- Kyle Chua
WWDC 2023: Apple Debuts NameDrop, StandBy, Journal with iOS 17
Apple has announced the next major update for iPhone, iOS 17, at Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023.
The latest version of the operating system builds on previous releases, rolling out a number of improvements while adding a number of new features and apps.
"With iOS 17, we’ve made iPhone more personal and intuitive by deeply considering the features we all rely on every day," said Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. "Phone, FaceTime, and Messages are central to how we communicate, and this release is packed with updates we think our users are going to love."
The iOS 17 developer beta is available starting today, with the public beta scheduled for next month. The new software features are expected to roll out later in the year as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later.
Here are the top features coming with the update:
Contact Posters
Apple wants to let you personalise your Phone experience and better express yourself by giving you the ability to create Contact Posters that change how you appear during calls. You can use beautiful treatments for photos or your own Memoji and add text with different font designs and colours. The feature is available on third-party Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) apps as well.
Live Voicemail
Managing the calls you receive also gets easier with iOS 17; the new Live Voicemail feature allows your iPhone to display a live transcription of what the person on the other end of the line is saying in real-time, allowing you to, for instance, screen calls and decide whether you want to take them or not.
The feature is powered by the on-device neural engine, which means your privacy is safely protected.
NameDrop
AirDrop, meanwhile, introducing a new contact-sharing feature epically named NameDrop, which gives you a more effective way to share contact details with another iPhone user. Instead of dictating your contact details out loud, you can simply tap your iPhones together and it'll give you the option to share your number and email address with the other user.
This neat little feature works for the Apple Watch as well!
StandBy
Another new feature dropping with iOS 17 is StandBy, which lets your iPhone double as a desktop clock. When your iPhone is charging, simply turn it on its side, and you'll get a new full-screen experience that displays glanceable information from widgets and notifications.
Journal
The new software update additionally adds Journal, a dedicated journaling app that lets you log your daily thoughts, feelings and experiences. What's interesting about the app is that it uses on-device machine learning to make personalised suggestions, which are curated from information on your iPhone, including photos, location, music and workouts. You can also schedule notifications for the app to remind you when to write, along with marking important moments that you'd want to reflect on later.
FaceTime Messages
With the new update, you'll now be able to record video messages on FaceTime too, which can be useful when someone can't take your call but you want to share an important moment.
Messages Check In
iOS 17 also expands how location sharing works in Messages. Check In is a new feature that lets you notify your friends or family of your location, letting them know you've reached your destination safely.
After initiating a check-in, your loved ones are automatically notified as soon as you arrive and if you're not making progress towards your destination, they'll receive a prompt with last-seen information which they can use to check on you and your iPhone's location, battery level and cell service status.
Apple notes that any information shared is end-to-end encrypted.
Autocorrect Upgrades
Lastly, autocorrect is benefitting from some upgrades as well. It's now supposedly more intelligent, being able to fix more grammatical mistakes and now lets you use curse words without suggesting corrections.
Apple has announced the next major update for iPhone, iOS 17, at Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2023.
The latest version of the operating system builds on previous releases, rolling out a number of improvements while adding a number of new features and apps, including NameDrop, StandBy and Journal.
The iOS 17 developer beta is available starting today, with the public beta scheduled for next month.
The new software features are expected to roll out later in the year as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later.