iOS 17 has a lot of expectations to live up to. iOS 16 in 2022 added plenty of requested features. A battery percentage indicator and haptics to the default keyboard are subtle but good additions. iOS 16 also brought lock screen customisation and lock screen widgets.
iOS can now use AI to intelligently separate you from the background of a photo, drag that, and drop it anywhere you like. There’s also a continuity camera feature, which lets you use your phone as a webcam.
The lock screen has customisable fonts, and you can add your preferred wallpaper from your photos. You also got an optional depth effect for the wallpapers. Live Text is currently supported for videos.
The Freeform whiteboard app, Apple Music Sing, and end-to-end iCloud encryption were recently launched with the iOS 16.2 update. Unfortunately, Apple removed the Parallax effect option from static wallpapers; and it has been missing since the launch of iOS 16.
Every year, Apple has been adding long-requested features to iOS that were already present on Android flagships. The iPhone 14 Pro lineup of phones now have Always On Display. Battery percentage and keyboard haptics were long overdue. Widgets were introduced with iOS 14 in 2020, and Apple was too late to join that party.
Focus Modes and Live Text were introduced with iOS 15, and Live Text was a feature with the Google Lens app for a long time. As discussed earlier, iOS 16 has some features inspired by Android too. In this post, we’ll cover all you need to know about iOS 17; and explore what Apple might borrow from Android this time.
iOS 17: 10 Changes we’d like to see
1: Interactive home screen widgets
The home screen widgets look good, and the design is pretty modern. However, the functionality aspect is missing. A simple strike to clear out reminders or the ability to edit notes with 3D/ Haptic Touch would be a fantastic addition. You can already control Music from the widget.
If widgets are more interactive, it will reduce the point of opening the parent app for menial tasks. Simple sliders can be a great addition. A widget to conveniently view and reply to emails, reply to messages, or view Tweets and Reddit posts will make iOS widgets much better.
2: Homescreen customisation
You won’t see an iOS post without the mention of customisation. There’s no theme store, so we can’t conveniently apply themes to redesign the user interface radically. While Apple might not want to add a full-blown user-powered store like MIUI or ColorOS, a theme store that’s limited and controlled by Apple with a few designs every few months is not a bad idea.
Apple does not quickly let you customise your iPhone because they currently have a reputation for standing out with their software. You’ll know it’s an iPhone after a glance at the UI design. If they let people apply random themes, they might lose this instant recognition.
If not a theme store, the ability to effortlessly edit icons and icon sizes would be a welcome addition. We also need the option to change the app grid layout and the ability to place apps wherever we want to. While some of this is possible with third-party apps, it gets incredibly clunky and time-consuming.
If you want to apply your icons, it’s a cumbersome and lengthy process since you have to download the icons you wish to, create a shortcut for every app one by one with the Shortcuts app, and then apply them individually.
3D/ Haptic Touch is still pretty lacklustre, and they can add an option to update apps via 3D Touch or other subtle tweaks to make it worthwhile. More widget sizes and icon sizes will improve the aesthetics of the UI, too, though it probably won’t happen.
iOS 16 has a lock screen switcher. Long pressing will reveal the rest of your lock screens, and you can switch between them. If they add more customisation, iOS 17 needs a similar feature for the home screen.
3: Improved Multitasking
iOS can multitask with the Dynamic Island on the 14 Pros, and it’s just the picture-in-picture mode for other iPhones. Android phones have had Split Screen multitasking for a long time, a feature missing on iOS.
We still don’t have resizeable floating windows on iOS, either. They’re handy features. This feature has several use cases, like reading a post while typing notes, editing photos while scrolling through your Twitter feed, chatting on a Messaging app while watching a video or playing a game, etc.
Some skins have a sidebar where you can quickly launch apps you pinned or your recent apps. You can also pin multiple apps to it simultaneously and launch them simultaneously. Adding a sidebar that’s a toned-down Dock of macOS will still massively improve the multitasking capabilities.
It’s disappointing that Apple’s chips have so much horsepower, yet the software is the bottleneck since you can’t take advantage of it. It’s unrealistic to expect a feature similar to Stage Manager. We probably won’t see the elements and the amount of multitasking on Android, either.
4: Stability
iOS 16 has had several issues with display quality control. Hardware issues aside, there were several visual errors, like disappearing widgets or random phone crashes and freezes. App crashes and UI inconsistencies with font and design errors were reported extensively.
Problems with thermals were extensively reported, and so was increased standby drain. Worse overall battery life too. Random Wi-Fi disconnection, AirDrop bugs, and black wallpapers are a few. Apple typically has a reputation for providing stable software with fewer bugs than Android, but iOS 16 has destroyed that reputation.
For iPhone 14 Pro users, there were many bugs with the Dynamic Island feature. iOS 16 has been the most unstable version by far, surpassing the infamous iOS 13 in terms of instability. Many iOS users would be satisfied with a new version that offers fewer new features but focuses on stability and bug fixes instead.
5: UI/ UX Redesign
It’s probably pointless to expect a radical redesign with new icons and fonts and a theme revamp since it will probably not happen for a long time. iOS 7 was an extensive UI redesign, and iOS 8 and 9 followed up by modernising the looks of the icons. Since then, all icon changes made were pretty subtle.
UI design began with skeuomorphism that represented real-life objects to remind people of the function of an app. Later, the design moved to flat 2D icons, overall minimalism, and a glass-morphism design with Gaussian Blur, Bold Fonts, and aesthetic System Apps.
It’s interesting to note that macOS design has not stuck to 2D apps but has evolved to new morphism. macOS icons aren’t skeuomorphic but have a near-3D shape, depth, shadows, and gradients. This looks refreshing, and it’ll be nice to see iOS adopt a new-morphic design with icons that have depth, shadows and gradients.
6: Background tasks
A long-standing complaint with iOS is the way it handles background tasks. For all Google apps like Google Photos or Drive, uploads and downloads do not happen in the background. Downloading large files from Safari does not work in the background either.
Game updates, Spotify Playlists, Netflix shows, etc., don’t download content when the app is minimised into the app switcher. This is due to Apple’s ultra-aggressive background task management. It helps the battery but hinders productivity, annoys users, and wastes time.
The background upload/ download API does exist, but there’s still a set time limit for how long apps are allowed to run in the background. Since some people prefer this system for whatever reason, a simple toggle in the Settings app to turn off this aggressive background task management will be great.
They can give you a warning popup about the battery effects. iPhones with 6GB of RAM run some background tasks, but the overall system is undoubtedly a hit-and-miss. iPhones with 4GB of RAM have some of the worst background tasks on a 2022 phone.
7: RCS Support for iMessage
iMessage is primarily a popular messaging tool in the USA and is available only on iPhones. This benefits Apple since it creates a lock-in mechanism, and people buy iPhones to stay in group chats due to peer pressure. Adding RCS support will make messaging better for everyone. Apple still supports the insecure and outdated MMS/ SMS standard.
8: Universal Battery Widget
The current battery widget shows you the battery percentage of your other ecosystem devices, like your iPad, Apple Watch, or MacBook. Letting you see the remaining battery of all your devices in one single widget will be pretty convenient.
9: Predictive (T9) Dialling
T9 dialling or predictive text has existed on Android phones forever. When you type a number in the dialler, predicted contacts appear on Android phones. Nothing shows up on iOS; the contact name is only displayed after you type in the entire number.
10: Better Siri
Siri on iOS is functional but barely fulfils the minimum requirements of an excellent virtual assistant. Since Apple claims that it does not collect your data, the assistant cannot understand you.
A virtual assistant can only be good if it understands you and collects as much of your data as possible. Due to their so-called privacy-centric approach, Apple can’t do that. Improvements to Siri are long overdue. We sincerely hope Siri gets more intelligent and can relate your recent speech to what you said earlier.
iOS 17 Release Date
- The next-generation version of iOS, i.e. iOS 17, could be announced at Apple WWDC 2023 June event. It will likely be released to the public on September 12, 2023 (Expected).
iOS versions are typically announced in June at the World Wide Developer Conference. A launch date for all models is usually sometime in September, the same time new iPhones come out. The iPhone 15 lineup will ship with iOS 17 out of the box, and it’s expected to launch by the middle of September 2023.
iOS 17 Expected Features
For now, the EU might force Apple to allow sideloading applications. Apple has kept their App Store locked down and has prevented sideloading. Methods like AltStore exist, but they’re cumbersome and challenging to do, and they pose severe security and privacy risks.
Apple might allow sideloading by opening its software to third-party App Stores. This is the only rumoured feature and a predicted redesign for the Messages app.
The camera interface still does not have enough tools and could use a redesign. We’d also like to see the ability to change more default apps. iOS still lacks features like dual apps, multiple user accounts, the ability to lock apps, a good clipboard, and scrolling screenshots in all places.
We need a less intrusive battery popup on iPhones without the dynamic island. Notifications could still use improvements, and the File Manager app could do with more functionality.
iOS 17 Concept
Popular graphic designer Parker Ortolani developed a new design concept for iOS 17. The improvements focus on lock-screen design, better use of Dynamic Island, and also enhancements to Siri.
The concept shows more personalisation to the lock screen than possible now. There are many more playful fonts in different colours that are funky and professional. It’s easier to switch between lock screens too.
If you have an Apple Watch, you can share your watch face with your friends and family members. Putting a similar option on iPhones is a welcome addition. The concept shows this really well, and sharing makes customisation much easier.
In this imaginative design, the dynamic island sees a lot of functional changes. You can move between ongoing activities and talk to Siri on the go. Notification delivery looks much better too.
The UI looks similar to live activities. These subtle changes make multitasking on iOS way better.
Finally, the concept visualizes a much better Siri. Apple’s Virtual Assistant is still miles behind what Google offers, and we hope iOS 17 puts some effort into that. The concept mentions integration with Chat GPT, but we’ll not see that.
The new Siri keeps track of conversations and maintains the flow. The concept shows that Siri can answer your questions properly without spamming web links.
iOS 17 Details Leaked
A new report from HowToiSolve mentions that iOS 17 will not be a major UI/ UX design revamp. We won’t see too many new features either. It’ll be a minor update that’s focused on stability.
The update won’t be as significant as iOS 16′ lockscreen revamp. The latest iOS 16.3 update brings two-factor authentication via physical security keys and also fixes many bugs.
Ahead of Apple’s WWDC 2023 in June, the report talks about iOS 17, which will ship with the iPhone 15 series in September 2023. The source is reliable and has a good reputation for the accuracy of leaks.
You can expect iOS 17 to look nearly identical to iOS 16 in terms of the UI design. Supposedly, Apple wants to enter the world of Virtual Reality with an AR/ VR Headset in 2023.
Their priorities this year probably lie in optimising that. So, iOS gets a temporary sideline and will only see minor refinements for better stability and optimisation.
Since iOS 16 was a bughouse, with several reports of app crashes and janky UI, display problems post-updates, disappearing wallpapers, Wi-Fi disconnections, visual inconsistencies, etc., it’s good news that Apple isn’t focusing on adding too much with iOS 17.
iOS 17’s primary focus will be making it work well with their Virtual Reality headset. According to the report, Apple is also planning to improve its efficiency with iOS 17, so the battery life of all supported iPhones might see a few minutes of an increase in screen-on time.
The update does not offer much on the UI front, but we might see improvements to first-party apps. Apple could develop a new first-party app to support the AR/VR Headset.
We expect Home, Fitness, Find My, Wallet, and Apple Pay to see better UI navigation and design.
iOS 17: Leaked Code
Reminders, Files, and Mail might see minor design tweaks to simplify their use and accessibility, making them more functional. The Apple Music app might get a long-awaited UI re-design as well.
According to the leaked Code, iOS 17 is under development for six devices with a dynamic island. Considering that we currently have only two, the other four probably refer to the upcoming iPhone 15 series.
This confirms that all the iPhone 15 models will come with Dynamic Island. We expect better image processing and better cooling for the high-end 15 Pro Max/ Ultra model, and the Code hints the same.
The codename of iOS 17 is alleged “Dawn.” If we assume these leaks are accurate, then iOS 17 isn’t looking like a visual revamp with several new features. Still, it’s a minor refinement for giving iOS the reputation of software polish again.
iOS 17 Supported Devices
There’s a chance that the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X might drop support next year. iOS 16 dropped support for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and the support lasted five years.
Apple might still support all phones beginning with the iPhone XS, but the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X might not. The list below depicts all the devices guaranteed to get the update.
- iPhone 14 series.
- iPhone 13 series.
- iPhone 12 series.
- iPhone 11 series.
- iPhone XS and XS Max.
- iPhone XR.
- iPhone SE 2020.
- iPhone SE 2022.
Note: We’ll periodically update this live article with the latest news.
