Apple has released iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1, bringing a stack of new features to the software it announced when the iPhone 15 family was outed in September.
What’s new? We’ll take a look in a minute.
But if you want to check if iOS 17.1 has come to your iPhone yet, you can manually force a check by going to Settings, then General. Tap Software Update and follow the on-screen prompts.
iOS 17.1 features
Next-gen AirDrop
AirDrop is one of Apple’s best features. It uses, primarily, Wi-fi to send information between Apple devices. iOS 17 lets phones continue to send data over mobile internet even if they go beyond Wi-fi range.
Reach beyond the Wi-fi Direct range between the two devices, and an iPhone can now switch to internet over Wi-fi (such as your home broadband) or mobile data.
This is one of those features designed to be invisible, and make an already pretty seamless experience that bit more friendly and fool-proof.
Standby Mode tweaks
Apple introduced Standby Mode in iOS 17, letting you use your iPhone more like a desk clock when plugged in and laid on a suitable dock.
iOS 17.1 makes it more customisable. You can alter when it turns off: 20 seconds after using the phone, when the phone detects the room is dark and no-one is about, or not at all. This is a feature for iPhones with OLED screens that support the Always-on mode. That’s the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro series, including the Max models.
Photo Shuffle
iOS 16 introduced the Photo Shuffle mode, in 2022. It makes an iPhone’s wallpaper randomly cycle between pictures of people or animals.
iOS 17.1 makes it more useful by letting you select a specific album to use. You’re much less likely to see a photo that will get you down, or might be flat-out embarrassing, as a result.
Flashlight notification icon
Phones that support Apple’s Live Activities feature, so that’s the Pro models from the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 family, will now show a notification icon at the top of the screen when the flashlight is engaged.
This is intended to avoid the all-too-common situation where you accidentally leave the flashlight on and end up wondering why it feels (eventually) like someone is putting a cigarette out on your thigh.
Apple Music tweaks
This won’t matter for all of you, but this iSO 17.1 counts for Apple Music subscribers. The favourites system has re-vamped.
Where previously you favourited artists, you can now favourite songs, playlists, and albums. You can tag a track by hitting the star on the playback window. And you can filter content by stuff you’ve favourited, too.
These are iOS 17.1’s most interesting bits. The update also fixes the signal-radiation issue that caused the iPhone 12 to be banned in France.
However, Apple offers a more exhaustive list on its website.
