iOS 17.1 Features: What's New in iOS 17.1

[MacRumors]

Apple today released iOS 17.1, introducing a range of new features for iPhones that run the iOS 17 operating system. While Apple outlined some of the major new additions in its release notes, there are also several hidden features that were not mentioned.

In this guide, we've rounded up all of the feature additions and changes we found in iOS 17.1.

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.

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 now suggests songs to add to playlists so you don't run out of content.

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.

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.

Action Button Update

In iOS 17.1, Apple changed the functionality of the Action Button to prevent certain actions from being triggered while the iPhone is in a pocket or a bag. The Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo, Focus, and Magnifier functions will no longer activate when the Action Button is pressed if the iPhone is tucked away in a pocket.

Actions that make sense to trigger in a pocket like the mute function and a shortcut can still be activated while the iPhone is inside of a pocket by long pressing on the Action Button, but other features are disabled.

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 Natur... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: iOS 17.1 Features: What's New in iOS 17.1

 

[JeMeCasse]

Wait. Could you not favorite songs before?

 

[mjschabow]

One correction to your article, choosing “Play Favorite Songs” is not an option when long pressing Apple Music

 

[BGPL]

The action button fix is a welcome change. Lots of pictures in my photo roll of the inside of my pocket and the inside of my vehicle. God knows what else.

The two finger function being limited to the newest watch models is typical Apple chickensh*t.

 

[JosephAW]

Any news about custom ringtones fix?
What about dismissing notifications outside of notification window?

 

[posguy99]

So still no reason to bother with iOS 17, given that the same remote exploits 17.1 patches are also being patched in 16.7.1.

 

[everybodylovesramen]

still not seeing a fix for wifi on 15 pro max

i've never had a phone not be able to connect to wifi reliably like this - and i’ve reset my entire network twice trying to fix it

 

[ranphi]

One correction to your article, choosing “Play Favorite Songs” is not an option when long pressing Apple Music

Yeah, I’m not seeing this either, and I definitely have songs that are favorited…

 

[Tagbert]

Wait. Could you not favorite songs before?

Before you would Love ❤️ the song. Now you Favorite ⭐ the song. It's just a change in terminology and icon.

 

[prefuse07]

So still no reason to bother with iOS 17, given that the same remote exploits 17.1 patches are also being patched in 16.7.1.

16.7.2 is out now btw (just released along with 17.1)

 

[JosephAW]

Too bad they didn't offer iCloud back up on non-iCloud services that way I could use my own local server.

 

[Rafagon]

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 now suggests songs to add to playlists so you don't run out

Most played track by whom? By everyone on Apple Music?

There are dots on tracks on albums I've never listened to.

 

[JosephAW]

16.7.2 is out now btw (just released along with 17.1)

Any love for iOS 15 or older devices?

 

[caketray]

Does anyone have access to the Discover card thing? It’s the main thing I updated for and don’t see any sign of it.

 

[DaveN]

Too bad they didn't offer iCloud back up on non-iCloud services that way I could use my own local server.

You can do that with Western Digital’s MyCloud servers with their My Cloud app.

 

[posguy99]

16.7.2 is out now btw (just released along with 17.1)

Sorry, yes, that's a typo, I meant 16.7.2.

 

[posguy99]

Any love for iOS 15 or older devices?

Is iOS 15 subject to the same vulns that 16 and 17 are?

 

[defunder]

Wish I could make the Volume Down button into the Action button.

By the way, can anyone explain to me why the iPhone needs the ability to use a Switch N64 controller?

 

[steve09090]

Any love for iOS 15 or older devices?

Yep. 15.8

Apple security releases – Apple Support (AU)

This document lists security updates and Rapid Security Responses for Apple software.

support.apple.com

 

[B4U]

We don't actually need iOS 17.1 to get WatchOS 10.1.
WatchOS 10.1 is available with iOS 17.0.3 devices.

 

[steve09090]

If nothing else, Apple are responsive to people’s requests. Fixing the Action button to not activate in certain circumstances, such as with the camera or torch. Many people on this forum were talking about this being the cause for the end of days.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

"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."

As a software engineer, I am constantly frustrated at the lack of control afforded to the user by iOS. It is trivially easy to change the "after 20 seconds" option to an "after [user entered value] seconds" option, where the [user entered value] might default to 20, but the user can merely enter any number from 0 to virtually infinity, including with decimal point. Trivially easy. So unbelievably, trivially, easy. Why Apply, why? Why are you such humungous control freaks?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Somewhat off topic, but on a semi-related note, I was planning on buying an iPhone 15 Pro, but something finally snapped in me, and I spat the dummy at Apple, and am about to jump ship from iPhone after nothing but iPhones since the iPhone 4, and am about to buy a Google Pixel 8. I can't honestly say whether or not I will prefer it, or hate it, but I am going to find out.

As a software engineer who most definitely makes full use of the wonderful power features of macOS, for example, the underlying unix system and terminal, I am really looking forward to the power and freedom of Android. I'm also intrigued by the many AI features of the Pixel which leave iPhones for dead.

And no, I have zero desire to leave macOS and my MBP. Nothing comes close.

But iPhones, I've had a fence sitting love/hate relationship with them for a long time.

The somewhat hilarious thing is that the one final nail that broke the camel's coffin, was the slow, and 20+ year old, USB 2.0 standard being foisted onto the base iPhone 15. Hilarious because I was going to get the iPhone 15 Pro, with the faster USB 3. However, it slapped me super hard in the face just how much Apple deliberately hold back their phones, just the right amount to push as many people as possible into forking out for the more expensive models. The absolute audacity to put the 23 year old USB 2.0 standard, instead of the 13 year old USB 3.0 standard, even though the wholesale price difference Apple themselves would pay to put USB 3 instead of USB 2 in the iPhone 15 would be somewhere in the ballpark of $0.01 per phone. It's pure madness, and pure greed. I am sick of it, and am jumping ship to give the Pixel a go.

Wish me luck! I'll be sporadically updating these forums with my extremely honest and blunt experiences with it, the good and the bad.

 

[jacg]

Can anyone confirm if the search by date bug has been fixed in photos?

 

[BeatCrazy]

Somewhat off topic, but on a semi-related note, I was planning on buying an iPhone 15 Pro, but something finally snapped in me, and I spat the dummy at Apple, and am about to jump ship from iPhone after nothing but iPhones since the iPhone 4, and am about to buy a Google Pixel 8. I can't honestly say whether or not I will prefer it, or hate it, but I am going to find out.

As a software engineer who most definitely makes full use of the wonderful power features of macOS, for example, the underlying unix system and terminal, I am really looking forward to the power and freedom of Android. I'm also intrigued by the many AI features of the Pixel which leave iPhones for dead.

And no, I have zero desire to leave macOS and my MBP. Nothing comes close.

But iPhones, I've had a fence sitting love/hate relationship with them for a long time.

The somewhat hilarious thing is that the one final nail that broke the camel's coffin, was the slow, and 20+ year old, USB 2.0 standard being foisted onto the base iPhone 15. Hilarious because I was going to get the iPhone 15 Pro, with the faster USB 3. However, it slapped me super hard in the face just how much Apple deliberately hold back their phones, just the right amount to push as many people as possible into forking out for the more expensive models. The absolute audacity to put the 23 year old USB 2.0 standard, instead of the 13 year old USB 3.0 standard, even though the wholesale price difference Apple themselves would pay to put USB 3 instead of USB 2 in the iPhone 15 would be somewhere in the ballpark of $0.01 per phone. It's pure madness, and pure greed. I am sick of it, and am jumping ship to give the Pixel a go.

Wish me luck! I'll be sporadically updating these forums with my extremely honest and blunt experiences with it, the good and the bad.

Since you didn’t tell us why your experience would be substantially improved with USB 3.0, this all reads like you’re simply tilting at windmills.

edit: spelling