Apple, apart from announcing a bunch of new hardware including its much-anticipated Vision Pro headset, also rolled out iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and tvOS 17.
iOS 17
At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 event, the company talked about its new OS (operating system) version for iPhone users—iOS 17.
The changes mostly include more customization options such as ‘Contact Posters’ which lets you pick your photo and style for the image your friends see on their phone when you give them a call.
So don’t go adding randos to your contacts list if you don’t want to see something unsavory when they call you.
Live Voicemail offers real-time transcriptions and you can also pick up the call while someone is leaving you a message.
Don’t worry, this won’t happen for spam calls since they will be declined instantly.
FaceTime now supports live Reactions (hearts, balloons, rain, etc.), audio and video messages. You can also initiate such a call directly from your Apple TV 4K or hand off a video call from your iPhone to the big screen.
Check out: Apple Vision Pro Headset, M2 Ultra Chip & AirPods Update Announced At WWDC 2023
Other additions to iOS 17 include Collaborative Playlists for Apple Music, offline Maps mode, the ability to share passwords with a group of trusted contacts, Autocorrect and Dictation improvements, and easier sharing with AirDrop and NameDrop.
And just in case you can’t summon enough gratitude for all the life-changing updates that are coming to your iPhone, practice journaling for when iOS 17 (yes, Journals are a thing in iOS 17) will be available in public beta form in July.
iPadOS 17
With iPadOS 17, the Apple Health app has now arrived onto this tablet. Apart from this, there are new drawing tools in Freeform, more flexibility to the position and size of the windows with Stage Manager, enhanced autocorrect for the keyboard and offline Maps.
The Safari browser will enable users to keep their browsing separate between topics like work and personal with a Profiles feature.
Additionally, they can use Face ID or Touch ID to keep their private tabs locked from view.
Read: Apple Unveils New Mac Studio, Mac Pro, 15-Inch MacBook Air & macOS Sonoma
The changes in FaceTime that were mentioned to be part of iOS 17 have also come to iPadOS 17. Audio messages will be transcribed automatically too.
Interactive widgets can be placed on the Lock Screen and Home Screen so users don’t have to unlock their iPad to access certain tasks.
PDFs appear full width and users can review or mark up PDFs and scanned documents right in their notes.
The addition of live collaboration means updates appear in real time when users are sharing a note with others.
watchOS 10
It shows up when you turn the Digital Crown from any watch face on your Apple smartwatch.
For example, Calendar and Reminders will reshuffle to the top to display upcoming meetings or tasks.
If you happen to be traveling, the Smart Stack will show boarding passes from Wallet. At the beginning of the day, Weather will display the forecast.
There’s additional support for mental health with the updated Mindfulness app. Control Center is now accessible via the side button.
When you begin a cycling workout, it will automatically show up as a Live Activity on the connected iPhone.
The Apple Watch can also auto-connect to Bluetooth-enabled cycling accessories, such as power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors.
With the watchOS 10 update, you can even get your smartwatch to keeping reminding you to take your medication, playback FaceTime video messages, measure time spent in daylight for healthy vision and check for a last cellular connection waypoint (when hiking).
tvOS 17
You can initiate calls on iPhone or iPad and hand them off to your Apple TV.
Thanks to Split View you can continue watching stuff on the big screen during a SharePlay session while also seeing everyone who’s on the FaceTime call.
If you happen to lose your 2nd gen or later version of the Siri Remote, you will be able to locate it easily by playing Hot and Cold with your iPhone. We like that.
Another entertaining addition will be a karaoke-like feature dubbed Apple Music Sing which will let you sing along to tracks while seeing yourself on screen and adding fun filters.
Other interesting updates include support for 3rd party VPNs and Dolby Vision 8.1. In case you don’t like reading subtitles while watching stuff, then there’s the Enhance Dialogue mode which adjusts the audio so you can hear what’s being said better, as long as you have the TV paired with a 2nd gen HomePod.
Apple iPadOS 17, iOS 17, tvOS 17 and watchOS 10 will be available as free software updates this fall.