As we look into 2023, there’s a bunch of features that would benefit a lot of iOS users for the next update.
The end of the year is usually a time when people reflect on what came before in the previous year, and the same applies to Apple’s software, iOS especially.
Since 2007 with the debut of the iPhone and iOS, there’s been a yearly turnaround of new software updates that would bring big changes or small improvements, such as a redesign in iOS 7, or widgets on the home screen in iOS 14.
However, with iOS 16 bringing widgets to the lock screen, users seem to want an expansion of existing features, rather than new ones for iOS 17.
With this in mind, we’ve racked our brains and come up with seven iPhone platform features that could benefit a lot of users.
This is something I hear a lot: ‘I didn’t know my iPhone could do that.’ As I work in an open office, I’ll spot iPhones that are updated to iOS 16, but still on the old lock screen or others that are still running iOS 13 on an iPhone 11 Pro.
Apple believes that design should be invisible, that you should intuitively know a feature will be there, ready to use, but it doesn’t play out that way for everyone. A friend had no idea you could answer calls on a Mac through an iPhone for example — a feature that’s been around since 2014.
This is why an extra start-up screen should appear once you update to iOS 17. Similar to when you launch one of Apple’s apps and a screen appears showing what’s new. Instead, have this show when you go to the home screen, and make it clear that the Tips app can help you try these features out.
The Tips app is a lesser-known app from Apple, but for a new user it’s great — it’s just not talked about much by the company, and you most likely don’t know that you can go to the app and, as the above image shows, look at an overview of all the new features.
Let’s see it be more ubiquitous — perhaps a random tip appears within the Dynamic Island during the first day you update to iOS 17, or even an email showcasing what you can do.
This is something long overdue, but it’s a difficult challenge to overcome. First appearing in iOS 7 with the big redesign to a flat methodology, you would swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone to access some settings.
