Apple iOS 17—Brilliant New iPhone Features Coming This Fall

Apple’s iOS 17 has now officially launched at the iPhone maker’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), along with a bunch of brilliant new features. So what does iOS 17 mean for security and privacy?

Apple’s iOS 16 has seen multiple iPhone security and privacy enhancements, including Passkeys, Rapid Security Response and numerous safety features.

This focus on privacy and security is set to continue in iOS 17 as the areas become increasingly crucial to all iPhone users. Sideloading is also supposed to be coming to iOS 17. However, it is so far absent from the beta version of the new iPhone software.

Here are some of the best new features coming when iOS 17 is released this fall.

Check In

A new safety feature is coming in iOS 17 called Check In, which allows you to select specific contacts who can be notified when you get home from a night out. If Check In detects you are not home by the expected time, it will send you a message to see if everything is okay.

If there’s no reply, it can send details of your whereabouts such as your precise location to your chosen contact. The data is protected by end-to-end encryption, the gold standard, which means no one can see it, even Apple.

“There are so many people who have said [they] feel a little insecure when they’re walking home from dinner, walking from the library to their dorm,” Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, told Fast Company in an interview. Check In is a way “that we can provide some level of comfort and security for a large number of people.”

The new Check In feature will impress those wanting to remain physically safe and offers “simple and non-intrusive peace of mind” to users and chosen contacts, says Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET.

Yet he warns there is potential for false positives. For example, he says, people could stay out longer than expected and chosen contacts could “worry needlessly.” However, this will “no doubt iron out over time,” he says.

A Boost To Lockdown Mode

Apple’s iOS 17 will also include a boost to Lockdown Mode—the iPhone security feature intended to protect journalists and dissidents from attacks such as spyware. Lockdown Mode isn’t for everyone—it renders your iPhone almost completely useless—but it’s an essential tool for the people who might be targeted by these attacks. In iOS 17, Lockdown Mode will include new features such as blocking iPhones from connecting to 2G networks and from auto-joining insecure wireless networks. Lockdown Mode will also be coming to the Apple Watch.

Link Tracking Protection

In iOS 17, Apple will introduce Link Tracking Protection in apps including Messages, Mail and Safari Private Browsing. This will see the updated operating system removing the parts of links that allow marketers to track you as you browse the web.

Moore welcomes the addition of reduced tracking in iOS 17. “Omitting or at least limiting site tracking is one of those features that may not be front and center of everyone’s minds, but it can prove essential when trying to protect privacy. The auto stripping is a brilliant feature offering confidence that marketers will not easily track by default through every click you make.”

Password And Passkey Sharing

Password sharing is usually a no-no, but there are reasons you might want to share your credentials with family or friends, such as log-ins for streaming services. Apple’s iOS 17 will make the process more secure, so you don’t need to share it in plain text—and it will even send the two-factor authentication code to your chosen contact if you have used it to safeguard the password-protected account.

Moore points out that sharing passwords is “a big faux pas” but concedes there are times when it is essential, such as when sharing a home or office Wi-Fi password. “The latest upgraded password sharing feature will help protect physical as well as digital eyes from viewing private data.”

Live Voicemail

This is one of my favorite new features. In iOS 17, Apple is providing a new way for you to screen your calls with Live Voicemail. When you receive a call and the caller leaves a message, Apple will send you a live transcript so you can decide whether to talk or ignore the caller. I, for one, will find this extremely useful.

iOS 17 Is Coming Soon

There isn’t long to wait for iOS 17—the updated iPhone operating system will probably arrive in September, when Apple launches its latest smartphones. In the meantime, expect to see lots of privacy and security enhancements. I’ll cover them here, so do check my page or click the Follow button to be alerted about the best new iOS 17 features.