Did you happen to catch Apple’s WWDC 23 keynote? At times, it felt like the company was rushing through a lot of information and announcements in order to devote 40 minutes to announcements and demonstrations of its Vision Pro augmented reality headset.
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For example, when we covered the next major iPhone software update in iOS 17, we saw Apple tinkering with the Phone app, Messages, FaceTime, a new Journal app, and some other improvements. It felt like the update was a little light on meaningful features.
Fortunately, however, Apple has released an iOS 17 preview page where the company walks through all the new features coming in the update. Sure, there’s all the stuff covered in the main note, but then there’s other bits of information, like the fact that you can mark shared images as sensitive content and apply a NSFW blurb that the recipient will have. accept the photo before viewing.
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Or you can take a photo of your plate and find similar recipes. Maps can now be downloaded for offline access, and Apple is adding EV charging stations to your route.
As I was browsing through all the features that Apple didn’t mention at the keynote, I found one that absolutely had to announce. (To be fair, if you look at the image at the top of this post, Apple included it on the slide shown during the keynote.)
Starting with iOS 17, you can share AirTags: and more Find my network accessories with up to five other people. That’s huge news and a feature that AirTag users have been asking for since the tiny trackers launched.
For those who don’t understand or don’t know, here’s why. Apple’s anti-tracking features will alert you when you’re traveling with a Find My device or an AirTag registered to someone else. That means every time you pick up your co-workers car keys that have an AirTag on them, you get constant notifications on your iPhone that you have an unknown AirTag with you.
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By enabling AirTags to be shared, you not only eliminate those pesky and annoying notifications, but you also enable those you share the AirTag with to track the lost item.
I assume you’ll be able to share tags with anyone you’ve added to Apple Family Sharing, but I could be wrong. From a privacy perspective, that’s what makes the most sense.