iOS 17 has been out for over a month now, and we've got some great features like Contact Posters, Live Voicemail, and Favorite Standby mode. But with every major update there are always some smaller features that Apple never publicly mentions and which go relatively unnoticed. I like to call these features quality of life upgrades. These are features that won't make headlines, but will be used day in and day out and will make every iPhone user's experience that much better. Below are my top 10 iOS 17 features that no one is talking about. Be sure to watch the video and try them out!
1. Read laundry tag icons in the Photos app
I recently posted this tweet showcasing a new feature built into the Photos app on iPhone. Have you ever ruined your clothes, or worse, your significant other's clothes, because you used hot water instead of cold when washing? Or maybe you downsized your favorite shirt because it couldn't be dried in the dryer? Well, I did it 100%. But now, with iOS 17, you can take a photo of the tag on your clothes, and your iPhone will tell you exactly what each of those wash symbols means!
class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-2-voice-message-transcription-in-imessage”>2. Transcribe a voice message in iMessage
Another extremely useful addition is voice transcription in iMessage. What's nice about this update is that it happens automatically; nothing needs to be changed, enabled or modified. You simply send a regular voice message in iMessage, and in less than five seconds the transcription will appear right below the voice message. So now, if you are in a situation where you can physically listen to the message, you can read it instead. In my case, the transcription accuracy is 99%. It rarely, if ever, distorted what I said.
3. Checking connection with Apple Watch
We've almost always been able to use the Apple Watch to ping our iPhone, so if you lose your iPhone, you can make it make noise to eventually find it. But now Apple has allowed us to do the opposite. You can now use your iPhone to ping your Apple Watch. Before you start saying this is a useless feature and asking why anyone would need it, my two-year-old daughter loves to take my Apple Watch with her all the time, so I end up finding it in her toy drawer or on the couch. So this feature was a lifesaver for me. Do you think you will use it?
By default, this option will not be in your control center. To add it:
- Settings > Control Center > Add Ping My Watch
4. Shuffle lock screen wallpaper album
Apple introduced a new lock screen customization in iOS 16 and then refined it for iOS 17. One of the features they gave us was the ability to let your iPhone switch between different wallpapers based on time intervals. So you can select a category of images you have and then your phone will shuffle those images on your lock screen. iOS 17 finally lets you choose your own album to flip through. Previously, you couldn't decide which photos would be shuffled. You can now create a wallpaper folder in your photo library and select it when setting up your lock screen!
Rest features!
If you want to see the rest of the features on this list, be sure to watch our video here . Like I said, these features aren't flashy, but they help make your daily life easier. And isn't that the purpose of these phones? This is a modern Swiss Army knife that will help you complete any task.
Overall, I think iOS 17 is in excellent shape. It came with some amazing new features at launch and we'll get even more as we get more updates. For example, we'll finally be getting a new Journal app with the release of iOS 17.2.
So what do you think? Did you know about these features? Will you be using any of these features? Are there other features we should be aware of? Let's share in the comments below!
