Testing the Apple iPhone iOS 17 Beta – what is the hype?

The anticipation for the latest in Apple products is always high, with months worth of speculations and rumours circling tech forums as to what we can expect. This time around, the tech giant previously announced a leap forward to the next stage with their operating system by launching iOS 17 and has made its beta version available for testing – #legend takes a look at what’s new

Apple announced a leap forward to the next stage with its operating system by launching iOS 17. With it comes a flurry of new experiences from a new full-screen experience in the form of StandBy to sharing contact details or entertainment content with NameDrop and SharePlay respectively.

From this, we can tell that Apple is putting a big focus on “connectivity” – the experience kind between people. Just an iPhone-to-iPhone head bump allows for a quick exchange of contact details in NameDrop – et voila – no more pesky entering name and phone number in the virtual address book. For further interactivity between friends, simply hold one iPhone close to another to initiate gaming in sync, watch content instantaneously or listen to music with SharePlay.

Then there is the customisation of your phone calls. Your individual flair pops up at the first ring with a personalised Contact Poster, by combining your favourite photo or emoji with a preferred font. Nevertheless, if picking up a call isn’t convenient, you can now leave live voicemails which instantaneously transcribe your voicemail to a message – read it in the moment and listen to it later. However, this function is only available to regions for which their first language is English. Hong Kong is sadly, not one of them – at least, not for the foreseeable future.

Another feature however to help better express your message is in the new sticker function which you can create straight in iMessage and can use across other media platforms.

And to further the connectivity element, here are a few more interesting developments that iOS 17 is going to bring.

With this operating system upgrade, there is a function called Check In. This allows your friends or family to know when you have safely arrived at a destination. If you fail to complete the check-in for one reason or another, the function checks in with you, and if you don’t respond, encrypted information such as your location, battery level and mobile service status of your iPhone will be shared with your friend.

While idle or set down, the iPhone on this new iOS will make full use of its screen by using StandBy which gives you information at a glance from a distance. For example, you can now turn your iPhone into a bedside clock or use the widgets to display the kind of information of media you wish.

iOS 17 promises to bring people closer together with its new functions – from sharing to interactivity, and to express yourself in more fun ways. And for those who have long been immersed in the Apple ecosystem, these new capabilities brought on by an updated operating system will allow for new ways to enjoy your Apple products.

All images via Apple

Also see: 4 Hong Kong artists unveil new Octopus designs for iPhone and Apple Watch