iOS 17.5 Is Almost Here with These 8 Incredible Features
If the speculation is true, we're only a few days from Apple's release of iOS 17.5 to the public.
As with every new software update, iOS 17.5 comes with a handful of changes that will improve your experience and bring some completely new things to the table. Based on the four betas Apple released in April, we've already seen a lot of what this software update has to offer.
With Apple's big spring Let Loose event tomorrow, we'll likely see iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 available in a few days. The new iPads will almost certainly ship with iPadOS 17.5, and if Apple sticks to what it's done in the past, iPadOS 17.5 and its iPhone counterpart should be available a few days before the new tablets go on sale. With the announcement tomorrow, that could mean pre-orders this Friday and in-store availability the following Friday, May 17, although they could come sooner.
From small new features to a new game for people who love reading the news, and even some much-needed updates for the iPad, read on for the best 8 new features that iOS and iPadOS 17.5 will bring to your devices.
Downloading Apps From Websites Will Be Possible (for the EU)
Apple is making some big changes in the European Union. This is because of the Digital Markets Act, which has forced Apple to change iOS and the App Store in some specific ways.
With iOS 17.4, users in the 27 EU countries already gained access to alternative app marketplaces, and now they'll be able to download apps directly from developer's websites once iOS 17.5 drops.
This feature will be available to developers who meet Apple's criteria, including having their apps have at least one million downloads in the prior year.
So, as you can expect, only the most popular apps will have this benefit. Still, this means that developers will be free to distribute their apps however they want and will give European users more options as well.
Unfortunately, as we mentioned, this will only be available in regions that are part of the EU. For the rest of us, we'll have to stick to the App Store for now.
iOS 17.5 Brings Small Design Changes
With iOS 17.5, Apple is slightly changing the design of a couple of things. First, the Apple Podcasts widget. Although it might not look like much, you'll notice that the Home Screen widget will change color automatically depending on the art of the podcast.
Moreover, Apple also slightly tweaked the Passkeys Access for Web Browsers icon in the Settings app, as well as the Apple Books icon.
Granted, these are small changes, but they might lead to something bigger. If rumors are correct, Apple is working on a big redesign for iOS 18 — the biggest one we've seen in years. Apple is said to be changing the look of iOS to make it look more like visionOS' new design.
New Anti-Stalking Features Will Be Available
Trackers have always had a problem with security. Sure, the Find My app has many features to let you know if an unknown AirTag is near you, but what about third-party devices?
Well, it seems that will change in iOS 17.5. In the beta version of iOS 17.5, some references were found about new alerts that let you know when third-party trackers that aren't part of your network are near you.
This will send notifications when a tracker is following you around and give you other options, like the ability to disable the item completely if needed.
This is part of an agreement between Apple and Google that occurred in 2023. Their goal is to make trackers more secure so that people can't be tracked without their consent.
A New Game Is Coming to Apple News+
When you think of games on your iPhone, you probably don't think about your Apple News+ subscription, but that's about to change.
In iOS 17, Apple added crossword games to make your Apple News+ subscription a bit more interesting. But a big new game is about to come with iOS 17.5.
This new game is called Quartiles, and it's a word game in which you have to form words using the tiles available on the screen. Your goal is to score as many points as you can, and as you can guess, the more tiles you use, the more points you get.
There are five quartiles in each game you play, and if you find them all, you'll get bonus points. Overall, the game is simple, but as with many other simple word games, it'll probably become a success.
iOS 17.5 Will Introduce Repair State
iOS 17.5 beta 4 introduced a new Repair State mode for iPhones, which makes it easier to take them to an Apple Store or a repair service.
Currently, if you take your iPhone to get repaired, you'll need to turn off Find My before an Apple technician will take it in for service. That helps prove you're the legitimate owner of the iPhone and ensures they won't run into any problems if they have to erase and restore your iPhone or swap it out for a new one.
However, disabling Find My not only risks losing track of your iPhone if it ends up getting misplaced, but Apple's new Stolen Device Protection feature can make it more complicated to do this. Since that enforces a one-hour delay when modifying critical security settings while away from a familiar location (like disabling Find My), some folks have had to hang around an Apple Store for an hour before they can leave their iPhone behind.
With Repair State mode on, you'll still be able to go through the process of validating your identity to partially disable Find My, but it will otherwise remain on so you can still track down your iPhone in the event it goes missing.
A New FaceTime Feature to Deal With Spam
Spam calls aren't new in today's world, and even if it doesn't seem as likely, you can also get spam calls on FaceTime.
It's been a growing problem ever since Apple opened up FaceTime calls to Android and Windows users three years ago since those require creating links that can be used by anyone who gets their hands on them. There have been reports of people forcibly joining FaceTime group calls with dozens of other strangers as a form of a prank.
These spam calls have been around for a while, but Apple is finally doing something with iOS 17.5. In its beta version, FaceTime had code that hinted at a new Block All Participants feature.
Essentially, you'd be able to block everyone in a FaceTime call with just one tap, making it easier to deal with spam calls in seconds.
The iPad Is Getting Some Love, Too
With iOS 17.5, Apple will also release iPadOS 17.5, which, for the most part, will bring many of the same things that are coming to your iPhone to your iPad as well. The big exception are those EU app distribution changes, which Apple doesn't have to implement in iPadOS for another few months.
However, this year, Apple is reportedly adding Battery Health to the iPad, a much-needed feature that's been on the iPhone for years.
With Battery Health, you can easily check your iPad battery's maximum capacity. Moreover, you should also be able to understand other data about your battery, like the number of times you've used your battery's capacity and if the battery is performing well or not.
Unfortunately, the iPadOS 17.5 beta doesn't yet include a Battery Health option in the settings, which means we might not see this feature come into play yet. But there's still hope.
Support for a New Apple Pencil
Alongside Battery Health, the iPadOS 17.5 beta also showed news about a new version of the Apple Pencil. The folks at MacRumors reported that a "V4" version of the Apple Pencil was referenced in the first beta of iOS 17.5.
Not only that, but 9to5Mac also found references to a new squeeze gesture which would add more functionality to the new Apple Pencil.
Of course, this is something we expect Apple to reveal during tomorrow's event, but it could potentially mean that older iPads might get support for the new Apple Pencil.
That said, Apple doesn't usually handle new Apple Pencils this way, so we'll have to wait and see.