Exploring the Latest Features in the First Two Betas of iOS 17.1

Apple Music Favorites

In iOS 17.1 beta, you can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists in the Music app. Thus, the Favorited Music feature has been added to the Library and improves recommendations. Favoriting will replace the previous 'Love' system, and favoriting can be done from the Now Playing widget on the lock screen.

It's known that a star appearing next to a track in an album means that track is favorited, while the dot next to it indicates the most played song. With the favorites feature, the Music app will suggest songs to add to playlists.

Finally, Apple plans to provide Favorite Songs playlists and collaborative playlists, but these features seem to have not been deployed yet.

AirDrop Over the Internet

In iOS 17.1 beta, transferring data via AirDrop can be completed over mobile or Wi-Fi connections if you move out of range of the person you're sharing with. This means you won't have to be close to someone if you're transferring a large number of files.

There's a new 'Out of Range' toggle in the AirDrop section of the Settings menu that you can switch to allow or disallow transfers over cellular networks.

Playing Favorite Songs via Quick Action

If you press and hold the Apple Music icon on the home screen, you can now select the 'Play Favorite Songs' option.

Double Tap on Apple Watch

Double Tap is enabled in the watchOS 10.1 update, which is currently in beta testing phase and can be managed through the app.

Double Tap allows owners of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to tap their thumb and index finger together to control the Apple Watch with one hand. This gesture can be used to open Smart Stack, answer/end calls, play/pause music, stop alarms and timers, ...

Standby Screen Options

Apple has added a new 'Display' section to the Standby part of the Settings app, where it contains some new customization options. The screen can be set to automatically turn off after 20 seconds or never.

The Night Mode function now includes a red tone and screen blur has been moved to this section, as well as the Motion switch for wake-up calls. The Display section also replaces the previous Always On toggle, which intelligently limited screen off.

NameDrop on Apple Watch

With watchOS 10.1 and iOS 17.1 beta, Apple Watch and iPhone can now be used to exchange contact information through the NameDrop feature.

Ringtones and Text Tones

More than 20 new Ringtones and Text Tones added in the release version of iOS 17 have disappeared in the first beta of iOS 17.1, but Apple may reintroduce them in a later update. Additionally, custom sounds for Mail and Messages have been added back.

Account Balance for UK Bank Accounts in Wallet App

Users in the UK can add their bank accounts to the Wallet app in iOS 17.1 beta 1, allowing them to view their account balance, payments, purchases, and deposits.

Books App

The 'Reading Now' section in the Apple Books app has been renamed to 'Read Now”.

Battery Indicator in Dynamic Island Notch

When the battery indicator is activated on iPhone models with Dynamic Island hole-punch design running iOS 17.1 beta 1, you'll see the battery icon in the top notch area, letting you know that the battery indicator is on. The battery icon for Dynamic Island was previously limited to ‌ and ‌ Pro‌ Max.

Game Controller Support

iOS 17.1 beta 1 includes support for the Nintendo Switch N64 game controller.

Wallpaper Expansion

When setting up anew, Apple has added an 'Expand' option that can be used if the image doesn't fit the screen.

Photo Shuffle

When adding the Photo Shuffle lock screen in iOS 17.1, you can select a specific photo album to be displayed on the lock screen instead of relying on Apple's available options like people, pets, or nature.

When selecting any main Photo Shuffle image, you'll be taken to a custom screen where you can choose a Favorite album or select any other album you've created, allowing you full control over the images displayed on the lock screen. Previously, there were manual image selection tools, but selecting entire albums will be faster.

Reachability

On iPhones with Dynamic Island, you'll now see a black background when using the Reachability feature, replacing the blurred background in previous iOS 17 versions. Switching to a black background will prevent Dynamic Island from displaying twice when using Reachability.

Fixing the 80% Charging Limit Issue

For the ‌ ‌ models, Apple has added a toggle button to prevent the device from charging over 80% to keep the battery healthier for longer. In ‌iOS 17‌, iPhones could bypass this setting and charge over 80%, but that no longer happens after iOS 17.1 beta 2.