It’s a big moment when Apple unveils a new version of iOS at WWDC every summer. After all, this software runs on a billion iPhones and could fundamentally change the way they all behave: iOS updates add new features, correct flaws and UI issues, improve reliability (hopefully), and generally improve the iPhone experience . All this without costing a dime to install.
In 2023, rumor would have us believe, the new features in that equation will be relatively small, as development work on the company’s mixed-reality headset has apparently consumed so many engineering hours that the iOS 17 project had to be scaled back. Multiple experts have warned that while some smaller new features will be added, there won’t be a “tentpole improvement” to base an event on like iOS 16’s customizable lock screen.
But this is not a disaster. Not for Apple, who will be talking about the headset for most of the event anyway, and not for iPhone owners, who will still get a great update. Because the real value you get from an iOS update isn’t a heavily hyped tentpole feature. Instead, it comes from the accumulation of small tweaks that improve the overall experience in numerous ways. It’s even plausible that so-called “maintenance updates” are better for the user, as they’re less likely to break things and focus on the little details that matter most.
With that in mind, here are five of the smaller changes we’re expecting this year, and why (assuming the info is correct) they’ll make a difference to your iPhone experience (plus one that won’t change things as much as people think). Check out our iOS 17 super guide for a full coverage of everything we know about this year’s iPhone update.
Customizable app library folders
Introduced in iOS 14, the App Library is a single screen that lists all of your iPhone’s apps, organized by category for easy access. Apple recognized that it needed to provide a streamlined way to navigate iOS as users installed more and more apps on more and more screens, and demanded the ability to hide apps from the traditional home screen view.
So the app library makes a lot of sense as a navigation concept, but the categories leave a lot to be desired. Scrolling through mine, there’s a mix of the useful (Games, Social, and Music are all self-explanatory), the flawed (like the subtle distinction between Productivity & Finance and Business, and the bizarrely comprehensive Information & Reading), and the very useless ones (Utilities, and all-time classic Other). My co-worker Jason has two Fender guitar apps on his iPhone, and they somehow ended up in different folders… and neither of them fit. I don’t use App Library much, mostly because it’s a confusing mess.
Foundry
As of the launch of iOS 17, I may no longer have that excuse; a rumor suggests Apple will allow us to create our own custom categories. Further details are scarce. Does this simply mean we can create a folder in both the app library and our home screens, name it whatever we want, and add apps to it manually? The strength of the concept is that users with hundreds of apps don’t have to sort and order manually, so we hope iOS 17 will allow us to create custom categories regulations which are massively applicable to our app collections.
Search smarter
The main alternative to the app library, if you have a lot of apps, is navigating via search. Swipe down from any home screen and you’ll open the Spotlight screen, where Siri suggests various apps and actions it thinks might be of interest, and where you can enter a search term and see apps, contacts, photos, settings, web pages, and more. many more items that fit.
Since App Library doesn’t do it for me, I navigate Spotlight to a slew of apps that don’t quite qualify for a spot on my first few home screens. But things apparently get better with the launch of iOS 17: the Twitter leaker @ analyst941 has claimed that we will see “greatly improved search/Spotlight” in the update.
As with App Library, the details are minimal so far, but as good as Spotlight is, there are two main areas where it could be improved. First, the search function itself could get better, either by getting smarter at understanding typos (although it can already understand some, like “gaem” as a typo of “game”) or knowing how to search in apps like Notes and Posts when it’s most relevant. And second, the AI behind Siri Suggestions could be improved to better predict what you want to do at any given time. Anyway, a handy navigation hub becomes even more useful, and I can’t wait.
Steerable control center
No one likes to wade through iOS’s Settings app, and Control Center is a brilliant way to skip that hassle and go straight to your most-used toggles. But the design is tired and customization remains limited. (The top half is set in stone; for the bottom half, you can choose from a list of 23 additional controls.) This may all change in iOS 17.
Foundry
An anonymous user of the MacRumors forum with one successful prediction from the past thinks that Apple will revamp Control Center in 2023, and that it will be so important that it will be a highlight of the iOS 17 announcement.
Concentrated focus
Apple has implemented a surprising “use your iPhone less” strategy in recent years, encouraging customers to limit their screen time and reduce distractions while sleeping, working, exercising and most importantly driving. A key part of this admirable effort is the iPhone’s Focus modes, which let you fine-tune notifications, alerts, automatic responses, and even the layout of your home and lock screens in a precise way that suits you and focuses your attention on a particular activity.
As of iOS 16, there are four preset focus modes: driving, fitness, sleep, and work, plus the universal Do Not Disturb feature. You can customize any of these and set up your own Personal Mode with a separate set of options, which makes Focus an impressively powerful tool… if you put in the time. But Apple is at its best when it does the work for you, and we look forward to the additional prewritten Focus filters that sources predict will be added in iOS 17.
I’d suggest a Drinking mode, which prevents you from messaging selected “danger” contacts, pops up contact details for taxis and pizzerias, and automatically lowers the brightness and volume the next morning.
Precision flashlights
Activate the iPhone’s flashlight with a tap in Control Center and it’s on or off. However, power users will know that you can long-press the icon to expand it into an adjustable flashlight with four brightness levels. Pro tip for you there.
But who’s willing to settle for a four-level brightness poxy? Not me! I want the “infinitely adjustable flashlight brightness” offered in iOS 17, according to a Weibo source. Game changer.
But sideloading? Not so much
I’m a little funny about the grainy flashlight, which will often be useful to a very small minority of users and only very occasionally useful to the rest of us. But I bet it makes more of a difference than sideloading.
Sideloading is when a phone owner installs software through unofficial channels, which in the case of iOS means a source other than Apple’s App Store. At this point, you’ll need to jailbreak the iPhone, a relatively technical and arguably risky process that will likely void your warranty and, if you’re not careful, could lead to malware being found on your device. But that’s all going to change with the launch of iOS 17.
Due to political, legal and PR pressures, Apple is widely expected to open up the iPhone this year and allow third-party app stores, a momentous concession from a company facing mounting allegations of anti-competitive conduct. At an enterprise level, this would be a huge step… but for the average iPhone owner, I suspect little will change.
The problem is that Apple, whose engineers and designers will create the structure in which third-party stores exist, is actively incentivized to make it work poorly in order to maximize revenue through the official store. And so, just as the Self Service Repair program, which Apple doesn’t want you to use, became surprisingly hard, difficult, and expensive, sideloading is bound to be as clunky and unintuitive as Apple can make it. And I’m pretty sure iPhone owners, accustomed to a smooth, simple, and easy-to-use experience, will either avoid it altogether or give it a try and vow never to return. (Indeed, many will never hear that it is possible.)
The theory is that increased competition from third parties will prompt developers to lower their prices on the official App Store, and Apple to reduce its discount and relax its stricter policies. But that only works if people actually use the new option in volume, and I just don’t see that happening.
Oh, and sideloading might be limited to Europe, so there’s that too.
