iOS 17 + WatchOS 10
Nothing changed. Everything changed.
iOS 17 and watchOS 10 have been released (as of a few weeks ago). With iOS 17, almost nothing changed, but with watchOS 10 practically everything changed. Let's explore the biggest changes!
iOS 17: 5 Small Changes
Honestly, not a lot changed in iOS 17. When I first installed it, I was wondering what was actually new in the update, since nothing really seemed to change. Granted, there are a lot of small quality-of-life improvements, but nothing big. Here are what Apple thinks the five biggest updates are:
Contact Posters: Contact posters are a new way to customize people's contacts with a full screen image that can be fully customized. While these are cool and give it a fresh look, honestly, nobody was asking for them and most people probably won't even use them. They are nice, but shouldn't be the first feature listed in the iOS 17 preview!
Stickers: iOS 17 now allows you to create stickers from any photo, customize them, and use them in a variety of different apps. This is another feature that I don't think anyone was asking for! Again, this makes iOS 17 more “fun”, but doesn't really help anyone...
Standby Mode: Here is something that I think is actually useful, and I have been using! Standby mode is activated when your phone is charging and placed on its side. It allows you to see photos, control music, view other widgets, and so much more. I have found this is especially useful at my desk. This is actually a really cool feature, and I may write a future newsletter on it!
Interactive Widgets: This is pretty self-explanatory. You can interact with certain apps right from their widgets on your home or lock screen. This is a great update and about time!
AirDrop (NameDrop): Apple also made multiple different changes to AirDrop. The biggest change is NameDrop, which is a new feature that allows you to quickly share your contact info with someone by holding your iPhone close to theirs!
watchOS 10: 2 HUGE Changes
While iOS didn't have a big update, WatchOS certainly did! Apple completely changed most of the watch experience in this update! If you have been using your Apple Watch for years, it is a bit of a learning curve, but once you figure it out, the change is good (for the most part).
Redesigned Apps: Apple completely redesigned every app on the Apple Watch with this update. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it looks kinda cool and looks much better on the higher end Apple Watches. On my Apple Watch SE, though, it doesn't look very great. I liked the apps better when they had the black backgrounds and were more bare-bones. Most of them work the same way, but it seems as if Apple designed them to look great on the Ultra but not great on the other models.
Smart Stack: The Smart Stack is a pretty cool addition in watchOS 10! It allows you to see widgets in a whole new way! By turning the Digital Crown, you can see up to 6 widgets displaying information like weather, calendar events, reminders, etc. This Smart Stack is also dynamic (in some ways) allowing you to see current timers, workouts, and other info at a glance. The Smart Stack allows you to still see info on your watch even when using watch faces without many complications.
Overall, neither of these updates were outstanding. Granted, there are some good features that came out in this update, but in the grand scheme of things, Apple didn't update very much (except for unnecessary updates). Neither of the updates were great, but there were still some good parts. I will say that I am liking iPadOS 17 which will be talked about soon. You can go to the Apple website if you would like to learn more about iOS 17 and watchOS 10 because there are a lot of features I didn't explain!