As you prepare for Apple to release iOS 17.5, don’t overlook the features Apple added to the iPhone with iOS 17.1. The company released the update to the public in October, more than a month after the arrival of iOS 17. The update fixed some bugs and brought some features to the iPhone, such as Apple Music updates.
These are the iOS 17.1 features and fixes brought to the iPhone.
iPhone 12 RF issues addressed
France’s National Frequency Agency said on September 12 that the iPhone 12 exceeds Europe-specific absorption rate limits, and it appears Apple has addressed those concerns with iOS 17.1.
“iOS 17.1 includes an update for iPhone 12 for users in France to adapt to this specific testing protocol that requires reduced power when outside the body on a static surface,” Apple posted on October 10. “iPhone 12 will no longer increase the power allowed when the out-of-body state is detected, such as when sitting at a table.”
New StandBy Mode Settings
Standby is one of my favorite new iOS features, and with iOS 17.1, Apple is bringing more configuration options to standby. With iOS 17.1, you have the option to turn off standby after 20 seconds, never, or “automatically.” Apple writes that if you choose Automatically, the screen will turn off when your iPhone is not in use and the room is dark, such as when you sleep at night.
However, I checked these settings on my iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone XR and only found these options on my iPhone 14 Pro. It appears that the new settings are only available on iPhones with an always-on display.
Apple Music Updates
With iOS 17.1, Apple added a new button in Apple Music that lets you quickly find your favorite songs. When a song is playing and you look at its card on your iPhone, there is a star near the song title. You can tap this star to add the song to your Favorites.
There’s also a new way to find all your favorite playlists, albums, and songs. To find them, go to the corresponding category in Apple Music, tap the button in the top right corner of the screen, and tap Favorite.
Apple Music also shows you song suggestions with iOS 17.1. To view them, go to any of your playlists and scroll to the end of the playlist to see a section called Song Suggestions. These are songs that the app thinks you might like, based on your musical tastes.
AirDrop using mobile data
With iOS 17, Apple updated AirDrop with NameDrop, which allows two devices to touch each other and exchange contact information, sort of like exchanging digital business cards. In iOS 17.1, Apple lets you use cellular data to send and receive information via AirDrop when two iPhones are out of range of each other.
Flashlight symbol in live activities
Have you ever accidentally turned on your iPhone flashlight and had someone point it out to you later? Some iPhone users won’t have to worry about that anymore. With iOS 17.1, when you turn on the flashlight, a small flashlight symbol appears in the Activities live stream at the top of the screen. However, I wasn’t able to replicate this symbol on my iPhone
Full Release Notes for iOS 17.1
Here are Apple’s full release notes for iOS 17.1, including bug fixes and other improvements:
Airdrop
• Content continues to transfer over the Internet when you leave AirDrop range.
Support
• New options to control when the screen turns off (iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max).
Music
• Favorites expanded to include songs, albums, and playlists, and you can filter to show your favorites in the library.
• The new cover collection offers designs that change color to reflect the music in your playlist.
• Song suggestions appear at the bottom of each playlist, making it easy to add music that matches the style of your playlist.
This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:
• Option to choose a specific album to use with Photo Shuffle on the lock screen.
• Home key support for Matter locks.
• The reliability of syncing Screen Time settings between devices has been improved.
• Fixes an issue that may cause Meaningful Location privacy settings to reset when transferring or pairing an Apple Watch for the first time.
• Resolves an issue where incoming caller names may not appear when you are on another call.
• Fixes an issue where custom and purchased ringtones may not appear as text tone options.
• Fixes an issue that may cause the keyboard to become less responsive.
• Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models).
• Fixes an issue that may cause image persistence on the screen.
Some features may not be available in all regions or on all Apple devices. For information about the security content of Apple software updates, visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222.
For more iOS news, here are the features that could come to your iPhone in iOS 17.5 and those that were included in iOS 17.4. You can also check out our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
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