iOS 17

iOS 17 is the seventeenth and current major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone. It is the direct successor to iOS 16, which was released one year earlier. It was announced on June 5, 2023, at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference alongside watchOS 10, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma. It was made publicly available on September 18, 2023, as a free software update for supported iOS devices (see the supported devices section).^[4] iOS 17 has received security and bug-fix updates multiple times a month, and feature updates every few months. Beta builds are sent weekly or biweekly to members of the Apple Developer Program and public beta testers. As with every release since iOS 4, these updates are free to users.

Developer

Apple Inc.

C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, assembly language

iOS

September 18, 2023 (2023-09-18)

17.4.1^[1] (March 21, 2024 (2024-03-21)) [±]

17.5 beta 3^[2] (April 23, 2024 (2024-04-23)) [±]

42 languages^[3]

Hybrid (XNU)

Proprietary software with open-source components

iOS 16

apple.com/ios/ios-17

Every day. More extraordinary.

Early development[edit]

iOS 17's internal codename is Dawn.^[5] Apple initially intended iOS 17 as a "tuneup release", similar to iOS 12 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard, allowing them to focus on their new Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset. Still, they added major features later in the development cycle.^[6]^[7]

Home and Lock screens widgets are now interactive. For example, a user can turn on lights or open shutters of a house by pressing the corresponding button of the Home widget, mark a task complete by pressing directly on a reminder in the widget, etc.^[9]

[8]

now allows users to change system settings directly from the search results. For example, if a user searches for "wifi" from the Home Screen, the switch to turn the Wi-Fi off or on appears in the search results.

Spotlight search

[10]

[41]

On the incoming call screen, a new Live Voicemail button sends the call to voicemail and shows a live transcript on-screen, so the user can decide whether to pick up the call.^[43]^[44]^[45]^[46]

[42]

One-time verification codes received in Mail can be filled in with a tap without leaving Safari.

[99]

The ability to automatically delete verification codes was added.

[100]

Link-tracking protection detects user-definable tracking parameters in link URLs and automatically removes them. It is automatically enabled in Mail, Messages, and when browsing with Safari in Private Mode.

[101]

Shared group passwords allows the user to create groups of passwords to share with family and friends. Users can recover passwords for up to 30 days.

[102]

After changing the lock screen passcode, the old code can be used for 72 hours to reset the new passcode if it is forgotten. There's also a button to expire previous passcode immediately.

[103]

iOS 17 contains several changes for app permissions. When an app wants to add an event to the user's Calendar, the event is added without the app being able to read the entire contents of the calendar. When apps ask to access the user's entire photo library, the user can share specific photos with apps while keeping the rest of the library private.

A sensitive content warning detects nudity in photos and videos received in AirDrop and other apps, obscuring them with a blur effect before they are displayed.

Lockdown mode can block the iPhone from connecting to 2G cellular networks and from auto-joining insecure wireless networks, and it disables more APIs in Safari susceptible to being attacked, such as IndexedDB, File API, FileReader API, WebSpeech API, WebLocks API, and more. (Apple's simultaneously-announced watchOS 10 gains support for Lockdown mode, and the mode is automatically enabled on Apple Watch when it is enabled on a paired iPhone.)

[104]

The installation of 3rd party alternatives to the App Store.

The ability to download web browsers that use web engines other than .

WebKit

Management of default web browser settings.

The ability for a user to choose alternative payment methods to use in the app store.

iPhone XS & XS Max

iPhone XR

iPhone 11

iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max

iPhone SE (2nd generation)

iPhone 12 & 12 Mini

iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max

iPhone 13 & 13 Mini

iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max

iPhone SE (3rd generation)

iPhone 14 & 14 Plus

iPhone 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max

iPhone 15 & 15 Plus

iPhone 15 Pro & 15 Pro Max

iOS 17 requires iPhones with an A12 Bionic SoC^[a] or later. It drops support for iPhones with an A11 Bionic^[b] SoC, officially marking the end of support for iPhones with a 5.5-inch display. iOS 17 is the first version of iOS to drop support for an iPhone with Face ID and no Home button. The iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generations) are the only supported devices to feature Touch ID and the Home button.

However, iPhones with an A12 Bionic or A13 Bionic^[c] SoC have limited support^[d] while iPhones with an A14 Bionic SoC and later^[e] are fully supported.^[114]

iPhones that support iOS 17 are as follows.^[115]^[116]^[117]

Reception[edit]

Reception for iOS 17 upon its release date was generally positive.^[119]^[120]^[121] Critics praised the new Contact Posters, Check In, and StandBy mode. They also liked the improvements to stickers, widgets, text prediction, the Camera app, Shortcuts, verification codes, and the Reminders app.^[121] However, many media outlets criticized the lack of the Journal app that was announced during the iOS 17 segment.^[120]^[121] The Journal app was later released, first as part of the iOS 17.2 beta to developers and public beta testers, then to the general public as part of the iOS 17.2 stable release.