Apple’s new iOS 17.3 will be released to the public next week.
As always, it will include a lot of features that people are sure to love, hate, or miss altogether, including stolen device protection, collaborative Apple Music playlists, and Unity Bloom. Wallpaper for your lock screen, according to Mac Rumors.
When does iOS 17.3 come out?
We don’t have an exact date, but iOS 17.3 will likely be released on Tuesday, January 23, Forbes reported.
What are some iOS 17.3 features you should know about?
I’m glad you asked! Below we break down some of the key new features.
Protect stolen device
Stolen device protection is the most interesting of the updates if you ask me, and almost everyone else’s.
As the Wall Street Journal reported last year, bad actors could see you writing your password over your shoulder, for example, at a bar or train.
Then, when your phone is stolen, it’s much easier for them to unlock it, hack into it, disable Find My, take full control of the device, and leave you phoneless, helpless, and very sad.
Stolen device protection is an extra layer of security to help prevent this from happening.
When Stolen Protection is turned on, Face ID or Touch ID authentication is required,
which means that even if someone steals your phone and knows your password, they won’t be able to unlock it without your face or fingers.
The feature also adds a one-hour security delay for compassionate actions, like changing your Apple ID password, unless you’re in a familiar place like your home.
You can turn it on and off by going to Settings, tapping Face ID & Password, and then choosing Stolen Device Protection.
Apple Music collaborative playlists
Apple is also launching collaborative Apple Music playlists. This is less exciting because it’s months behind Spotify and was initially promised for iOS 17 but never delivered.
This feature allows Apple Music subscribers to add multiple people to a playlist who can add, rearrange, and delete songs.
They can also leave emoji reactions next to songs in the playlist, which is very nice and not a feature found on Spotify.
check it out! Spotify user envy! To use this feature, click the person icon in the playlist, copy the link, and add people.
If you want to approve every song added, you have that power and can turn the collaboration on and off whenever you want.
Bloom unit wallpapers
The last new feature (that we know of) will be the Unity Bloom wallpaper for iPhone and iPad and the watch face on Apple Watch.
It includes red, green, and yellow flowers that can bloom, “inspired by the resilience and beauty of the Black community,” Apple wrote.
