iOS 17: Top 17 features you should know about latest iPhone OS update

Apple earlier this week rolled out the new iOS 17 to all eligible iPhones around the world.

The new update comes with a boatload of features and personalisation options to enhance the user experience on iPhones.

Here are 17 key features you should know about the latest iOS 17 update:

1) More customisation to the Phone app with Name Drop: With the Phone app, iPhone users can personalise contact cards with vibrant photos and names with eye-catching typography and font colours. As you can see in the screenshot below, the photos on the calling screen look so cool and it actually offers a good positive vibe before picking up the call.

Also, iOS 17 is bringing a fun new feature NameDrop. Like the AirDrop, users can share contact with new friends or a colleague.

Users have brought their iPhones close to each other and it exchanges the contact details with an amazing animation.

iOS 17 brings new NameDrop feature

2) Improved iMessage app: The new iOS 17 brings a new expandable menu on the iMessage app. It comes with a '+' icon and with a simple tap, you will a full list of functions such as sharing location, photos, stickers, memos, and more.

3) Check-In safety feature: With this, users can notify a family member or friend that they have made it to their destination safely. You can find the Check-In feature in the iMessage app.

iOS 17 brings Check-In feature

4) Standby mode: This new feature will surely be loved by all iPhone users. When the iPhone is placed on a charger for overnight charging, the device turns into a smart display showing just the required information in big fonts visible from the far-away side of the bed. It will also offer other widgets such as calendar, international time and appointment/meeting details to be viewed in the morning.

iOS 17 brings StandBy feature

5) Improvements on FaceTime: With the new iOS 17, FaceTime now supports voice and video messages. Furthermore, FaceTime calls get Reactions such as hearts, balloons, fireworks, laser beams, rain, and more.

iOS 17 brings Live Sticker feature to iPhones.

6) Live Stickers: The new iOS 17 will offer more personalisation option to create their own stickers that can be used for reactions or make a visual response on iMessage app. Users can lift objects, human face, or animal pets straight from photos captured on iPhones to create vibrant stickers with flashy effects to make it even more fun.

iOS 17 brings long-range AirDrop feature.

7) Long-range AirDrop feature: This new feature is coming later this year. Even if the two iPhones are far away from each other, the selected files will still be delivered to the designated iPhone via the Internet.

8) Journal app: It will be coming later this year. The Journal app lets users record their day-to-day life, reflect back and practice gratitude through journaling, which the research studies say will improve the mental well-being of the person.

9) Screen Distance (eye safety feature): This feature makes use of the iPhone's TrueDepth camera to encourage users to move their device farther away if it is closer than 12 inches from their face for an extended period of time. This way, it will help reduce the risk of eyesight problems caused by long-term exposure to harmful light from electronic displays.

Followup iOS 17 series update slated to release later this year will bring Journal app.

10) Personal voice: This new accessibility feature allows users with health risks of losing their ability to speak will be able to save their voice on iPhone (iPad and Mac). This will be stored only on the particular device used by the owner.

The iPhone owner will be asked to read at 150 phrases to the audio recording. The speech is processed securely on device overnight while the device is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. The hard work will be done by the iPhone's neural engine (present on Apple Silicon).

Then, users can use the Live Speech feature. Here, he/she can type and have the words spoken out loud using the Personal Voice that sounds like them.

Here's how to set up Personal Voice on iPhone/iPad:

Step 1: Open the Settings app. Tap Accessibility, then tap Personal Voice.

Step 2: Tap Create a Personal Voice.

Step 3: Follow the onscreen instructions to record your voice.

To pause your recording session, tap Done or close the Settings app. Your progress is saved.

To resume a recording session:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Personal Voice.

Step 1: Tap the Personal Voice that you want to continue creating.

Step 2: Tap Continue Recording, then follow the onscreen instructions.

NameDrop feature comes with iOS 17 update.

11) Now, users can download Apple Maps and use it offline

12) The new iOS 17 greatly improves the autocorrect feature on the Keyboard and also gets word prediction to complete the sentence faster than before.

13) Now, iPhone owners will be able to summon Siri without having the prefix 'Hey' in the call phrase. He/she can just say 'Siri, what's the weather like today'.

iOS 17 brings improved keyboard and word prediction feature

14) Passkey and Password sharing: Once updated to iOS 17, iPhone users will be able to share a set of passwords with their trusted contacts.

15) With iOS 17, Apple is bringing an option to sign in with Apple ID with a phone number. Once you update to iOS/iPadOS 17 or macOS 14, users can sign into their Apple ID using a phone number instead of an email address.

16) Full page screenshot: Finally, the feature is now live on iOS 17. Users can scroll down to the last to get the full page in the screenshot. Be it a full page in Safari, or Mail, or Notes, users can choose whether to save it to iPhone and iPad as an image or a PDF.

17) With the new iOS/iPadOS 17, users will be able to view the extended call history of up to 2,000 calls in Recents within the Phone app, including phone and FaceTime calls, as well as calls received on WhatsApp

iOS 17 brings password sharing feature

Bonus: India-specific features coming with iOS 17

--Apple's Siri gets bilingual support. Now, Siri can understand commands in several regional languages including Kannada, Telugu, Punjabi, Hindi, or Marathi in addition to English.

Users can set an alarm or timer, send messages, make calls, play music, check the weather, and look up directions on Maps.

--Transliteration Keyboard support for more Indian languages. Now, the keyboard on the iPhone supports Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. Previously, it supported Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati.

-- Better dual-SIM usage experience on iPhone: With the new iOS 17, the iMessage app will get more organized. It will have clear categories of Messages sorted by their primary as well as secondary SIM.

And, with iOS 17, iPhones will now support different ringtones for calls from primary and secondary SIMs.This way, it will help the owner to instantly know if the call is related to work or personal.

List of iPhones eligible for iOS 17 update:

Apple will bring a new update to 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 Gen) and iPhone SE (3rd Gen). It should be noted that the newly launched iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will run the latest iOS 17 out-of-the-box.

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