Everything new in iOS 17.1 Beta 1

By Julie Clover

Just a week after the release of iOS 17, Apple released the first beta version of iOS 17.1 to developers. iOS 17.1 adds some features that Apple promised to add in ‌iOS 17‌ in the future, as well as clarifying and improving some existing features.

This guide covers everything new in the first part of Beta -iOS version 17.1.

Apple Music Favorites

You can add songs, albums, playlists, and artists to your favorites in the iOS 17.1 Music app. Featured music is added to the library and improves recommendations. Adding to Favorites replaces the previous Love system, and adding to favorites can be done using the Now Playing widget on the lock screen.

A star next to a track in an album means it has been added to favorites, and the dot is next to the most frequently played track. Thanks to the favorites system, the Music app suggests songs to add to playlists.

Eventually, Apple plans to provide a “Favorite Songs” playlist and suggest collaborative playlists, but these features don't seem to work. currently implemented.

AirDrop

AirDrop transfers can now be done over cellular or Wi-Fi if you are out of range of the person you are transferring to. I share with. This means you don't have to be close to someone if you're transferring a lot of files.

There's a new Out of Range toggle in the AirDrop section of the Settings menu that lets you You can allow or disable cellular data transfer.

NameDrop to Apple Watch

With watchOS 10.1 and iOS 17.1, Apple Watch and iPhone can now be used to share contact information using NameDrop.

Ringtones and text alerts

More than 20 new ones ringtones and text alerts added to the launch version of ‌iOS 17‌ disappeared in the first beta of iOS 17.1, but Apple will likely add them back in a later update.

Custom ringtones for mail and messages have been re-added.

UK bank account balances in the Wallet app

UK users can add their UK bank accounts to the Wallet app in iOS 17.1, allowing them to see their account balances, payments, purchases and deposits.

Books app

The Now Reading section in the Apple Books app has been renamed to Read Now.

Magazine App

The promised Journal app isn't in iOS 17.1, but there are references to journaling suggestions in the code, indicating it could be coming soon.

Dynamic Island Flashlight Indicator

When Flashlight is activated on iPhone 14 Pro, ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max, iPhone 15 or ‌iPhone 15‌ Additionally, the Dynamic Island now has a flashlight icon to let you know it's on. Flashlight icon on ‌Dynamic Island‌ was previously limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max.