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The official iOS 17.1 update is now available, and it brings a boatload of new features and UI improvements. Apple details them in the update’s release notes, but there’s still a lot to discover in this update.
Here are some of the new features and changes we spotted:
- The flashlight icon indicator is now available to all iPhone models with a Dynamic Island. Formerly, it was only available in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models.
- The Action Button will no longer be easily triggered by accident. Apple injected new code into the release, so the button must be pressed longer than usual in order to work.
- You get eight total action options in the Folder Action in the Shortcuts app.
- Connecting a Discover card to your Wallet app to see account details, account balance and transactions, and payment details is now possible.
- For UK-based users, adding their bank accounts to the Wallet app and viewing credit card and bank account balances is now allowed. The Connected Cards feature is supported by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, Monzo, and Starling.
- Apple Pay Later is now widely available in the US.
- The Music app now shows the “Favorited” playlist in your library. It applies to songs, albums, and playlists. You can access this by tapping the menu option on the upper right section of the app and selecting Favorited. Songs also now show a new Favorite button with a new animation. The button is also interactive when you use it from the Music player on the Lock Screen.
- Apple Music now offers selections of album artwork users can use to customize the looks of their playlists. You can access it by tapping the menu in the upper-right of the playlist and selecting “Edit.” You’ll have different artwork selections there, or use your own photo. There will also be additional automatically generated album options for some playlists.
- The Music app now includes song suggestions at the bottom of the playlists through the new Favorited system. The suggestions show up to five items, and each one has an Add button.
- In Sounds & Haptics in Settings, you can now pick custom tones for different notifications, including ringtones and text tones. This option was previously removed in previous beta tests, but you should now be able to use these custom text tones and ringtones.
- The default tone volumes are reportedly louder.
- The sharing gesture in AirDrop or NameDrop gains a new setting option to “Use Cellular Data” under the Out of Range section. This allows users to continuously send and receive content when Wi-Fi is unavailable during an AirDrop session. It can be found in the Settings > General > AirDrop.
- You now have more display options for StandBy mode. In Settings > StandBy > Display, you get three options for how the display turns off: Automatically, After 20 Seconds, and Never. Choosing the first option will allow the display to automatically turn off when the unit is not in use and the room is dark. For the last option, you can use your iPhone as an actual smart home display all night without the display turning off. Note, however, that the Never option is only available on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models.
- There’s now a dedicated “Extend Wallpaper” option when you pinch on the wallpaper to customize its size. Tap the three-dot menu icon at the bottom right section of the screen to access the option.
- There’s now an Album option when opting to Photo Shuffle for your wallpaper.
- The Podcasts app has a new Remove Download option that can be accessed by sliding on the item to the left.
- The Podcast app now has a dedicated Apple Newsaudio section in Listen Now.
- The update comes with a modem update, so expect better overall connectivity performance.
- The Books app has been updated to include the new Read Now section with some design revamps.
- Matter accessories with Locks now have Home Key support.
- iOS 17.1 now supports the Nintendo Switch N64 Controller.
- The update includes the fix for the radiation standard concerns of France.
- The update also includes bug and security flaw fixes.
