Since its release on September 18, 2023, Apple has slowly added new features to iOS 17. As the updates for iOS 17 slow down and Apple shifts their focus on iOS 18, it’s the best time to discuss some of the best features that iOS 17 brought us.
Since a lot of the features are restricted to the EU only, we won’t be going into too much detail about them.
Without further ado, here’s a roundup of some of the best features of iOS 17.
Contact Posters and Real-Time Voicemails
Features I Wish to See in iOS 18
Camera and Photos
With iOS 17, Apple has made it easier than ever to crop photos with a single tap. Now, whenever you zoom into a photo, a Crop button will appear towards the top-right part of the screen. Click on it and you will be taken directly to the crop tool in Photos.
If you’re someone with tons of pictures of their pets on their phone, the Photos app can now identify pictures of animals and allow you to tag them and sort them into albums. The “People” album has also been renamed to “People & Pets” now.
The Camera app also has some new settings that can help you align your shots.
Reminders and Notes
Apple also made some welcome changes to the Reminders and Notes app in iOS 17.
You can add links from one note to another one. All you have to do is long press anywhere in a note or double-tap a word and click on the Add Link button in the pop-up menu.
Reminders have become a little handier since this app now allows you to create a list for your groceries where you can add various items. The list is then automatically categorized to make it easier for you to find what you need when you’re at the grocery store.
Offline Maps
Apple Maps now allows you to download maps for the first time. This allows you to navigate seamlessly, even if you don’t have a WiFi or cellular connection.
To download the map, enter the name of the specific area in the search field and click on the Download button on the information card. This will prompt you to select the area you wish to download. Feel free to drag the corners to adjust the size. This will also show you how much space it will take on your device.
Mood Tracking with Health
With the new iOS version, Apple has added the option to track your emotions daily to give an overview of your mental well-being.
In the Health app, click on Browse in the bottom-right part of the screen, and scroll down to find Mental Wellbeing. There, click on State of Mind and tap on Get Started.
You will be asked to log your emotions using a slider as well as the options that had an impact on your mood that day.
Contact Posters and Real-Time Voicemails
Apple made some of the most notable changes to the FaceTime and Phone apps with iOS 17.
You can now create a Contact Poster that people in your contacts can see when you call them. Voicemails can now be transcribed in real-time, so you can read what the other person is saying in text format, which allows you to pick the call if it’s important.
FaceTime now also supports video and audio messages and you can leave voicemails in FaceTime now too.
Features I Wish to See in iOS 18
iOS 18 rollout has been slower-than-usual since its launch since apple is opting to add features over time, rather than cramming all features in a single update.
The biggest feature I loved with iOS 18 is a dedicated Gaming Mode. Apple has already made it clear that they want to focus on gaming with the newer, more powerful iPhone. With games like Assassins Creed Mirage, Death Stranding, Resident Evil 4, and Village, it’s clear that Apple’s new iPhones have the power to play console-quality games natively on the device.
A dedicated gaming mode makes sure the resources are allocated to games only. While this doesn’t have pass-through charging, which is something I hope to see in the future, it’s still a great feature that I often find myself using.
I love being able to connect a USB-C hub to my phone, the other end of which is connected to the TV using an HDMI cable, my Xfinity router using an Ethernet cable, and my phone to the power using the charging cable. I personally like Xfinity internet deals and find them to be great for gamers since they offer fast, reliable internet that’s available in 41 states at very affordable prices.
With iOS 18.1, Apple officially released parts of Apple Intelligence, including Writing Tools, Call Recording, an updated Siri, as well as AI generated Memories in Photos. iOS 18.2 is going to be a fun update since it’s going to bring Image Playground, Genmoji support, ChatGPT integration, Image Wand, Visual Intelligence and a lot more.
While there have been a lot of new features in iOS 17, it’s safe to say now that iOS 18 is going to be a massive update, and we are just on the first iteration. Expect to see a lot more features added to iOS 18 in the coming months, including advanced Siri features, personal context, on-screen awareness and deeper app integration.