What the Tech? See what’s new with Apple’s iOS 17
By JAMIE TUCKER Consumer Technology Reporter
Apple has set a date for its fall event in which we can expect to see new iPhones and a new Apple Watch. Taking a bit of a backseat is the release of iOS 17 which was announced at Apple’s June event. iOS 17 has been in beta development for a couple of months and will likely be available for public download following the September 12 event.
So what’s in iOS 17? Is it a big update? Here are a few useful upgrades to some of the things we use every day:
Your phone will be able to read the internet to you. Sort of. In iOS 17, when you visit a website in the Safari browser, tap on the lower and uppercase A’s next to the address bar. This drops a menu where you can select “Listen to Page”. Siri’s voice will read everything on that page including information on any photograph. This will be handy if you’re doing something else and
have your hands full or for when you don’t have your reading glasses.
If you ever need to share your flight information with someone just text them the airline and flight number. They can press and hold down the message to see detailed flight information including the route, whether it’s on time or delayed, and which baggage claim carousel the flight will use upon arrival. This is super helpful if someone’s picking you up at the airport.
A few new features with Facetime. If someone you’re calling doesn’t answer a Facetime, you can leave them a Facetime voicemail. Once the call isn’t answered after so many rings, you’ll see an option to leave the voicemail.
If someone is calling you on the phone you may or may not want to answer the call. In iOS 17 you’ll be able to find out what they’re calling about before answering. If you send a call to voicemail you’ll see a real-time transcript of what they’re saying. You can then choose to answer the phone or leave it in voicemail. Oh, and they won’t know.
Two-factor authentication texts will be easier to delete. These codes allow to you securely log into a service. But once you use the code you don’t need it anymore. In iOS 17 Go to settings, Password Options, and turn on “Clean up Automatically”. Now when you receive a code and enter it with auto-fill, Messages will delete them for you to clean up your inbox.
And one of my favorite iOS 17 features is “Standby”. When you put your phone on charge at night and place it sideways, it turns into a smart-looking bedside alarm clock. You can control how you want it to look, add reminders, stock prices, the latest news headlines, and battery information.
iOS 17 will not work with all iPhones, in fact, even the iPhone 8, 8 plus, and iPhone 10 are not getting this update.
