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Apple has already started working on the next version of iOS 17 after releasing iOS 17.1 this week. Developers can now get iOS 17.2 Beta 1 (21C5029g), which comes with a bunch of new features and improvements.
Here are some of them:
- It comes with a modem update to further improve overall device connectivity.
- The Books app has a new transition effect called “Fast Fade.”
- The update includes a new Lock Screen Wind Widget. There are also three Weather Widgets and one new Clock Widget.
- Adding a Sticker Reaction to your message is now possible via the menu. You can do it by pressing and holding a message and selecting “Add Sticker.”
- Focus Filters now include Music History, so you can opt-out if you don’t want the music you are playing to “influence recommendations and mixes, appear in Recently Played, or be shown to others on Apple Music.”
- Contact Posters has a new rainbow font color option.
- The Journal app is now included in the update. It utilizes on-device machine learning to provide insightful prompts for journal entries. By analyzing various data points stored on your device, such as music preferences and geographic locations, Journal can intelligently suggest interesting topics for your journaling activities.
- Users get the new Journaling Suggestion setting options in Settings > Privacy & Security as part of the new Journal app. On the page, you’ll see the device data (Activity, Media, Contacts, Photos, and Significant Locations) that the Journal app includes in its suggestions. You can toggle them off. The page also includes a “Nearby People” section, which shows options for suggestions involving “moments you share with your contacts or large groups.”
- Developers can now try the Journaling Suggestions API, allowing them to use the same journaling suggestions in their third-party journal applications.
- Apple Music gets a Favorite Songs playlist. This new playlist makes sense since Apple introduced the favoriting system in iOS 17.1. However, accessing your favorite songs in that update isn’t easy since you must first tap a three-dot menu to reveal your favorite songs, albums, or playlists. Now, with the Favorite Songs, you can instantly access your favorite songs in the Playlists section of the app.
- Apple debuts the Collaborative Playlist. Anyone with the link can join the collaboration, although you can also choose to first “Approve Collaborations.” Once users are added, they can “edit and reorder songs, and your name and photo will be shown to others.” To access this, just tap the new icon next to the three-dot menu at the upper right part of the screen of the playlist. Tapping it will give you the button to “Start Collaboration.”
- The Translate option has finally arrived in the Action Button. Users can access the new control on the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max’s Settings > Action Button page. Once selected as the control and the Action Button is pressed, the Translate can be seen working through the Dynamic Island.
- In Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff, there is a new AirPlay Receiver section that should allow you to “stream or share content from Apple Vision Pro to iPhone.”
- iMessage Contact Key Verification is now also in this beta update. The feature gives users options to verify that the recipient of their messages is really the person they trust. According to Apple, if an “exceptionally advanced adversary” has managed to eavesdrop on the supposedly encrypted communications, the activated feature will provide automatic alerts. As the company noted, it will benefit people who “face extraordinary digital threats,” including journalists, human rights activists, and government officials.
