Apple (AAPL) announced the latest version of its iOS operating system that powers the iPhone at its Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California on Monday.
The latest version of iOS, called iOS 17, will bring a number of improvements to the iPhone, including updates to the Contacts app, a journaling app, and a standby mode that allows the iPhone to act as a desk-side display.
The first update is Apple’s new custom contact posters. You can now add full screen photos or memojis for your contacts instead of the small images currently displayed. Contact posters will appear when you receive a phone call and on the Contact card in your Contacts list. Personalize the poster by adding your favorite image and you can select a font and color.
Apple also adds real-time transcriptions of voice messages. So when a caller is leaving a voicemail, you will now see what he is saying as she speaks. This way you can see what the call is about without having to answer it. If it’s an important message, you can reply immediately or just let the person keep leaving the message.
Speaking of messages, FaceTime is also getting an update in the form of the ability to leave video messages for people if they’re not available for a call.
Messages, meanwhile, is getting a new search feature that lets you filter your searchers in Messages. Replying online is also easier by simply swiping the appropriate text button. You can also share locations directly in a text.
A new feature called Check In will let you notify a person when you arrive at your home or destination. If something unexpected happens, the app recognizes you’re not coming home and asks if anything happened. If there is a problem, the app will send a message to your friend or family member.
Apple is also making improvements to AirDrop, including making it possible to connect between people, share a video, and then leave the area while still being able to send the file you’re sharing. That way you don’t have to be next to someone if you’re sharing a large video or batch of photos.
Apple’s iOS 17 says AutoCorrect is now getting a transformer language model to improve the accuracy of the feature. Powered by Apple Silicon processors, it runs the model every time you touch a key. Sentence Correction can also correct sentence errors. Apple also says it will finally enable autocorrect to learn a word, so you no longer have to accidentally type “dodge” when you didn’t want to.
Voice typing also gets a transformer upgrade to improve overall accuracy.
Journal, a new app, is also coming to iOS 17 later this year. Using on-device machine learning, the app will make suggestions based on things you’ve done from photos, music, location, podcasts, workouts, and more.
Some prompts are personalized, and others are meant to prompt your thinking to prompt you to start journaling. The app will also give you hints when you start putting together an entry. If you enter photos of the beach and the location, the prompt will ask what you liked most about the trip to let you understand the experience.
Apple is also adding a feature called Standby that turns your iPhone 14 Pro into a smart display when left overnight. You’ll be able to see your schedule info, photos, your favorite team’s last game score, and notifications for things like food deliveries. At night, Standby changes the display to a red clock.
Siri is getting an update so you no longer have to say “Hey, Siri,” just say “Siri.” You will also be able to issue commands one after another.
Finally, an update to the Photos app will allow the software to recognize your four-legged family members as individuals and mark them appropriately in your library.
iPad OS 17
Apple’s iPadOS 17 also gets a lot of updates. There’s a new customizable lock screen, and the Health app is finally coming to Apple’s best-selling tablet.
PDFs should be easier with iPadOS 17 thanks to the addition of a new automatic field detection, which will show areas where information needs to be written, allowing you to fill out forms from your iPad.
PDFs are also available in Apple’s Notes app, giving you the ability to annotate PDFs or collaborate with others through the app. iPadOS 17 adds the ability to use the secondary monitor camera as the primary webcam as well.
Of course, iPadOS 17 will also have many of the same features as iOS 17.
Apple’s iPhone is the company’s flagship product. It serves as a catalyst for the growth of the tech giant’s user base, which allows it to offer an array of add-on devices and services ranging from Apple Watches and AirPods to Apple TV+ and Apple Cards.
It is also responsible for the lion’s share of Apple’s sales. In 2022, the iPhone produced $205.5 billion of Apple’s $394.3 billion in overall sales. That wipes out the company’s second-largest business segment, services, which brought in $78.1 billion for the year. Apple’s wearables, Mac and iPad businesses, meanwhile, grossed $41 billion, $40 billion and $29 billion, respectively.
Apple is largely expected to roll out the latest version of iOS alongside the next generation of iPhone at its annual iPhone event in September.
Daniel Howley is the technical editor of Yahoo Finance. He has been in the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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