iOS 17 Revealed at the WWDC2023

Apple is constantly striving to enhance the iPhone’s capabilities as a communication tool, and they have introduced several exciting features in iOS 17. One noteworthy addition is the ability to monitor voicemail messages in real-time as they are being recorded.

To make your calls more engaging and persuasive, Apple has introduced “Personalized Contact Posters” in the Phone app. Instead of just displaying your name and number, the recipient of your call will see a customized image or memoji along with text of your choice, which can help convince them to answer your call.

In the realm of FaceTime, iOS 17 allows users to leave personalized video voicemails. This means that even if the recipient misses the call, they can watch the video message at their convenience. Additionally, when you receive a voicemail after ignoring a call, you’ll have the option to view a live text transcription of the message. This feature, which Android users have enjoyed for years, enables you to decide if the voicemail is urgent enough to warrant a callback.

Within iMessage, a new feature called “Check In” allows you to share your progress with specific contacts. If you’re not making progress towards your destination, the chosen contacts will receive details about your iPhone’s location, battery level, and connectivity. Importantly, all this information is end-to-end encrypted to ensure privacy.

Apple Maps has also received an update in iOS 17, introducing offline functionality. Users can now download specific sections of maps to their iPhones, enabling them to pinpoint their location and navigate even in areas with no data connection.

With the new Standby Mode, your iPhone’s lock screen becomes a smart hub when connected to a charger and used horizontally. Similar to Google’s Nest Hub devices, Standby Mode provides at-a-glance information such as calendars, photos, widgets, larger notifications, and a variety of beautiful clock styles.

Apple is also introducing its own journaling app as part of the iOS 17 update. This app aims to help iPhone users reflect and practice gratitude through journaling, which has been shown to improve overall well-being. You’ll be able to document your thoughts and daily activities within the app.

Autocorrect receives a significant upgrade in iOS 17, utilizing on-device machine learning to improve word prediction, provide inline predictive text recommendations as you type, and even offer sentence-level grammar fixes.

AirTags, Apple’s tracking devices, can now be shared with up to five other people. This allows multiple individuals to track the location of the AirTags using the Find My app.

Lastly, Apple has simplified interacting with Siri by dropping the need for a formal greeting. You can now give Siri commands on your iPhone, iPad, HomePod, or Mac without saying “Hey Siri.”

These are just some of the exciting features and improvements Apple has introduced in iOS 17 to enhance the communication and usability of the iPhone.