If the quick criticism on Twitter is to be believed, Apple’s 2023 iPhone software update will be disappointing.
Actually, I witnessed software head Craig Federighi present the new features alongside these keyboard warriors, and I have to say, I agree with them. Sure, there are a few important quality-of-life enhancements like NameDrop, but these and other new features like Check In are only useful if you and the other person also have iPhones.
Since the collapse of business cards, the world has been in desperate need of a digital counterpart. When you hover one iPhone over another, Namedrop does precisely that, sharing your contact information – and your new avatar backdrop – with a stranger.
That won’t work if the other person has an Android phone, and neither will Check In, which appears to be specific to iMessage and hence worthless if you need to send alerts when you arrive (or fail to arrive) at a predetermined location.
Cross-platform apps can already do a lot of what’s coming in iOS 17, albeit not as elegantly, and other updates like being able to say “Siri” instead of “Hey Siri” and auto-collated photo albums of your pets fall into the category of features you incorrectly assumed were already in iOS but weren’t.
There is one quality-of-life enhancement, though, that I am looking forward to receiving when Apple releases iOS 17 to the public in September. When you don’t answer the phone, Live Voicemail displays a live transcript of the message the caller is leaving.
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It’s useful in circumstances where the caller isn’t in your contacts and you’re unsure whether to respond or not. The idea is that you can read the transcript and determine that you do, in fact, wish to answer, in which case you may push the Accept button and speak with the caller before they hang up. And you won’t have to wait for that moment to call them back.
It also allows you to know what the message is faster than having to wait a few seconds and then dial into your voicemail, and it allows you to safely ignore calls while you’re busy since you can see on the call screen that it’s not urgent enough to stop what you’re doing.
A slightly related new feature is the option to leave a video message if a FaceTime call is not answered.
The only other feature in iOS 17 is StandBy, which displays the clock and other information while your phone is charging. It’s similar to the Apple Watch’s sideways nightstand mode, but it can provide a lot more information.
Scrollable smart stack widgets are supported, and the clock display may be styled in a variety of ways. At least one has a deep red tint and may be used as a bedside clock.
In fact, the entire function appears to be intended just for bedside use: it only works when your iPhone is charging and in landscape position. It’s unclear if StandBy would require a MagSafe charging stand, as seen in Apple’s photos, or if earlier iPhones without MagSafe will still get the functionality.
