The iOS 17 public beta is now available for anyone that wants to give it a try before its official launch later this year. iOS 17 is the next big update for iPhone, and it brings some new and exciting features that make even the best iPhones better.
I’ve been using the beta for over a month now, and while the software is still in development, I’ve gotten a feel for iOS 17 and its best additions. With that in mind, here are the ten best new features coming to the iPhone in the fall and my first impressions of iOS 17 after getting a month of hands-on experience.
Contact Posters
When Contact Posters were first revealed, I wasn’t too fussed about the lock screen wallpaper customization coming to your contacts list. Now, after using Contact Posters for the last month, I’m sold.
Contact Posters are essentially full-screen contact images for when you call one of your contacts. You get to showcase your personality by picking what image pops up when someone makes a call or receives a call from you. It’s an incredibly fun tool that makes your iPhone feel even more personalized and adds a level of “you” to phone calls in a way we’ve never seen before.
As I've been playing around with making my own, I’ve grown more and more fond of the way it modernizes the phone app on iPhone. I can’t wait to see my contacts make their own because I think this could be one of the defining features of iOS 17. It’s so easy to do that the world of grey contact photos could be gone for good.
Find My
Ok, this might not be at the top of many lists, but I think it’s one of the best iOS 17 improvements. Find My integrates into other apps and widgets better than ever before. For example, I use Find My with my partner for those times when we’re trying to cross paths after she finishes work or when I’m grocery shopping, and she wants to see if I’ve left the shop yet.
In iOS 17, those Find My locations are finally integrated into the Maps app, something I’ve been screaming for since the dawn of time. You can easily search someone’s name in Maps and see where they are - super useful. Not only does Find My now appear in Maps, but it also appears in my Favorite Contacts widget on the home screen, giving a brief update of her location under her contact photo.
You can also now request and share locations with others directly from Messages which makes Find My way less niche and way more convenient to use with friends.
iOS 17 has a lot of little quality-of-life improvements that make using your iPhone easier, and the way Find My has expanded beyond the app is something I’ve noticed and loved since I installed the new software on my iPhone.
StandBy
StandBy stole my heart at WWDC, and while I love the concept, it feels a little barebones at the moment. iOS 17 is still in beta, and we’re yet to see the final polished version of StandBy, so keep that in mind.
StandBy allows you to connect your iPhone to a charger in landscape and showcase widgets, photos, and clocks in a very mindful way. I’ve been using StandBy at my desk connected to an Anker Cube MagSafe stand, and it has made using my phone while at work far less distracting. When a notification comes in, I get a nice full-screen preview and then can opt to access the app or ignore it for later. StandBy also has a beautiful full-screen media player that makes listening to music and podcasts more fun than ever before on iPhone. I’ve mostly used the feature as a quick way to change songs while working, as well as control my smart lights with a tap of a button.
And of course, if you know me, you know I love sports. I’ve had the tennis scores in full screen under my monitor as I work, the perfect companion to a summer of tennis.
That said, StandBy has a few glaring faults that I hope Apple changes in the full release of iOS 17. For starters, if I’m using StandBy, I'd like the option to disable Face ID or a passcode. I’ve tried using StandBy on my bedside table, and it’s annoying not to be able to just turn off my light without getting up from my pillow and unlocking the device - it feels counterintuitive to the interactive widget.
Another is just how frustrating it is to use if you don't own an iPhone with an Always-On-Display. If you own any iPhone other than the 14 Pro, you'll have to tap the display every single time you want to see the information on StandBy, it's infuriating.
And, possibly, the biggest oversight of StandBy is when you click to act on a notification and you’re brought to your iOS home screen. You’re thrust into a confusing battle of orientation because the iPhone no longer has a landscape home screen layout. Apple clearly wants you to lift your iPhone and use it off of the stand in this circumstance, but it feels limiting in a way that hinders StandBy for me.
Interactive Widgets
Interactive Widgets have arrived with iOS 17, and they are glorious. Your home screen feels like a living and breathing ecosystem of your favorite apps, more so than ever before, thanks to the ability to interact with widgets without launching the app they are connected to.
Gone are the days of tapping the Home widget, opening the Home app, then tapping again to switch on a smart light. You can now tap the Home widget directly from your home screen, and your light switches on. Apple has also added interactive widgets to Music, Podcasts, Contacts, News, Safari, and Books. Developers will also be able to add interactive widgets to their apps to improve the way users interact with third-party widgets. It sounds like a very small improvement, but it makes all the difference to the way you interact with iOS 17.
Keyboard improvements
Fed up with your iPhone autocorrecting to “Duck”? Now you can voice your frustrations better than ever before with the improved keyboard language model that makes Autocorrect more accurate and less frustrating to use.
I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my typing since updating to iOS 17, and it seems to get better the more I use my keyboard. iOS 17 now fixes typos better, and you can edit autocorrected words far easier. I’ve fallen in love with the Inline predictive text additions to iOS 17 that allow me to type faster by completing sentences with a tap of the Space bar.
The keyboard in iOS 17 feels more complete and, in turn, more comfortable and quick to use. I’ve found myself far more efficient when replying to texts or searching the web. As one of the most used aspects of a smartphone, a keyboard needs to be great, iOS 17 is definitely making the keyboard better.
Mental Health
Since installing iOS 17, I’ve received a notification twice daily asking me how I’m feeling. It doesn’t sound like the fanciest feature, but it has helped me be more aware of my feelings and conscious of my mindset.
Found in the Health app, there is now a Mental Health section that logs the way you feel on a daily basis. My iPhone now asks me how I’m feeling, and based on my answers, I can then highlight and visualize what impacts my mood.
There are a bunch of apps that do similar things, like Headspace, for example, but having the data incorporated into Health alongside access to Mental Health assessments often used in clinics is a fantastic step to normalizing mental health checkups in a world where we can constantly feel overwhelmed.
I also really like how the Mental Health logging fits in with the Apple Watch, allowing you to answer questions without ever taking your iPhone from your pocket. It all works seamlessly and should help a lot of people think more about how they’re feeling.
Stickers
The main theme of iOS 17, in my opinion, is personality. Apple wants you to have fun and make your iPhone yours by adding new customization features across the board. None are more enjoyable to use than the new Stickers experience in Messages and systemwide.
I’ve had so much fun with Stickers in the last month, creating different stickers of my French Bulldog, Kermit, as he goes through life loving everyone and destroying any shoe in sight. You can easily tap on a subject in Photos and turn it into a sticker. It also works with Live Photos, which make GIF-like Live Stickers.
As a huge fan of 90s stickers and trading cards, the Stickers improvements have been a joy to use. I particularly love the Shiny effects you can add to the Stickers to make them look like the holographic stickers from when I was growing up - most people will be able to relate to them, and because of that, they rule.
If that wasn’t enough, Stickers now have systemwide integration, which makes them more useable than ever. If, like me, you love a terribly edited meme or a quick Photoshop, Stickers now lets you do that directly from Markup. I used to use third-party apps to superimpose images on my iPhone, but now I can do it in seconds by lifting a subject, creating a sticker, and then adding it to the image I want.
Once people see the possibilities that the update to Stickers brings in iOS 17, I think way more users than ever will use the feature, and we’ll see a world of Messages filled with random shiny Stickers of our pets.
Messages
Stickers aren’t the only improvement to messaging on iOS. Now, the Messages app feels more fluid and intuitive thanks to some big additions.
I use WhatsApp a lot, and I’ve wanted a swipe-to-reply feature in Messages on iOS for far too long. Now we have it. You can easily reply to a message by swiping to the right, and it works just as you’d expect.
Messages also has a better search feature that helps you find specific messages with different keywords. I’ve found this useful, but I need to do further testing to see how much of an improvement there is. Apple says you can search for people, keywords, and content types like photos or links with search filters.
Another huge improvement is in audio messages. Now, iOS 17 transcribes audio messages under the play button so you can read quick messages if you’re out and about and unable to listen. This comes in handy when you’re in busy places like the grocery store, and I’ve used it on multiple occasions so far.
iOS 17 has a recurring theme of better integration across all of Apple’s first-party apps, and Messages is no different, with a better app drawer for all of your Messaging apps which makes it easier to send photos, live locations, and even songs from Apple Music.
Check In
Check In is a big addition to iOS 17 and a fantastic safety feature to add to your iPhone. In its simplest form, Check In allows you to let a family member or friend know when you arrive at your destination. It allows peace of mind and security that is perfect for parents, partners, and children all to feel safe when out and about.
There are multiple options to choose from, with the option to check in on a person after a certain amount of time or when their iPhone battery levels are running low. I’ve not had the opportunity to use Check In properly yet, but it deserves a place on this list just for the sheer impact I believe it will have when people start to use it.
This is Apple’s next step towards making the iPhone the smartphone centered around security and safety after adding Crash Detection to the iPhone 14 last year.
What’s that recipe?
Last but not least, iOS 17 brings new powers to Visual Look Up, and as a foodie, I’m in love. Now, you can find recipes for a meal just by using Visual Look Up on a photo - it’s magic.
This feature has been perfect for when I surf the web and stumble across tasty-looking treats without knowing their origin. It’s still not perfect, but I expect the capabilities to improve when iOS 17 officially releases later this year.
Visual Look Up also adds support for video content for the times that you need info but can’t find a photo of what you’re looking for. It’s one of these features that is criminally underused on the iPhone, but hopefully, the improvements in iOS 17 get people excited for your own pocket detective.
iOS 17 first impressions
So far, my experience with iOS 17 has been generally positive. I like what Apple has added here to make the operating system feel more personal and fun, as well as the integration between first-party apps that had been lacking up until this point.
It’s not the swankiest of major iOS updates, but it’s a polished addition of features that deserves a place on your iPhone. As it stands, I think iOS 17 will go down as a software update that brings lots of quality-of-life improvements without having a clear standout feature. I don’t think any of the additions will make your friends squeal in excitement, but they will have a drastic impact on a lot of our lives, and I think that’s exciting in itself.
The iOS 17 public beta 1 is available now, and the official release will arrive this fall.
