You probably just updated your iPhone to iOS 17, but beta 1 of iOS 17.1 has already been released. We will tell you what the new features are!
iOS 17.1 beta 1
Less than two weeks after iOS 17 became available to anyone with a (recent) iPhone, Apple released iOS 17.1 beta 1. It is also not a small update, as it contains quite a few new features. These are the most important changes.
Favorites in Apple Music
In Apple Music there is now a new way to ‘fave’ music. Normally you have to tap the Heart icon in Apple Music to like a song. There will now be an asterisk in its place.
The great thing is that this new system can also be found in the music player on your lockscreen. So you no longer have to open the app to like a song.
Unfortunately, it is not yet a ‘real’ favorites list. If you tap the star, the song will be added to your library. Apple Music then uses these favorites to recommend songs. The songs do not (yet) end up in the playlist with favorites. Hopefully Apple will add that.
AirDrop and NameDrop
When you transfer files with AirDrop, it is now no longer necessary to stay close to each other. Once the files are sending you can walk away from now on. In iOS 17.1 beta 1, AirDrop will then continue via your iPhone’s mobile data connection.
In addition, NameDrop has received an update. With watchOS 10.1 and iOS 17.1 you can now also use the function on your Apple Watch.
Flashlight indicator
You’ve probably accidentally turned on the flashlight, and sometimes you only notice it when you happen to turn the iPhone over. This is now coming to an end, because Apple will now show an icon in the Dynamic Island when the flashlight is turned on on the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max .
Wallpapers and backgrounds
Apple also made some changes when setting a wallpaper in iOS 17.1 beta 1. In the beta it is possible to ‘stretch’ a wallpaper slightly. When setting up, you can tap on the three dots and choose ‘Extend Wallpaper’.
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