codename was Dawn. Apple leaders initially intended iOS 17 as a "tuneup release" similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, allowing them to focus on their new mixed reality headset. Despite this, several major features were added later in the development cycle.
Features
User interface and system features
Interactive widgets
The widgets are now interactive, on the Home and Lock screens. For example, users can turn on the lights or shutters of the house by pressing the corresponding button of the Home widget; or mark a task complete by pressing directly on a reminder in the widget, etc.
Wallpaper improvements
The brightness of the wallpaper image changes depending on the dark or light mode. Resized photos are automatically extended to the top with a gradient that fills the missing space. Live Photos are now also supported. The font weight for the text on the lock screen can be adjusted more freely.
StandBy mode
StandBy mode is automatically enabled when the phone is charging while horizontally oriented. It displays information via widgets in intelligent stacks and Live activities also the clock . The appearance of this information changes according to the ambient light, so at night they appear with less flashy and less bright colors.
Autocorrect and text prediction improvements
The keyboard's autocorrection and dictation are powered by a new on-device transformer model, which Apple says is more accurate and personalized to users' writing styles. Unlike previous versions of iOS, it can learn not to autocorrect swear words. Autocorrected words are underlined, and can be reverted with a tap. Word predictions are shown inline, and added when the spacebar is tapped.
AirDrop improvements
AirDrop file transfers continue over the Internet if devices become out of reach. This feature is not yet available, but Apple says it will be available later this year in a software update. NameDrop: by tapping an iPhone or Apple Watch against another iPhone, users can start a file transfer, a shared activity with SharePlay, or exchange a customizable contact card.
Spotlight improvements
The global search now allows users to change system settings directly from the search results. For example, if the user searches for "wifi" from the Home Screen, the switch to turn the Wi-Fi off or on appears directly in the search results.
Focus mode improvements
Silence Notifications: a new option for notifications in focus mode that allows users to choose to mute notifications Always or When locked.
Visual Lookup improvements
Visual Lookup is now able to recognize in photos the symbols of the various lights in the car, the symbols in the labels of clothes, etc.
Siri improvements
Users can now simply say "Siri" instead of "Hey Siri" to activate Siri with their voice. Subsequent questions asked to Siri do not require the user to re-say the "Siri" command. Users can now say "Hey Siri, send a message" and then choose the application to use through a drop-down menu. After the first change, Siri will remember the choice and speed up the operation. Users can ask Siri to read a page in Safari. Ability to find a lost Apple TV remote with Siri.
Faster Haptic Touch
In the Haptic Touch duration settings is a new third duration that is even shorter than the other two available on iOS 16.
Advanced AutoFill in PDFs and scanned documents
The information saved by the user in Contacts can be used to automatically and securely fill in the fields of a form of a PDF or scanned document.
Accessibility improvements
Personal Voice uses machine learning to let users recreate their own voice as a text-to-speech model. Using Point and speak, the phone will read what is written on the push-button panels of household appliances. Assistive Access: an extremely simplified iOS user interface that can be activated from the Accessibility settings, useful for people with cognitive disabilities.