New Apple software updates build higher garden walls

Source: Apple

iPhone everything

The big two updates are the introduction of a new full-screen experience called StandBy that triggers when your compatible iPhone is charging and in landscape orientation. Think of it as an alarm clock with an always on display – although that feature, the always on, is reserved for the variable refresh rate screens of the pro model iPhones since 14 Pro.

The other big one is an app called Journal which integrates with the photo album and health records to build a detailed narrative of your day, which you can add notes to. Journalling apps are great revenue opportunities for third party developers like Day One that is now being challenged by Apple baking in the functionality into the system.

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Communication apps such as the Phone app, FaceTime, and Messages have received major updates, making staying in touch with friends and family even more seamless. And the Notes app also now allows better organising and directories.

Apple put the tracker tag industry on notice when it introduced AirTags in 2021 and is recycling the same monopoly play on the software side, with only game developers not under threat, because Apple Arcade subscriptions are valuable to the company.

iPad gets more personal

Last year iPad users got a weather app, and in 2023 the Health app now also migrates to the larger screen and has new features that can help users stay on top of their wellbeing.

The iPadOS 17 update allows users to customise their Lock Screen and Home Screen with wallpapers, widgets, and fonts. It also enhances communication apps such as Messages and FaceTime and makes working with PDFs easier.

That PDF autofill functionality is coming in a later update, but it will make third party PDF apps obsolete for the iPad.

In addition to these updates, iOS 17 also brings improvements to AirPods and Siri. Privacy and accessibility for Apple users.

This comprehensive update aims to make the iPhone experience even more intuitive and personalized for users. It’s available starting today, so iPhone users can enjoy these new features and improvements right away.

TV for the pandemic

On the TV side we see Apple finally abandoning its ambitions to be the one-stop TV directory for all streaming services. The focus shifts to better home screen navigation (an extra row to the grid of apps) and tighter controls in the Control Panel.

Apple TV will now also connect to an iPhone and use the Continuity Camera function to make it a webcam for FaceTime calls and for video karaoke using the Sing function in Apple Music.

These additions would’ve been better suited during the lockdown years of the pandemic, but it is a nice to have now and another opportunity for Apple to make the ecosystem more appealing to Apple TV owners who maybe use other phone brands.