The first iOS 17 beta has just rolled out to developers after its announcement at WWDC 2023. While we know some of the features already, others are just being discovered, such as a new automatic delete feature for verification codes (via MacRumors).
In the Passwords section of the Settings app, there's now a "Clean Up Automatically" setting that will delete texts from the Messages app that contain 2FA codes once you've used them to log in. It relies on the iPhone's AutoFill feature (which automatically inserts user IDs and passwords when you need them) to know when they've been used, so presumably anyone who prefers to log-in manually won't be able to make use of this.
Also interesting is that auto-detection for security codes and auto-deleting (if enabled) now works in the iOS Mail app. I don't use Apple's own app to read my emails (I'm a Spark user), but for the millions of people who do, you can look forward to tidying up that inbox as well when iOS 17 arrives on your device.
One useful upgrade among many others
This auto-delete feature will certainly be one I'll be toggling on when I first get to try the beta. Since I do most of my messaging outside of iMessage, such as through WhatsApp and Instagram, my iMessage inbox is mostly full of 2FA codes from various apps and services that require them. Finding messages from actual people among all the codes is tricky, so I'd be very happy for this system to pare down my inbox to only the messages that matter.
There's more in iOS 17 to get excited for though. Among the best iOS 17 features are things like a new StandBy smart display mode, a Journal app to help you reflect on the day's events, and enhancements to phonecalls, videocalls, text messaging and AirDrop.
WWDC 2023 as a whole was jam-packed with announcements too. New iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and macOS Sonoma updates were all announced, as was the long-awaited Apple VisionPro headset and some new Macs, including the 15-inch MacBook Air and new Mac Studio.
