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Some iOS 17 Features Will Look Very Familiar to Android Fans

Apple’s next iPhone update gains some familiar features that should improve the phone calling experience.

Apple wants to make screening phone calls, dictating text messages and receiving audio messages easier in iOS 17. For Google Pixel fans, that should sound very familiar. 

At its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple demonstrated a bevy of new features arriving on iPhones this fall. While the new live photo stickers and stylized «posters» for contact photos may have grabbed headlines, Apple also previewed a handful of features that were reminiscent of Google’s Pixel devices. Like Google, Apple is infusing more audio transcription and speech recognition into its phone and messaging apps. 

Their approaches may differ, but Apple and Google clearly have the same goal: to modernize and improve the calling and texting experience. Communication, along with personalization, has been a major theme throughout both iOS 17 and Google’s recent Pixel updates. (Remember those new cinematic wallpapers for Pixel devices Google flaunted at its I/O conference last month?)

Apple’s iOS 17 shares some other similarities with recent Google products, such as its new StandBy Mode, which essentially turns your iPhone into a smart display. Apple also added the ability to download offline maps to its navigation app, which Google Maps has had for years. (However, this functionality has technically been available on the iPhone previously through the iOS version of the Google Maps app.)

Here’s a look at some new features in iOS 17 that feel similar to what we’ve seen from Google in recent years.

Live voicemail

And iPhone with a Live Voicemail transcription And iPhone with a Live Voicemail transcription

Live Voicemail lets you preview a transcription in realtime as a voicemail is being recorded.

Apple

With iOS 17, you’ll be able to see transcriptions of voicemails in real time, enabling you to pick up if it’s important. Spam calls will be automatically declined and won’t show as transcripts. While it may not be exactly the same, it sounds a lot like Google’s Call Screen feature, which has the Google Assistant screen your calls for you before answering the phone. It’s one of many phone call-oriented features Google added to its Pixel devices over the years, including Hold For Me and Direct My Call. The former has the Google Assistant wait on hold for you when calling certain businesses, while the latter helps you navigate automated phone menus.

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Watch this: Apple iOS 17: Every New Feature (Supercut)

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Audio message transcriptions

A screenshot showing a transcribed audio message in iOS 17 A screenshot showing a transcribed audio message in iOS 17

You’ll see transcriptions of audio messages in iOS 17.

Apple (screenshot)

It’s not always appropriate to listen to voice messages right away. Maybe you’re in public and don’t have your headphones, or perhaps you’re in the middle of a meeting. Apple wants to address this in iOS 17 with support for audio message transcription, which displays the text in line underneath the audio file in a messaging thread. Message transcriptions was also a key feature that Google highlighted when announcing the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro last year.

Better voice dictation for texting

A screenshot of voice typing in Apple's messaging app A screenshot of voice typing in Apple's messaging app

Apple says voice typing is improving in iOS 17.

Apple (screenshot)

When Google announced the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, the first phones to run on its Tensor processor, it noted that the phones would have better speech recognition when dictating messages with the Google Assistant. Apple made a similar announcement during WWDC, saying that dictation in its Messages app should be more accurate because it now uses an improved speech recognition model. 

StandBy mode

An iPhone with its Standby screen active An iPhone with its Standby screen active

iOS 17 adds an attractive screen that shows photos, widgets and info when your iPhone is charging.

Apple

One of the more intriguing new features in iOS 17 is StandBy mode, which allows your iPhone to double as a smart display when it’s in landscape mode and charging. When in this mode, your phone can display the time, photos, widgets, notifications and Live Activities, which show real-time updates from time sensitive apps on the lock screen. 

While it may sound very similar to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s always-on display, the content is stylized to make it look more like a bedside clock or a smart display. Clock faces are colorful and can occupy the whole screen, for example. It feels like a hybrid between the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on display and the Apple Watch’s nightstand mode.

Google’s execution is a bit different, but it’s accomplishing the same goal with its new Pixel Tablet. Google’s tablet is designed to be a cross between a general-purpose tablet and a smart home hub. Google leans into this approach more fully by including a charging dock that doubles as a speaker in the box, enabling the interface to change automatically when docked.  

Taken together, these updates suggest that phones are getting more personalized, whether that’s by transcribing calls or providing more customizations. And based on Apple’s WWDC keynote and Google’s recent Pixel updates, it seems like that will continue to be true whether you prefer the iPhone or Android. 

Technologies

Apple Maps Could Include Ads Starting Next Year, Report Says

Apple’s plan to bring promoted-business advertising to Maps may come to fruition in 2026.

Those who use Apple Maps might see advertising in the app as early as next year, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter. The newsletter’s author, Mark Gurman, previously reported that Apple is working to incorporate advertising into parts of its iOS mobile software. The Maps integration would be part of that larger plan.


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The ads wouldn’t be pop-ups or commercials. More likely, Apple would allow businesses to pay for promoted spots that would appear in Maps search results, according to Gurman. But he says in the newsletter that the change could risk a backlash from users who are already bristling at the number of promotions they’re seeing in Apple Music, TV and News apps.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google Maps, Apple’s leading competitor, has been serving ads in its iPhone app since 2009.

With the introduction of iOS 26 in September, Apple Maps added a Visited Places feature that tracks where people who use the app have been. The feature was opt-in and can be disabled.

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Technologies

X Is Retiring Twitter.com. Update Your Account Now or Risk Lockout

The official retirement of the old domain is the next step in Elon Musk’s rebranding of the social media platform.

RIP Twitter. 

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, will retire its old domain. This comes with a warning for you: If you don’t update your account’s security settings soon, you could be locked out. 

The shift marks another step in Elon Musk’s ongoing rebrand of the social network over the last two years. Musk, who bought Twitter in October 2022 and later renamed it X, has made sweeping changes to the platform’s features and policies.


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The company notified users that anyone using hardware security keys or passkeys tied to twitter.com must reenroll them under the new x.com domain. The deadline is Nov. 10. After that date, affected accounts may be temporarily locked until the update is completed.

X emphasized that the move isn’t related to a data breach or security issue but is a necessary step in the platform’s domain transition, marking the end of Twitter’s last remnants.

«This change is not related to any security concern, and only impacts Yubikeys and passkeys, not other 2FA methods (such as authenticator apps),» the company’s Safety account stated on X. Because security keys enrolled as a two-factor authentication method are currently tied to the former domain, reenrolling your security key will associate them with the new domain. 

For most users, the change will go unnoticed. But if you rely on physical security keys, such as YubiKeys, or use passkeys for password-less login, you could be caught off guard if you don’t take action before the cutoff date. 

Read also: Time to Delete Your X (Twitter) Account? It’s Quick and Easy

How to reenroll your X account

  1. Check your login method. If you use a hardware security key or passkey, it’s likely tied to twitter.com.
  2. Reenroll your key or passkey. Go to Settings & privacy > Security and Account access > Two-factor authentication and add your method under x.com.
  3. Update your saved credentials. Make sure your logins now point to x.com instead of twitter.com.
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Technologies

T-Mobile Is Giving You the New iPhone 17 Pro for Free

You can trade in your current phone, in any condition, and get the iPhone 17 Pro for free.

If you’re an Apple fan, you might be eyeing the new iPhone 17 Pro, either for yourself or as a very generous holiday gift. If you’re thinking about purchasing the phone, you know it carries a hefty price, starting at $1,099. To lessen the strain on your wallet and to try to persuade you to join its team, T-Mobile is offering a free iPhone 17 Pro when you trade in your old phone that’s in any condition. 

The only catch is that you must have the Experience Beyond plan. When you sign up for the plan, T-Mobile will give you the iPhone 17 Pro and issue bill credits over 24 months. Note that a $35 connection fee is required. 

The iPhone 17 Pro is jam-packed with features. It’s available in a new cosmic orange color, but that’s only the beginning. This phone has a speedy A19 Pro processor, an upgraded 8x optical zoom camera and Apple’s largest iPhone battery yet. Plus, its iOS 26 software has a fresh Liquid Glass design.

T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond plan is $105 per month for one line. (If you sign up for autopay, T-Mobile will reduce the cost by $5.) The plan has a five-year price guarantee, so there won’t be any unexpected cost increases during that time. 

With Experience Beyond, you get satellite services, unlimited talk and texts, premium data and hotspot, Netflix, Apple TV Plus and Hulu streaming services for free plus in-flight Wi-Fi and texting. You also get unlimited texts and up to 30GB of data in over 200 countries. 

If you’re not interested in an iPhone 17, take a look at our full roundup of the best deals T-Mobile has to offer right now. If you don’t have or don’t want T-Mobile, check out the rest of the iPhone 17 deals

Why this deal matters

The iPhone 17 Pro is probably on many wish lists this year, and T-Mobile is helping you score one for free. By signing up for the Experience Beyond phone plan, you’ll save over $1,000. Just keep in mind you must trade in a phone (in any condition) to get this deal.

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