iOS 17.3 Features: What's New in iOS 17.3

[MacRumors]

Apple today released iOS 17.3, a major update to the iOS operating system that adds Stolen Device Protection, collaborative Apple Music playlists, and a handful of other interesting features.

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In this guide, we've rounded up everything new in the iOS 17.3 update.

Stolen Device Protection

Earlier this year, there were news reports about a series of iPhone thefts where the thief spied on a victim to learn an iPhone's passcode before going on to steal the device, leading to drained bank accounts, stolen passwords, and an untraceable iPhone.

As a solution, Apple included Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3 to add extra security. Should a thief get their hands on both your iPhone and your passcode, Stolen Device Protection prevents total catastrophe. With Stolen Device Protection enabled, accessing passwords in iCloud Keychain, turning off Lost Mode, erasing content, and making purchases in Safari requires biometric authentication with Face ID or Touch ID.

Actions like changing an Apple ID password require Face ID and have a one-hour security delay. So if you (or someone else) tried to change your Apple ID login information, you would need to authenticate with Face ID and then wait an hour before the password could be updated. These wait periods are not required when you are in a trusted location like home or work.

Here are actions that require biometric authentication when Stolen Device Protection is activated:

• Viewing/using passwords or passkeys saved in iCloud Keychain
• Applying for a new Apple Card
• Viewing an Apple Card virtual card
• Turning off Lost Mode
• Erasing all content and settings
• Taking certain Apple Cash and Savings actions in Wallet
• Using payment methods saved in Safari
• Using your iPhone to set up a new device

Note that these actions do not have a passcode backup, so you can't use a passcode to skirt Face ID or Touch ID. Actions that require biometric authentication and have a one-hour security delay include the following:

• Changing your Apple ID password
• Updating select Apple ID account security settings, including adding or removing a trusted device, trusted phone number, Recovery Key, or Recovery Contact
• Changing your iPhone passcode
• Adding or removing Face ID or Touch ID
• Turning off Find My
• Turning off Stolen Device Protection

Stolen Device Protection is available on all iPhones that are able to run iOS 17, which includes the iPhone XS and newer. It is an opt-in feature that can be turned on in the Settings app by going to Face ID > Passcode and toggling on Stolen Device Protection.

Collaborative Apple Music Playlists

Apple introduced collaborative Apple Music Playlists in iOS 17.3. With this feature, you can take any of your existing playlists or create a new one and then invite others to join in to add songs and listen to the playlist. You can invite friends, family members, and others who share your musical preferences, and there doesn't appear to be a limit on how many people can contribute.

We have a MacRumors collaborative music playlist available for those who want to join in and share music with other MacRumors readers.

To use the collaboration feature, go to a playlist in the Apple Music app and then tap on the person icon. You will be able to generate a link that you can send to others, and everyone who is invited can access the playlist. There is an option to approve each person that joins, and leaving this off just opens it up to anyone with the link.

The person who created the playlist can remove people, remove songs, and turn off collaboration at any time.

Collaborative Playlist Emoji Reactions

Apple in iOS 17.3 also added a neat emoji reaction feature that allows listeners to add an emoji to any song that's playing to express their feelings about it. There are standard quick access emoji options like a heart and thumbs up, but with the "+" button, any emoji can be added.

When you're listening to a song in the playlist that has emoji reactions added by people who have collaborated on a playlist, those emoji animate as the song begins to play.

AirPlay 2 in Hotels

Select hotels now support streaming content from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac directly to an AirPlay-compatible hotel. The feature is designed to allow you to watch content on streaming services without having to log in to a hotel TV with your credentials.

AppleCare

In the Settings app under General, the AppleCare and Warranty section displays the AppleCare coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID.

Crash Detection

Apple has further optimized the Crash Detection feature that is available on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models. Apple has been continually tweaking Crash Detection to prevent it from activating during activities that cause movement similar to a car crash.

TV Show and Movie Wishlists

With iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2, Apple stopped allowing TV shows and movies to be purchased with the iTunes Store app. iTunes Store wishlists were an unfortunate casualty of the transition, and they became accessible.

Users who were upset about losing carefully curated wishlists can now access that information again in the iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3 updates... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: iOS 17.3 Features: What's New in iOS 17.3

 

[supergt]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

 

[camelphat2019]

Hey Apple, please add an ALWAYS STAY ON with passcode feature.

This will prevent THIEVES from turning OFF the Iphone and preventing the owner from finding it using find my iphone. Such a simple little thing you guys can add but fail to do.

- I got my iphone stolen at a music festival , 7 days later it was in China.

 

[till]

I'm guessing we (in the EU) also get sideloading support in 17.3? They only have about a month left until the law goes into effect, so it's either this or a hasty 17.3.1.

 

[jdavid_rp]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

Well, you could say the same about Check In, the nudity detector thing and surely other security related features. At the end of the day the latest iOS release is iOS 17 and it will be the one getting new features and we should also mention that Apple is still updating iOS 16 with security fixes.

 

[jdoyle]

Hope it fixes the bug with iMessages notifications intermittently not triggering. Ive had this problem ever since the introduced focus. Doesn't matter what settings I use.

 

[Lizzard899]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

Stolen device protection isn't showing up on most of the phones. Such as mine. I have se (2022) and its not there. Others have said the same thing. Def a bug in ios 17.3

 

[JohnRckr]

Pretty boring, but I am glad for the Stolen device thingy

 

[jbattan]

It's not a "major" release. As we say in the software development industry, it's a "dot" release.

 

[MKingston]

1 hour delay was way overdue. unfortunately about 3 days too late for my spouse.

 

[@Brett]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

Really need to stop putting this all on Apple. People need to also be held responsible for their actions. What kind of protections does Android have in place?

 

[Surf Monkey]

Their handling of wish lists is down right insulting.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I can't find anything regarding wishlists on the Iphone or Apple TV app. I see favorites in the TV store app that is now defunct, but everything else is just add to up next.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I can't find anything regarding wishlists on the Iphone or Apple TV app. I see favorites in the TV store app that is now defunct, but everything else is just add to up next.

They REALLY don’t want you to purchase movies and shows anymore. They want you to subscribe to services instead.

 

[midkay]

We have a MacRumors collaborative music playlist available for those who want to join in and share music with other MacRumors readers.

Any idea why the collaborative playlist link isn’t working? On iPhone, it says “Link Expired: To join this playlist, you'll need to contact the playlist owner for a new link.”

 

[JonBOY26]

Stolen device protection sounds worthwhile, but I note that it works via 'significant locations' to determine when it's away from a safe location (home, work). I have significant locations turned off within Location Services, but I was able to enable stolen device mode. I guess that means my phone will assume that it's never in a safe location and biometrics will always be required for making high-level account changes. That seems like a win to me as there are hundreds of people where I work who could steal my phone, so my work is definitely not a 'safe location'.

 

[JosephAW]

How I am liking iOS 17 in general?

Missing the battery life of iOS 16. It's still awful on my iPhone 14 Pro even with most features turned off.

Find My is still not working right with some of my friends and iPadOS 17 can't even enable location sharing because of the no active device error. Hopefully this update fixes it.

Have to reboot my iPhone 14 Pro at least once a day because the volume keeps getting stuck at full volume.

Still having trouble connecting to my 14 pro hotspot with older Wi-Fi devices even with compatibility turned on. It used to work in 16.

Dictation doesn't work as good anymore, it used to correct words after a few seconds later and that stopped gixing in 17.

Lock screen wallpapers is still a pain since iOS 16, when I pull my iPhone out of my pocket or grab my phone it's always an edit Lock Screen mode.

The new feature with Siri where you don't have to keep saying "hey siri", makes it faster to give it command as long as the bubble is still in the screen.

Apple TV actually works better for older games that were very staccato and 16 are now working smoothly and 17.

tvOS 17 works on my Apple TV HD released in 2015 but it's not available for my iPhone 8 Plus and SE release later on next years, all devices from the oldest to today should all be supported in sequence.

Apple HDMI adapter is working again in 17 for a majority of my streaming services including Disney, that got broke way back in iOS 15.3.

 

[charlesdayton]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

It’s a new feature. It will never be available on older unsupported devices.

Be happy that Apple provides ~5 yrs of updates. In Android (except Pixel) you are lucky to get 1 mayor os update.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Okay, but where is the re-added wishlist in tvOS 17.2. Did I miss something? Do they hide it or do I have to activate it in a deep level of settings?

 

[Dan in VA]

You can list Apple Care for other people’s devices under your account, such as a child or spouse. When you buy the device, login with your Apple ID and buy AppleCare+ month to month. Logout, your family member logs in. You’re now covering their device insurance.

 

[JapanApple]

Happy with the update! no problems

 

[Shirasaki]

So, I’m updated to iOS 17.3.
Where is that magic stolen device protection? I can’t find it anywhere on my iPad.
iPad is not worth to have that kind of protection?

 

[PsykX]

I'm surprised it doesn't come with a new version of Xcode. It seems like these aren't synchronized releases anymore. It's been like that in this iOS 17 cycle.

 

[c073186]

Regarding stolen device protection, and assuming you have significant locations turned on, couldn’t the thief just drive to your house (address probably is in your contact info), park at the street, and then use the passcode with no delay? Or am I missing something?

 

[xpxp2002]

This stolen device protection functionality is long overdue but it's ridiculous that they are limiting it to iOS 17(.3). Plenty of people use older devices but I guess it doesn't matter if their Apple IDs are stolen.

It relies on functionality changes specifically in the new OS.

What’s more surprising and dismaying to me is that it is notably missing from iPadOS 17.3.