Apple’s next major software update for iPhones, iOS 17 has been announced. While there aren’t many significant overhauls in the software, the new version packs in tons of improvements under the hood and brings in several new features such as Posters, StandBy, NameDrop, and in-app changes to iPhones. The update is likely to be rolled out to all compatible devices starting later this year and the rumoured iPhone 15 is expected to boot on iOS 17 right out of the box.
With that said, here’s a quick look at iOS 17’s launch date, feature list, supported devices, beta download guide, and more.
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iOS 17 launch date
Apple unveiled iOS 17 during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 on June 5th where it presented all the key features of the next software release to the attendees and live-stream viewers.
Right after the event, Apple released the iOS 17 developer beta update for developers to install and test their apps on the latest iOS version. A month later, the public beta update for iOS 17 was released on July 12th for everyone to install and experience the update on their compatible devices. As for stable rollout, Apple is expected to release the firmware officially to the users in September.
iOS 17-supported devices
Apple has dropped the support for year-old devices such as the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the company’s first-ever phone with a notch, iPhone X.
Here are the devices that are eligible for iOS 17 update:
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
How to install iOS 17 beta
If you’re willing to get your hands on iOS 17 before anyone else, you can go ahead on install the public beta on your iPhone. However, bear in mind that this build may contain bugs which can hamper your day-to-day experience of using the device. Also, before proceeding with the steps, ensure your iPhone is running on iOS 16.4 or later.
- Firstly, back up your data, if you haven’t
- Then visit Apple’s official beta website on your iPhone
![Apple iOS 17 Beta]()
- Sign in with your Apple ID from the top right corner
- Now get your iPhone and open ‘Settings’
- Go to ‘General’ and select ‘Software update’
- Wait for a couple of minutes and a new option for beta updates will appear below ‘Automatic updates’
- Once the beta update shows up, select it
- The update will start downloading and be automatically installed on your iPhone
iOS 17 features
Here are the key features and changes coming with the iOS 17 update.
Contact Posters
Posters allow you to customise how your contact appears on the caller screen of the recipient’s iPhone when placing a call. This can be done by using various fonts, background colours, stickers and even Memojis.
Live Voicemail
Besides Posters, the Phone app is also getting a Live Voicemail feature that will transcribe the message for you in real-time in case you couldn’t pick up the call.
Messages app improvements
The Messages app is getting a host of new features and improvements on iOS 17. You can now swipe right on any message in the chat to reply, tap the catch-up arrow to navigate to the first unseen message, and find all iMessage apps within the ‘Plus’ button. There’s also a new sticker drawer that contains all the Live Stickers, emoji, Memoji, and other sticker packs in one place.
Next up is the Check In feature that automatically sends updates to your friends or family members in the chat when you reach your destination. Lastly, iMessage is also getting search filters for easily finding and narrowing down very specific messages.
Sticker packs
With iOS 17, you will be able to create custom animated stickers through Live Photos. Other than that, any image cutout from the gallery can also be added to the sticker pack for later use.
Additions to FaceTime
FaceTime is getting the ability to send short video messages when the other person misses your call. Besides that, to make the FaceTime experience more fun, users can react use their hands to show thumbs up or make a love symbol to see cool confetti, fireworks, and heart effects within the frame. Apple TV users will be able to engage in FaceTime calls by using their iPhone’s rear camera for crisp and detailed video quality.
StandBy mode
Turn your iPhone into an interactable smart display by rotating it to landscape orientation while charging. Users will be able to glance through the time, calendar, photos, and widgets. While in StandBy mode, Siri can be triggered by voice command and can be used to ask or do various tasks such as showing the weather status or setting a timer.
Interactive Widgets
After the introduction of widgets on previous iterations of iOS, Apple has gone ahead and given a major boost to the widgets on iOS 17. Users will be able to execute actions right from the home screen such as playing music through the music widget or turning on the lights of the room with the help of the Home controls widget.
NameDrop
NameDrop is an addition made to AirDrop that allows users to share their contact details by simply holding their iPhone near someone else’s iPhone. Along with that, media files can be shared with nearby people by bringing the phones together and the transfer will automatically happen through AirDrop.
New Journal app
A brand new Journal app is debuting with iOS 17 that will help users to jot down journal entries and intelligently provide suggestions of what to write based on their photos, last played music, and more.
Keyboard changes
The keyboard is getting predictions inline that suggest the next few words of the sentence. All you need to do is tap the spacebar to add the words that are being predicted. Along with that, autocorrected words are now underlined and show a revert button to go back to the word typed initially.
Activating Siri without saying full phrase
In order to trigger Siri by voice, users on iOS 17 will no longer require saying the “Hey” phrase as it can be activated by just saying “Siri”. Besides that, Siri will be able to deliver back-to-back results without the need to reactivate it when giving continuous commands.
Spotlight improvements
Spotlight has been upgraded to deliver app shortcuts in the ‘Top Hit’ section for easy accessibility such as hoping right into an Album when searching for the Photos app.
Health app updates
The Health app brings new mental and vision health features for improved insights related to your well-being. Additionally, the Health app will also now be available on iPads that can sync data with iPhones and Apple Watch.
Assistive Access
Apple briefed about several accessibility features earlier this year. These features will come with iOS 17 itself. One of them is Assistive Access which is a feature that customises several first-party apps such as Camera, Photos, Music, Calls, and Messages to show only the essential features. After enabling this feature, the UI, font, and buttons are enlarged for better readability and visual experience.
Live Speech and Personal Voice
Another set of accessibility features introduced in iOS 17 is Live Speech and Personal Voice. With Live Speech, users with speaking difficulties can type what they want and have it spoken out loud during phone calls, FaceTime, and even for in-person conversations. As for Personal Voice, it can be used to create the user’s actual voice that can be later used for conversations in Live Speech. To set up Personal Voice, a random set of text will be presented which users will have to read for the iPhone or iPad to record and interpret the voice using on-device machine learning.
India-specific iOS 17 features
With iOS 17, Apple is also releasing several India-specific features. Check them out:
- Bilingual Siri support – Indian users will be able to interact with Siri using a mix of English and other Indian languages such as Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, and Marathi.
- More keyboard languages – Apple is adding more transliteration keyboard languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam on top of the already existing Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati.
- Message sorting – With iOS 17, users in India will be able to sort messages between primary and secondary SIMs.
- Other noteworthy features – Other quality of life updates include extended call history, the option sign in to Apple ID with phone number, saving full page screenshots as image or PDF format ,filtering messages by unread, known senders, and unknown senders, and the addition of a Punjabi built-in dictionary
iOS 17 news
Apple releases iOS 17 public beta update for compatible iPhones (July 12th)
Apple has just released iOS 17 public beta update for users to install on their iPhones. The firmware can be downloaded by visiting Apple’s official beta portal and signing up for the ‘Apple Beta Software Program’ using an Apple ID.
