iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and tvOS 17 announced: what’s new

With the update to iOS 17, Apple is emphasizing three different apps: Phone, FaceTime, and Messages. The Phone app will receive personalized contact cards. You decide what your coordinates map will look like. You can add a photo, determine the color of your written name and select the font yourself. And thanks to CallKit support (which the developers among us want to know about), these special maps can also appear in other apps on your iPhone. Applications must have built-in support.

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Another new feature is live voicemail. If you’re not sure whether or not you want to answer, because someone is calling anonymously, for example, you’ll see what someone says when leaving your voicemail. If you think you recognize the person or if the message is important, you can always accept the call. FaceTime also gets its own voicemail option. If you call someone and they don’t answer, you can leave a video message. This message then gets to your friend or family member, who can view it at their convenience.

iOS 17 pays a lot of attention to the Messages app

Next, we take a look at the Messages app, the app that received the most attention during the conference. For example, you can search your messages more precisely with various filters, swipe on a bubble to respond immediately, and read what someone left in an audio message. The application can transcribe this text. This way you can still hear what someone is saying when you don’t have room to listen. It also makes it easier for users to share their location with each other. The following option also fits very well with this.

Next, we talk about Check In. This is a new feature that lets you let your family members know when you plan to be there. When you are there, they will receive a notification. This feature also sees when it was not successful, which your family will also be notified about. You can continue to communicate with your family, while also receiving information about your battery status. There will also be a plus button with useful functions and apps, so you’ll always have them at your fingertips. The options you use often are at the top of the list.

Finally, Apple announces additional options for stickers. All emoji are now stickers, which you can place wherever you want. You can resize, move and rotate them. Live Stickers lets you create your own stickers from photos and images. You can also create animated stickers based on your Live Photos collection. Apple is also announcing updates for AirDrop. You can now bump iPhones against each other and, for example, share coordinates (with this new map) and exchange files. Even when you don’t stop; the download then takes place via the Internet.

Keep a journal with iOS 17

A new application introduced by Apple is Journal. With this you can keep a diary. The app uses on-device machine learning to suggest topics. You can use photos, videos, music, workouts and more. Not only can they provide the right inspiration, but you can also use them effortlessly in your story. The app will also contain prompts, which can speed up your writing by asking (general) questions. You can also lock these texts with a lock.

Finally, Apple announces a Sleep mode. It turns your iPhone into a smart alarm clock, so to speak. When you load your iPhone with iOS 17 and place it horizontally, a clock appears on the screen. But you also see a calendar, notifications and much more information. The mode supports widgets and is fully customizable with fonts, colors, and backgrounds. There is also support for Live Activities, Siri and Home Control. So if you have a smart home, you can also use this mode as a sort smart display use it if you want.

iOS 17 also includes the following improvements:

iPadOS 17 gets interactive widgets

iPadOS 17 is getting a significantly smaller update than iOS 17. But that doesn’t mean Apple doesn’t have some nice updates in store. For example, widgets are now interactive, so you no longer need to open apps for a number of (basic) functions. For example, you can control smart home devices, turn music on and off, or tick reminders in widgets. Stage Manager is also getting an update: you can now determine window sizes yourself. Additionally, you can use the built-in camera of an external monitor when you connect such a monitor.

The locked screen is the most overhauled. Not only do you have access to more backgrounds (such as colorful kaleidoscopes, for example), but you can also choose from your own (live) photos. Live Photos will have additional frames inserted, allowing iPadOS 17 to add a slow motion effect to them. You also determine the font of the clock, as well as the color. You can add widgets and live activities and track things like your food orders or your match scores. You can also add multiple timers and do more with the Health app.

Updates for tvOS and watchOS

Later in the evening, Apple also paid some attention to tvOS. The Apple TV operating system gets a new control panel and the ability to find your remote through the iPhone. Additionally, there are additional screen saver options and you can use the FaceTime app on Apple TV (via your iPhone or iPad camera). Meanwhile, you can also see your friends while watching the same content. The tvOS 17 update is expected to be released in late 2023, as are the iOS and iPadOS updates. Then only watchOS remains.

WatchOS 10 brings a host of new options. We will go through them with you at a fast pace.

These are the main features announced by Apple during WWDC 2023. The company also announced major updates to its Mac lineup and macOS software, which you can find out more about here. In any case, we will have to wait and see which functions will actually come to the Netherlands. All mentioned possibilities will come to users in the United States anyway. Later this year, in the fall, we will see what Apple really brings to the Netherlands.