iOS 17 is the latest version of iOS, released on September 18, 2023. It was a smaller update, but there are still plenty of awesome features you can check out.
iOS 17.1 was released on October 25, 2023. It added a few minor features:
iOS 17.2 was released on December 11, 2023. It brought with it some big features originally announced earlier in June that were but missing from the initial release. Check out our video on the top features to see them in action.
iOS 17.3 was released on January 22, 2024 with a few new features.
iOS 17.4 released on March 5, 2024 with huge changes for the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act:
Other features available worldwide:
Update to iOS 17.4 to get the new emoji. The new emoji include a face shaking up and down, a face shaking left and right, a phoenix, a lime, a brown mushroom, a broken link, updated family icons and a set of people icons that are now facing right instead of left.
iOS 17 runs on the iPhone XS and newer, dropping support for the iPhone X and iPhone 8.
Jailbreaking an iPhone has gotten harder every year. The only jailbreak exploit for iOS 17 is known as palera1n, which only works on iOS devices with an A11 chip and older.
Unfortunately, Apple dropped support in iOS 17 for all iPhones with an A11 chip, the iPhone X and iPhone 8. As such, you can only jailbreak iOS 17 on the basic iPad (6th generation) and iPad (7th generation).
According to Apple, the next version of iOS will be announced on June 10 at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, WWDC24. The keynote will be live-streamed on YouTube and Apple’s website starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
That same day, it is due to be available in beta testing for app developers. Likely in July, a public beta will be available for those who want to try out the features early.
iOS 18 will undoubtedly be released to everyone in September.
iPhone Stolen Device Protection offers increased safety for your accounts and financial information if someone steals your handset and its passcode.
Here’s how to activate the security feature that debuted in iOS 17.3, and — more importantly — why you should do it now.
Following a lull of a few weeks, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers Tuesday. While iOS 17.4 was a big release, iOS 17.5 beta 1 packs relatively minor (albeit important) changes.
Below are all the changes we have spotted in the first iOS 17.5 beta.
Your iPhone doesn’t need to look like it came from 2012. You can easily swap out wallpapers and/or customize iPhone Home Screen layouts by adding widgets and folders (and by hiding unwanted apps from your view).
This guide will help set up your iPhone screen so it looks exactly how you want it to.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Surprise! Apple drops new MacBook Airs with M3 chips inside. The new laptops’ specs and first benchmarks make the performance boost sound quite impressive indeed. But what should we expect next for the MacBook, and when should we expect it?
Join us for a titillating conversation about the current state (and future) of Apple’s laptops.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
AutoFill on iPhone is supposed to help you out when you’re entering a password or typing in your email. When it doesn’t work, it can be incredibly frustrating — especially if you don’t know some complicated password offhand. The phone’s supposed to remember it so you don’t have to!
Now, in iOS 17, AutoFill has been put on steroids. The new AutoFill is much more expansive than the old, and unlike previous versions, works anywhere you can input text, including third-party browsers. To autofill passwords, credit cards, contacts and more, you no longer have to dig through Settings > Passwords or through the Contacts app to pull out the information.
You can even autofill scanned text from documents, signs and more using the camera. Here’s how it’s done.
It just became a lot easier to read along with a podcast, or pull an interesting quote out of one. The Apple Podcasts app now automatically generates transcripts for series and episodes.
Here’s how to find and read these transcripts in the iPhone Podcasts app.
Apple just dropped iOS 17.4, bringing a plethora of new features — some of which fundamentally change how the iPhone works.
The biggest point update to iOS 17, iOS 17.4 comes almost six months after the operating system’s initial release. It enables support for third-party app stores, browsers and payment apps on the iPhone. The bummer? These major changes are only coming to the European Union. Still, there are a lot of new iOS 17.4 features that will enhance the experience of every iPhone user.
A hot new feature in iOS 17.3 is Apple Music playlist collaboration. In advance of a party, road trip or any kind of themed event, you and others organizing the music can build a playlist together.
This isn’t to be confused with a similar feature, SharePlay, which lets people in the same room add songs to a live queue. SharePlay is more ephemeral; it lets others nearby play songs in the car or to a Bluetooth speaker without passing around your unlocked phone.
A shared Apple Music playlist is saved and can be replayed at any time. To find out everything you need to know about Apple Music playlist collaboration, keep reading or watch our quick how-to video.
Apple recently seeded the fourth beta of iOS 17.4. Despite this late into the beta cycle, iOS 17.4 beta 4 packs several notable changes.
Below are all the changes we have come across in the latest iOS 17.4 beta along with an archive of all the changes in the previous beta builds.
Apple Cash will soon give shoppers everything they need to make purchases online. Starting with iOS 17.4, a debit card number can be created for the financial service, along with the usual associated details.
This will be a boon for those who depend on the digital payment system, especially teenagers.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: A new round of Apple Vision Pro reviews gives us greater insight into what to expect from the high-priced headset. Is it utterly mind-blowing? Clunky and weird? So addictive that we’re doomed to a flat life in the boring 2D world when we take it off?
Sounds like all of the above!
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.4 to developers Thursday, offering a first look at new emoji coming soon to iPhone. For Europeans, the update will be a major one, as it will allow users to sideload apps (among other big changes).
Also on Thursday came the initial betas of iPadOS 17.4 and tvOS 17.4. There’s no sign yet of macOS 14.4 beta 1, however.
To comply with EU mandates, Apple will open the iPhone’s NFC payment chip to third parties, the company said Thursday. Starting in March, users in the European Economic Area will be able to utilize tap-to-pay services other than Apple Pay when making purchases.
The new payment option, part of sweeping changes forced on the iPhone and iOS by the EU’s Digital Markets Act, could cut into Apple’s services revenue. And the company warns that it could put users at risk.
iOS 17.3, the third major release of iOS 17, arrived Monday. It packs several new features, one of which is Stolen Device Protection. It also brings the much-delayed Apple Music playlist collaboration.
Once you install iOS 17.3 on your iPhone, check out the new features you must try below.
You can send a FaceTime voicemail to someone if they don’t answer when you need to video chat. It’s better than leaving a regular voicemail, because it’s video — you can relay a message quickly or show something off on camera.
For instance, if your dog or your human child is doing something cute, or if you want to get a second opinion on an outfit, you might want to show someone. If they don’t answer your FaceTime call, you can record a video to send them to watch later.
Here’s how FaceTime voicemail works.
How do you set up your new iPhone the fastest way possible? The iPhone setup process gets easier every year. So easy, in fact, that there are only a few things you need to do to move from your old iPhone to a new one. You can even directly transfer your data from an Android phone. Setting up a new iPhone from scratch isn’t much harder — you just have a few extra steps you need to go through.
There are still a few tricks that will help things run smoothly, though. Let’s see how to set up your new iPhone the right way.
iPhone users can now install iOS 17.2.1. And macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 is out as well. These are minor bug fix updates, though. The changes are so small Apple didn’t bother to describe them.
These are the only updates introduced Tuesday. There’s no iPadOS version, nor one for Apple Watch. And no new betas, either.
iOS 17 brought dozens of great features and changes, but the latest 17.2 update adds even more.
The headline feature is the new Journal app — other new tweaks come to iMessage stickers, NameDrop and Apple Music. If you have a new iPhone 15 Pro, you can record Spatial Videos and use the Translate app directly from the Action button. You can also customize more notification sounds and StandBy.
Here are the ten best features in 17.2.
The first beta of iOS 17.3 is now available. It comes a couple of days after Apple released the stable iOS 17.2 update with plenty of new features to the public.
iOS 17.3 beta 1 does not pack many changes but brings an important new security feature to iPhones. Below are all the changes we have spotted in iOS 17.3 beta 1.
In iOS 17, many of the default sounds for notifications, alarms and timers have been changed — but how do you get back the old sounds if you don’t like the new ones?
A lot of people get deeply attached to the sound effects. If you want the old noises back, you can change (most of them) back manually. I’ll show you how.
Update: The new iOS 17.2 makes a nice change to alerts in third-party apps. Read on for more details.
In iOS 17, you can use Apple’s Reminders as a grocery list app on your iPhone — and items you add are automatically sorted into common sections.
This proves incredibly helpful when you go shopping. Just open the Reminders app, and you can easily see if you’ve got everything you need as you’re making your way through the store.
I’ll show you how to use it, including how to share your Reminders app grocery list with someone else so you can both add items and check them off the same list.
The just-released iOS 17.3 beta 1 includes a surprise feature: Stolen Device Protection. The option makes it harder to reset the passcode on a stolen device if the thief already knows the current passcode. There are also new password protections.
Apple also seeded the initial betas of macOS 14.3, iPadOS 17.3, watchOS 10.3 and tvOS 17.3.
A diary can be a great and invaluable record of your life, but who has time for that? Well, now you do: Apple’s new iPhone Journal app makes keeping a diary a breeze. Really, it couldn’t be any easier.
The new Apple Journal app released in iOS 17.2 lets you build a record of your life into a multimedia digital diary. Your iPhone will pull together details from your photos, locations and events to give you prompts for memories worth writing about.
Here’s the nitty gritty on using the new Journal app.
If you own an Apple computer of any shape or size, odds are it just got an operating system upgrade. Monday brought the public launch of macOS Sonoma 14.2, iPadOS 17.2, iOS 17.2, watchOS 10.2 and tvOS 17.2.
And these aren’t simple bug fixes. There’s new features.
Nearly two months after iOS 17‘s release, Apple released the iPhone operating system’s second major point build Monday. iOS 17.2 introduces several new features and changes, with many that Apple first demoed at WWDC23 in June.
iOS 17.2’s marquee feature is Apple’s new Journal app, though it enhances several other aspects of the OS. Find out everything new in iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2 below.
