iOS 17.1 Beta: all the new features so far

by Julie Clover

Apple is currently testing iOS 17.1, the first major update to the iOS 17 operating system, which was released in September. Apple plans to release iOS 17.1 later in October, so we have a few more betas to release before the software sees its public debut.

In this guide, we have collected all the additions and changes in the iOS 17.1 beta and will update it throughout the testing period.

Apple Music Favorites

You can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists 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.

Apple Music playlists

iOS 17.1 introduces color-coordinated playlist designs that you can choose as a new customization option for your playlists. There are eight cover styles with geometric shapes and gradients, and the colors are taken from the album cover of the first song in the playlist.

AirDrop over the Internet

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AirDrop transfers can now be done over cellular or Wi-Fi if you're out of range of the person you're sharing with, meaning you don't have to be close to someone if you're sending a large number of files.

In the AirDrop section of the Settings menu, there is a new “Out of Range” switch. You can enable or disable cellular transfer.

Play Favorite Songs Quick Action

If you long press the Apple Music icon on the Home screen, you can now select the Play Favorite Songs option.

Double tap on Apple Watch

Double tap is included in the watchOS 10.1 update, which is also in beta. testing, and its settings can be controlled using the Apple Watch app.

Double Tap allows Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 owners to tap with their thumb and forefinger. together to control Apple Watch with one hand. This gesture can be used to open Smart Stack, answer/end calls, play/pause music, stop alarms and timers, etc.

Standby display options

The existing Night Mode feature, which adds a red tint and darkens the screen, has been moved to this section, as has the Motion to Wake toggle. The Display section also replaces the previous Always On switch, which limited the display to turn off intelligently.

UK Bank Accounts in the Wallet App

Users from UK customers 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 “Reading Now” section in the Apple Books app has been renamed to “Reading Now.”

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.

Controller support

iOS 17.1 includes support for the Nintendo Switch N64 controller.

Expand Wallpaper

When you set up a new wallpaper, Apple has added an Expand option that you can use if the image doesn't fit on your display.

Shuffle Photo

When you add the Shuffle Photos lock screen in iOS 17.1, you can choose a specific album of photos to appear on the lock screen instead of relying on Apple's preset. selected options, such as People, Pets, or Nature.

Selecting any of Photo Shuffle's main images takes you to a settings screen where you can select your Favorites album or select any other album you've created, giving you full control over the images that appear on your lock screen. Previously, there was a tool for manually selecting photos, but now you can select an entire album faster.

The frequency of photo shuffling remains the same: on tap, on lock, hourly, or daily.

Accessibility

On iPhone with ‌Dynamic Island‌ You will now see a black background when using the Accessibility feature. In previous versions of ‌iOS 17‌ showed a blurry version of the device's wallpaper. Changing the background to black prevents ‌Dynamic Island‌ doesn't show up twice when using Reachability.

Journal app

There's no sign of the promised Journal app in iOS 17.1, but There are references to logging suggestions in the code, indicating that they may be coming soon.

80% charging limit fix

Using &zwnj ; iPhone 15‌ models, Apple added a switch that prevents devices from charging above 80 percent to keep the battery healthy for a longer period of time. In ‌iOS 17‌ The iPhone could ignore this setting and charge above 80 percent, but after the second beta update this no longer happens.

Messages bug fix

iOS 17.1 fixes an issue with the search functionality in the Messages app in ‌iOS 17‌. Some ‌iPhone 15‌ Users were able to search for old messages after transferring their data from the old ‌iPhone‌. The search in messages feature only works for recent messages, but the update fixes the issue.