iOS 17.1 Beta: All the New Features So Far

[MacRumors]

Apple is currently testing iOS 17.1, the first major update to the iOS 17 operating system that came out in September. Apple plans to release iOS 17.1 later in October, so we still have several betas to go before the software sees a public debut.

In this guide, we've rounded up all of the feature additions and changes in the iOS 17.1 beta, and we'll be updating it throughout the testing period.
Apple Music Favorites

You can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists in the iOS 17.1 Music app. Favorited music is added to the Library and improves recommendations. Favoriting replaces the prior "Love" system and favoriting can be done from the Lock Screen's Now Playing widget.

A star next to a track in an album means that it's a favorite, while a dot is next to the most played track. With the favorites system, the Music app is suggesting songs to add to playlists.

Eventually, Apple plans to provide a Favorite Songs playlist and offer collaborative playlists, but these features do not appear to be implemented as of yet.

Apple Music Playlists

iOS 17.1 provides color-matched playlist artwork options that can be selected as a new customization option for your playlists. There are eight artwork styles that feature geometric shapes and gradients, with the colors featured pulled from the album artwork of the first song in the playlist.

AirDrop Over Internet

AirDrop transfers can now be completed over a cellular connection or Wi-Fi if you walk out of the range of the person you're sharing with. That means you will not have to stay close to someone if you are transferring a large number of files.

There is a new "Out of Range" toggle in the AirDrop section of the Settings menu that you can toggle to allow or disallow transfers over cellular.

Play Favorite Songs Quick Action

If you long press on the Apple Music icon on the Home Screen, you can now choose a "Play Favorite Songs" option.

Double Tap on Apple Watch

Double Tap is enabled in the watchOS 10.1 update that is also in beta testing, and the settings for it can be managed using the Apple Watch app.

Double Tap allows Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 owners to tap their thumb and index fingers together to control the Apple Watch with one hand. The gesture can be used for opening up the Smart Stack, answering/ending calls, playing/pausing music, stopping alarms and timers, and more.

StandBy Display Options

Apple added a new "Display" section to the StandBy section of the Settings app, which houses some new customization options. The display can be set to turn off automatically, after 20 seconds, or never.

The existing Night Mode function that adds a red tint and dims the screen has been relocated to this section, as has the Motion to Wake toggle. The Display section also replaces the prior Always On toggle that limited the display to turning off intelligently.

UK Bank Balances in the Wallet App

UK users can add their UK bank accounts to the Wallet app in iOS 17.1, allowing them to see their account balances, payments, purchases, and deposits.

Wallet App and Discover Cards

U.S. Discover users who add their credit cards to Apple Wallet can see their total card balance and transaction history right on the iPhone with iOS 17.1.

Books App

The "Reading Now" section in the Apple Books app has been renamed to "Read Now."

Dynamic Island Flashlight Indicator

When the flashlight is activated on an iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, or iPhone 15 Plus, there is now a flashlight icon in the Dynamic Island that lets you know that It is on. The flashlight icon for the Dynamic Island was previously limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Controller Support

iOS 17.1 includes support for the Nintendo Switch N64 Controller.

Extend Wallpaper

When you are setting up a new wallpaper, Apple has added an "Extend" option that can be used if the image does not fit the display.

Photo Shuffle

When you add a Photo Shuffle Lock Screen in iOS 17.1, you can select a specific album of photos that will be shown on the Lock Screen rather than having to rely on Apple's pre-selected options like People, Pets, or Nature.

When selecting any of the main Photo Shuffle images, you're brought into a customization screen where you can choose your Favorites album or opt for any other album you have created, giving you complete control over the images that show up on the Lock Screen. There was previously a tool for manually selecting photos, but being able to choose an entire album is quicker.

Photo Shuffle frequency remains the same at on tap, on lock, hourly, or daily.

Reachability

On iPhones with a Dynamic Island, you'll now see a black background when you use the Reachability feature. In prior versions of iOS 17,... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: iOS 17.1 Beta: All the New Features So Far

 

[DaPizzaMan]

The Photo Shuffle wallpaper feature is a great touch!

 

[DotCom2]

When do you guys think 17.1 will be out to the general public approximately?

 

[Born Again]

i wish apple music was better. I gave it my best try but spotify is a superior experience hands down for music discovery.

 

[xgman]

80% charge limit? I never heard that one before. Just what I want, a product that I can only use to 80%. Sure.. next..

 

[Joosst]

There's ONE SUPER ANNOYING BUG since iOS 17 that wasn't there in iOS 16.
It takes some words to explain, but it's SO STUPID and I hope EVERYONE will report it using Feedback Assistant:

Here's how to replicate it:

Write a few lines of text (in the notes app or wherever) and try to move the cursor around using a long press on the space bar. That goes pretty well if you want to move the cursor upwards, but downwards is a lot harder in iOS 17 beta.

It is specifically noticeable when the cursor is somewhere on top / on the first line of your text.

In iOS 16 you could:
1. hold space bar
2. move your finger upwards on the keyboard (the cursor would stay on the first line because it can’t go any higher)
3. move your finger down (the cursor would follow immediately, so you could reach the second or third line of text)

In iOS 17 though, the cursor stays on top when moving your finger down. Only when you reach the initial position (the bottom of the screen, where the space bar is) the cursor follows your movement again. But obviously you can’t move further down now because you’re already at the edge of the screen…

This is an obvious mistake, and I can't believe it made it through the betas.

It’s really a UI rule that when indirectly controlling something (like a cursor with a mouse), whenever you hit the edge of a screen and you keep moving your input device in the same direction, AS SOON as you move it back the slightest bit, the cursor comes along.

Imagine using a mouse and having this mistake: A cursor is at the right edge of a screen, you move your mouse (physically, in the real world) an arm length to the right. Then when you’re moving your arm back to the left the cursor doesn’t move! It stays on the right, only to start moving when your arm is physically back in the starting position.

That would be crazy. And it would drive anyone crazy. Because it feels like you’re out of control. That's what this is.
Ok I might be exaggerating but I do find it really annoying and stupid.

 

[nortonandreev]

When do you guys think 17.1 will be out to the general public approximately?

I’d say in the second half of October.

 

[dchronus]

80% Charging Limit Fix​

With the ‌iPhone 15‌ models, Apple added a toggle that prevents the devices from charging past 80 percent in order to keep the battery healthy for a longer period of time. In ‌iOS 17‌, the iPhone could ignore this setting and charge past 80 percent, but that no longer happens following the second beta update.

I knew that must have been a bug 🙄

It was driving me crazy that it never worked. It FINALLY obeyed my 80% limit while I was charging last night after updating to beta 2 🙌🏼

 

[Joosst]

OH and there's another bug I hope EVERYONE will report:

In iOS 16, a new great feature was introduced: anywhere on the native full screen video player interface (that pops up in safari), you could start swiping left or right to navigate the video. Now in iOS 17 when you try that, the whole video moves left and right. Why would anyone want that?

I understand swiping down on the video has a function: it throws the video back into the smaller size within the webpage. But swiping left and right does nothing now except annoyingly moving the entire video.

That used to be a skim / search gesture and that was GREAT.
It’s annoying having to first tap the screen and then exactly finding the playhead. Just swiping any random place on the screen felt so good and easy.

So, this update feels like a downgrade in many of those day to day uses and I'm surprised they got through the betas.
I thought Apple was about quality control.

 

[macduke]

iOS 17.1 includes support for the Nintendo Switch N64 Controller.

But why tho?

Apple added this, and yet no double press or triple press for the Action Button.

 

[einsteinbqat]

The new notification sounds are back!!! Yay 🥳 (for me)!

 

[N0ughtsAndCr0sses]

When do you guys think 17.1 will be out to the general public approximately?

Last week of October

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This is an obvious mistake, and I can't believe it made it through the betas.

It’s not a problem on my phone, but there’s likely a difference between what you have installed and what I have installed. Report the bug through feedback.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

When do you guys think 17.1 will be out to the general public approximately?

Before October, 2024.

 

[sdm1985]

Very underwhelming for a .1 release.

 

[Bawstun]

OH and there's another bug I hope EVERYONE will report:

In iOS 16, a new great feature was introduced: anywhere on the native full screen video player interface (that pops up in safari), you could start swiping left or right to navigate the video. Now in iOS 17 when you try that, the whole video moves left and right. Why would anyone want that?

I understand swiping down on the video has a function: it throws the video back into the smaller size within the webpage. But swiping left and right does nothing now except annoyingly moving the entire video.

That used to be a skim / search gesture and that was GREAT.
It’s annoying having to first tap the screen and then exactly finding the playhead. Just swiping any random place on the screen felt so good and easy.

So, this update feels like a downgrade in many of those day to day uses and I'm surprised they got through the betas.
I thought Apple was about quality control.

Welcome to 2023 crappy Apple. It’s been getting worse for years, they need an entirely new software team, leadership and all. So many simple, easy things require Googling to figure out how to turn on or off, so many simple features have become complex and unintuitive…they’ve made many changes that are actually worse and make no sense in a UI sense. Really getting kinda crazy as to what passes for ‘quality’ these days…

 

[JGIGS]

i wish apple music was better. I gave it my best try but spotify is a superior experience hands down for music discovery.

AM apparently has 20 million more songs and I have found lots of good ways to discover new music with it. I usually add at least 25% of the songs they present to me on my weekly new music playlist to my library every week.

 

[ali5289]

Great, now I'm playing "Go Your Own Way" and it will be stuck in my head for rest of today.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Is there an option to NOT add favorites song to your library? My library is only comprised of songs I own. I do not add streaming music to my library. I can currently “Love” any song on Apple Music to improve recommendations without adding it to my library. This is the preferred method for me.

 

[DrNevs]

Any idea if this favourite music thing is only for AM subscribers? Or will it work in a basic sense with your standard/ iTunes Match library? Without the song recommendations of course

 

[Zeke92]

Wasn't there supposed to be a redesigned wallet app in iOS 17? Is that still coming?

 

[rlhamil]

I really want a way to have a permanent compactly displayed list of favorite (not just most recent) radio stations, at least 20 or so, that on CarPlay would be presented not unlike how a car infotainment system presents actual radio stations for selection.

What's there works ok for a small number frequently used, but the logo/icons as presented aren't super helpful for more when you can only glance at it for half a second. A smaller version of that plus the text of the name (or call letters if an internet version of an actual radio station) would IMO be better, and more extensible to a longer scrollable list.

 

[meson]

80% charge limit? I never heard that one before. Just what I want, a product that I can only use to 80%. Sure.. next..

When the battery plateaus at 80% capacity after a few years, you can crank it up to 100% and it will perform like new!

Mother Nature will be happy due to the lack of replacement batteries sold.

 

[Rafagon]

80% charge limit? I never heard that one before. Just what I want, a product that I can only use to 80%. Sure.. next..

80% Charge Limit would be a great feature for the Apple Card.

 

[rtkane]

Apple added a new "Display" section to the StandBy section of the Settings app, which houses some new customization options. The display can be set to turn off automatically, after 20 seconds, or never.

Thank god. I've been trying ditch my Alexa devices and finally got rid of my Echo Show that I'd been using exclusively as an alarm clock. Was so excited to have this functionality, only to continually wake up in the middle of the night with the display "intelligently" off and having to wave at it to see what time it was. Why is an always on display not always on when the primary purpose of standby at night for most use cases being an alarm clock to glance at so you know whether it's 2am or 5am? Glad they're fixing this behavior with some options.