iOS 17 Review

The latest iPhone update has finally arrived – iOS 17. This isn't just any run-of-the-mill update; it's got some awesome new features and a bunch of improvements that make your iPhone experience smoother than ever, especially when you're connecting with your fellow iPhone users.

Now, you might remember how iOS 16 jazzed up our lock screens last year, giving them a fresh new look. Well, Apple has gone and sprinkled some of that magic dust on our phone calls and contact lists this time around, showing off your friends and family in their best-light yet. More on Contact Posters later…

Supported Devices 

iOS 17 is now compatible with a whopping 20 different iPhone models, including the trusty old iPhone XR from all the way back in 2018! And here's the good news: even if you're rocking one of the older supported iPhones, you’ll get the vast majority of the new features as these older iPhones age gracefully.

Contact Posters and FaceTime 

In iOS 17, the standout visual feature that steals the show is the Contact Posters. You will have to patiently wait for your pals with iPhones to get on board with the update so you can appreciate this swanky new upgrade, as it requires users to create their own poster.  The Contact Posters have got this cool mix of different profile pics, fonts, and colours, and they pop up when someone gives you a ring, FaceTimes you, or when you're on a contact hunt. Gone are the days of manually updating your contact list with photos, everyone is now responsible for their own poster only - making the burden much less all around.

Oh, and guess what? These same images make an appearance when you're trying out NameDrop – Apple's fresh take on contactless contact sharing. The best part is you don't need a Portrait mode photo for that slick cutout effect between the image and text. 

StandBy Mode

If your iPhone is horizontal while getting a charge, iOS 17 will go all-out in StandBy mode. Say goodbye to your regular wallpaper and icons – they'll be replaced by oversized clocks, handy calendar details, ‘What's Playing’ widgets, some of your most delightful photos, and more. (Just one tiny head-scratcher: they forgot to throw in an email widget!) 

To enjoy StandBy in all its always-on glory, you'll need an iPhone 14 Pro or the brand new iPhone 15 Pro – that's where it really shines. Now, for all the other devices in the iPhone lineup, you'll have to give the screen a gentle tap to wake it up and get your info, which kinda takes away from the whole always-on vibe. Oh, and here's a neat tidbit – StandBy plays nicely with the same iOS widget Smart Stacks, so you can effortlessly swipe between various nuggets of information.

With the arrival of iOS 17, we're in for a treat – interactive widgets are finally making their debut! Now, you can effortlessly tweak your smart home lights or check off tasks on your to-do list without the hassle of launching a whole app. It's like having shortcuts right at your fingertips. For all you list-makers out there, Reminders is getting a nifty upgrade. It'll automatically create a grocery list for you when it detects that you're putting together a shopping list. Plus, it'll gather items typically found in the same grocery store aisle. Shopping just got a whole lot easier!

Live Voicemail and voice note transcription 

With this voicemail upgrade, your iPhone can turn spoken words into text in real-time. This way, you can read what the caller is saying before deciding whether to answer the call or let them leave a message. It's like having a sneak peek before you make a decision! If your phone is locked when the call comes in, the system prompts you to unlock to read live. In iOS 17, when someone leaves you a message, you can read a live transcript of it. You can decide to stop them and leave your message or simply understand what they're saying by getting the ‘gist’ of the message. It's different from Google's method, where people know they're being screened, which I'm not a fan of.

Another improved feature- when someone sends you a voice message in Messages, your iPhone can automatically turn the spoken words into written text, as long as the sound is clear enough.

Messaging improved? 

Apple has given its sticker game a serious boost, and it's all about those nifty Live Stickers – animated stickers plucked straight from your Live Photos! In iOS 17, they've neatly gathered all my canine cutouts, selfies, and baby pics into a single drawer. But wait, there's more – this treasure trove is also home to memoji, emoji, and stickers from third-party sources. It's like sticker heaven in there!

Remember how you used to lift subjects out of your photos with those static cutout stickers? Well, now you can do the same magic trick in iOS 17 – just long-press on the subject in the Photos app, and voila! And here's the kicker: you can jazz up your stickers with cool effects like "shiny" and "puffy" that mimic faux light when you wiggle your phone. Talk about fancy! But that's not all – stickers have levelled up. You can now use them straight from the sticker drawer and slap them onto your photos, documents, and screenshots using Markup. Just look for that little pencil tip icon, and you're good to go!

One feature I particularly appreciate (and all those safety conscious people will too) iOS 17 introduces a nifty Check In feature right within Messages. It's designed to make life a bit easier when you reach your destination.

Here's the scoop: You can set it up to automatically let someone know that you've made it to your intended spot. But here's where it gets even cooler – if you don't arrive by the time you said you would, your trusty iPhone will check in on you and ask if everything's okay. If you don't respond, it'll send an alert to the person you initially notified. And that's not all – the recipient can also see your signal strength and how much juice is left in your battery. Want to take it a step further? You can even share the route you're taking if you're feeling extra generous with your location info!

Round up

iOS 17 brings some big visual changes that you can easily notice. But there are also lots of small improvements, especially for folks who chat with other iPhone users a lot.

If you're into FaceTime, now you can leave video messages or do some fun augmented reality tricks. And when you're calling or texting other iOS 17 folks, you've got cool stuff like Live Stickers, Check In, Contact Posters, NameDrop, and voice note transcription – which, by the way, I think is the coolest feature this year!

But you will need to patiently wait for more of your friends to update their iPhones so you can have more fun with these features.

Besides making typing and Messages better in everyday life, Apple is also working on making iPhones more accessible. They haven't given us a journaling app or some other features we're hoping for yet. But don't worry, they've still got some pretty cool changes this year, like StandBy and better predictive typing. So, your iPhone stays exciting without needing to buy a whole new one.