Apple Reveals More iOS 17 Features Not Available Until Later This Year

by

Apple announced that iOS 17 will be released on Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. The free software update includes a wide range of new features, but not all of them will be available right away, according to Apple.

General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple
Below, we have listed three features that Apple's website says are "coming later this year" as part of a future update, such as iOS 17.1 or iOS 17.2. In addition, Apple shared a PDF this week outlining even more iOS 17 features that are now labeled as "coming later this year," and we have listed those additions below.

Journal App

Journal App iOS 17
An all-new Journal app will allow iPhone users to reflect on their day and memories, complete with text, photos, music, audio recordings, and more. The app will provide personalized suggestions based on recent on-device activity.

Collaborative Apple Music Playlists

apple music collaborative playlist
A new Collaborative Playlists feature for Apple Music will allow multiple people to add, reorder, and remove songs in a shared playlist.

AirDrop Transfers via Internet

airdrop ios 17
If you send content like an image or video to another user via AirDrop, the transfer will be able to continue over an internet connection if you leave AirDrop range, so long as both you and the recipient are signed in to an iCloud account.

More Features Coming Later This Year

  • React to a message with any sticker through the Tapback menu in the Messages app.
  • A catch-up arrow for group conversations in the Messages app.
  • Sync additional settings with Messages in iCloud, such as Text Message Forwarding, Send & Receive accounts, and SMS filters across devices.
  • Play or pause a podcast or Apple News+ audio story in the Apple News widget.
  • Favorite Songs playlist in Music app.
  • Intelligent form detection and enhanced AutoFill for PDFs.
  • Audio Focus feature for Apple Fitness+ that prioritizes the volume of either the music or the trainers' voices depending on your preference.
  • Apple ID proximity sign-in with an existing signed-in and trusted iPhone or iPad when setting up a new Apple device.

Apple is already testing both iOS 17.1 and iOS 17.2 internally, according to our website's analytic logs. iOS 17.1 is likely to be released in October, while iOS 17.2 should be available in December, based on Apple's previous software release cycles.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Read Full Article • 81 comments
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Read Full Article • 42 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Read Full Article • 62 comments
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Read Full Article • 113 comments
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Read Full Article • 104 comments
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
Read Full Article • 38 comments
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments
maxresdefault

iOS 26 Code Leak Reveals Apple Smart Home Hub Details

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:02 pm PST by
Apple is working on a smart home hub that will rely heavily on the more capable version of Siri that's coming next year. We've heard quite a bit about the hub over the last two years, but a recent iOS 26 code leak provides additional insight into what we can expect and confirms rumored features. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Macworld claims to have access to an ...
Read Full Article • 117 comments

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
zorinlynx
29 months ago
I really hope the Journal app comes to the Mac too. I don't see it being useful unless I can type on a real keyboard on my computer when journaling.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tennisproha Avatar
tennisproha
29 months ago
So basically everything??…then why even “release” iOS 17 right now lol
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheOneWhoKnocks Avatar
TheOneWhoKnocks
29 months ago
If it's not ready then don't announce it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
fwmireault
29 months ago

Audio Focus feature for Apple Fitness+ that prioritizes the volume of either the music or the trainers' voices depending on your preference.
This is nice, but I would also like the option to turn off the Fitness+ audio completely and stream something else (Music, Podcast, TV show, etc.). I currently can't watch a TV show on my iPad/iPhone with the fitness+ streaming in Picture-in-picture without one of them constantly pausing the other. But I can do it on my Apple TV. Weird limitation
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cocky jeremy Avatar
cocky jeremy
29 months ago

When an OS is not ready they should wait till all features are ready.

Just release security patches in the meantime.
I'd rather them release it and then just work on extra features over time. Too many chances for bugs if they release a lot at once. Also longer to fix everything.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cocky jeremy Avatar
cocky jeremy
29 months ago

Well this is not iOS 17 this is iOS 16 and a half.

I mean there is no point in releasing a new OS if the features are not in, just release the fixes as a minor update and when you are ready release the full os.

I think it’s time to move away from the yearly OS release.
So, you'd rather miss out on finished features for months until unrelated features are finished?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments