This June 5 Apple introduced iOS 17 in partnership. It has done so in a WWDC full of news, although without a doubt the highlight of the day has been the Vision Pro. The new iPhone operating system not yet available as official versionalthough it is in beta form that can already be downloaded.

Although it is true that on a visual level there are not as many novelties as one would expect from a launch like this, there are enough changes to justify an update. I’ve been using iOS 17 on my iPhone for a few hours, and the truth is that there are five new features that I think will change the way I use my smartphone.

Journal: bring your life up to date and organize yourself better

Journal is an initiative by Apple so that let’s turn our iPhone into a digital diary. We can use the application to write what we have done each day, add details, photos, audio recordings, music, etc. The idea is that later we can go back and remember that place we went to, that talk we had or an experience we don’t want to forget. It is something that we did not have in iOS 16 and that many will appreciate.

In addition, thanks to artificial intelligence our iPhone will make personalized suggestions so that our diary is more ours. Depending on the photos we take, the music we listen to, and even the exercise we do, we can access recommendations just for us. All this from our own iPhone, so that no one can access information as sensitive as your day-to-day life.

Standby mode: information at all times

In iOS 16, when you put your iPhone to charge, it does not give you any information. Just charge. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro you will see the time and if you receive a notification thanks to the always-on screen, but little else. However, iOS 17 is going to change that forever. thanks to standby mode.

When your iPhone is charging and placed in a horizontal position, it will show relevant information. It can be configured to use it as a clock, add a calendar, music if it is playing, a photo, simply the time… the possibilities are limitless and it is a nice functionalityespecially for those of us who have a charging stand on the nightstand.

Live Voicemail: audio transcription on the fly

For some voice mail is a thing of the past. Now if you call someone and they don’t answer, you send them a WhatsApp. However, there are those who do use it. Sometimes they can accumulate, and as the system is set up you cannot listen to the last one until you have listened to all the previous ones. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but Apple has decided to make this a bit easier. the extent possible.

Thanks to artificial intelligence Apple has been able to add to iOS 17 a system that automatically transcribes voice messages to the iPhone. In this way we can find out what they say much faster, in addition to the fact that it will not be necessary for us to have the ability to listen to them for it. They are all advantages.

NameDrop: AirDrop raised to the nth power

If whoever came up with the idea for AirDrop in the first place had been taught this then, I’d say that’s just what I was thinking. In both Android and iOS 16, the process for sharing our phone number is the same: recite it out loud or write it on the other person’s mobile. It’s impractical, but since there didn’t seem to be any other alternative, no one had thought of it.

With iOS 17 everything changes. Now to share our contact information with another person, all we have to do is bring our iPhone closer to theirs. that way we will both receive information from the other. It is not just limited to the phone number, but also your photo, email and so on. Basically everything that the other person wants to share with us.

Check-in: live more safely and calmly

Whenever we leave home, we go on a trip, we get on a plane or whatever, it is inevitable that someone tells us “let us know when you arrive”. It is normal. This is how we all make sure that nothing has happened to the people we love, although it is true that sometimes, and more so with the rush we are in, the desire to sleep or a mixture of all of this they make it kind of tedious.

Thanks to iOS 17 we can now do it completely automatically. When our iPhone detects that we have arrived at our house, it will send it to the contacts that we have previously selected a little notification that all is well. In addition, it will automatically follow our route, and if we deviate, take longer than necessary, or never directly reach our destination, it will also notify you. We hope that no one ever has to make use of this functionality, but it can be extremely useful for cases of disappearances.

Other novelties: an iOS more complete than it appears

Although it may not seem like it, this update brings more news than it a priori seems. Music now has a crossfade functionality between songs (although trying to activate it in beta is closed for now). There are also interactive widgets, which while still a bit primitive, They indicate the direction that Apple wants to take in this regard..

The verification codes that we receive by mail will also be auto-filled, something that in iOS 16 only happened with SMS. It will be possible to collaborate on Music playlists, there will be Live Stickers, etc. There are many novelties in this release, but if I had to choose the five that have really surprised me, these are it. It’s well worth upgrading.

In Applesphere | iOS 17 is now official: greater customization in your contacts and on the lock screen