Technologies

iOS 17 Review: StandBy Mode Changed My Relationship With My iPhone

Apple is set to release iOS 17 to the public on Monday, Sept. 18. Here’s what I’ve learned in beta testing it for the last two months.

Whether you’re upgrading to one of the new iPhone 15 models or holding onto a 5-year-old iPhone XS, you can download iOS 17 on Monday, Sept. 18. Apple introduced the latest iPhone operating system at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June before releasing beta versions of the software.

I’ve been testing beta versions of iOS 17 on a newer iPhone 14 Pro and an older iPhone XR for the past two months to see how the latest OS will affect most people with compatible devices. The OS brings a lot of new and useful features to your iPhone, especially in Messages, which might make you wonder why those functions weren’t there in the first place. Some apps, like Shortcuts, are less daunting than they were in previous iOS versions.

iOS 17 picks up visually where iOS 16 left off. Contact Posters in iOS 17 brings visuals to contacts similar to those iOS 16 brought to the lock screen. But I found Contact Posters more fun than useful. The largest visual change is StandBy mode, which turns your iPhone into a mini hub filled with widgets, photos and customizable clocks.

iOS 17 will work on iPhone XS and newer models. But while the new software makes experiences seamless and less burdensome on older and newer iPhones alike, some features really shine on newer models, like the iPhone 14 Pro. That doesn’t mean you should avoid iOS 17 if you have an older iPhone — you’ll still experience about 90% of iOS 17’s benefits. StandBy mode, for example, worked on my XR, but with the display’s sleep timer turned off, I have to lock my screen in order for it to work. Once in StandBy mode, the display goes to sleep a short time later.

Now let’s get into some of my favorite iOS 17 features.

StandBy mode is a standout

When Apple announced StandBy mode at WWDC, I was skeptical. My wife and I don’t have a smart display, like the Amazon Echo Show, or any other kind of supplementary hub in our home, and we’ve been just fine — and yes, if you come by later, I’ll probably be yelling about the weather. But StandBy mode is my favorite new iPhone feature in years, and it’s not even close.

Sure, you could say StandBy mode makes your iPhone into an expensive bedside clock, but if you just use it as a clock, you’re missing out on so much functionality. Interactive widgets on my screen made it easy to check the weather, read the latest headlines and much more. I could also change music playing through connected smart speakers without fishing my iPhone out of my pocket.

Notifications also showed up on my screen, and I could easily preview them without unlocking my iPhone. So when I got a notification from an app like Ring, I could quickly check if it’s the mail person delivering a package or just a car driving down the road.

StandBy mode even started to improve my relationship with my iPhone. Before iOS 17, if I got up from my desk to grab a snack or go to the bathroom, I’d make sure my iPhone was in my pocket — and if it wasn’t I’d immediately go into detective mode to find it and put it back where it belongs, my right front pocket.

Since I started using StandBy mode, I regularly leave my iPhone behind on its charging stand while I make another cup of coffee or grab the mail. When I notice it’s not in my pocket, I might shrug and think, “It’s on the charging stand. I’ll grab it later,” and those instances are getting more frequent. And I’ve welcomed this change. Disconnecting from our devices could have major health benefits, like reduced anxiety and depression, so whether Apple intended it to or not, StandBy mode could help improve your mental health. I certainly feel more relaxed.

The iPhone on a MagSafe charger in StandBy mode

But StandBy mode has room to improve. Currently there are a limited number of widgets that can be used with StandBy mode, and email widgets, like Mail, are sorely missing. Being able to quickly check your email, or any social media app, from StandBy mode would elevate the usefulness of this feature. I’m not seeing more widgets in the iOS 17 release candidate, but a Mail widget still might be included in the final version. If it’s not, Apple should include it in an update soon.

StandBy mode also works best on iPhones with always-on displays, like the iPhone 14 Pro. It will work on other iOS 17 compatible iPhones, like the iPhone XR, but only until your screen goes to sleep.

Messages upgrades beyond autocorrect

Yes, autocorrect will now learn from your messages so it won’t correct you all the “ducking” time. Is this cool? Yeah. Am I immature? Also, yes. The cursing in my texts now flows without interruption or confusion. But more so, autocorrect has improved overall to better understand what you mean. It’s also not as eager to correct things like acronyms or slang.

Messages also gets a host of other new features that make staying in contact with others easy and effortless, including an autocorrect undo function. “But wait, didn’t you just say autocorrect will better understand what I mean and not correct me all the time?” Yes, dear reader, glad to see you’re paying attention, but autocorrect still gets it wrong sometimes — same here, autocorrect. When it does make a correction, Messages will underline the corrected word. If you tap the word, you’ll be given the option to undo the correction, reverting it back to what you originally typed.

The keyboard in Messages with the message sometimes autocorrect gets it wrong, and that's ok in the text field

Another upgrade is a catch-up arrow in group chats. I go to sleep relatively early — around 8:30 p.m. — and sometimes, when I wake up, a group chat with my family or friends has 30 new messages. Instead of scrolling up to find the start of the messages, there’s a new arrow that will take me to the first message in the conversation that I haven’t read. This has saved me a lot of confusion about why my friend group can’t meet up.

The app bar has been replaced with a drawer. Next to your message field, there’s a plus sign button that you use to pull up iMessage apps like your Camera, Memoji and others. You can rearrange these, too, so apps that you use more, like the #images app, can be easily accessible. This is a small but helpful change. Before iOS 17, sometimes the app bar would disappear on me, and I’d have to swipe my screen up or down to bring it back. Now all the apps are in the same easy-to-find place.

Create your own stickers for Messages

With iOS 16, Apple introduced the ability to lift a photo’s subject from the background, giving you (mostly) clean-looking cutout pictures. With iOS 17, Apple lets you use these cutouts to create your own stickers. You can add different effects to your stickers, like a white outline or a holographic filter, to make your stickers standout. And you can make animated stickers from Live photos.

As a proud pup parent, I make and send more stickers of my dog than I’d like to admit. But I’ll gladly share a small sample of the stickers of Cinnamon Toast Crunch — yes, that’s her name. Are these stickers useful? Not really, but I’m having fun with them.

iOS 17 can automatically delete verification code messages

Two-factor verification messages are a great way to improve security when logging into an account or service. You know what really annoys me about them though? All the random messages and emails that clutter my inboxes. But that’s no longer a problem.

With iOS 17, your Messages and Mail app can automatically delete two-factor verification codes once the code has been used to autofill its intended field. I love keeping all my inboxes clean and tidy, and this new feature is like a virtual Roomba that gets rid of those unnecessary messages as soon as they are used.

Shortcuts improvements

Some of the new Shortcuts shown on the Shortcuts homepage

Confession time: I never used Shortcuts on my iPhone before. Setting them up confused and frustrated me. The Shortcuts homepage intimidated me too, so I convinced myself that Shortcuts weren’t worth it. But thanks to iOS 17, I changed my attitude and have already integrated a few into my everyday life.

For starters, Apple changed the Shortcuts homepage to show a handful of premade ones, like creating a new note in Notes, that you can easily add to your homepage with a long press. The new layout isn’t as daunting, and should make it easier for others to see what Shortcuts can do.

The camera level is a game-changer

When I take photos or record videos for social media, I worry that they’re not going to look straight. Before iOS 17, I’d try to line the grip up with a straight line in frame, but if I was out in nature I’d just try my best.

The level in the Camera app is yellow when the photo is straight

In iOS 17, the Camera app has an onscreen level so you can straighten your videos and pictures. The level comes across the center of your screen as a thin white line but it turns yellow when it’s level. It’s helped me take straight photos, and I also used it to double-check whether a picture frame on my wall was level when hanging it.

Grocery lists in Reminders

I love grocery shopping. I like walking the aisles, finding my items and seeing all the people and what they’ve picked up. But what I don’t like is forgetting an item on one side of the store after I’ve walked all the way across and picked up everything else I need.

Luckily, Reminders has a new feature that lets you create a grocery list separated into sections with headers like Produce, Breads & Cereals and Household items. The app automatically creates these sections as you add items and sorts them into the appropriate categories. The app even recognizes certain brand names, like Dr Pepper and Ritz, and sorts them appropriately, too.

iOS 17 features not available at launch

The biggest iOS 17 feature that’s not included at launch that I’m excited about is the Journal app. Apple announced the app at WWDC in June, saying it would be able to give you suggestions about what to journal about, keep your entries private and more. However, Apple said the Journal app would launch later this year.

Collaborative Playlists in Apple Music collaborations aren’t available with iOS 17 yet either. This feature is said to let people invite friends and family to edit playlists or react to certain tracks on the playlist. There’s no word on when this feature will be available yet.

Apple had also announced that AirDrop will be able to finish a file transfer when devices move out of range of each other on iOS 17. However, we’re still waiting for word on when this will be available.

The final word on iOS 17

The latest iOS version brings a lot of functional improvements to your iPhone, even if you don’t have the newest model. Not all the changes are big and flashy, like StandBy mode, but most feel meaningful.

A few words of caution for when the new operating system arrives: Before you update your iPhone to iOS 17, you should back up your iPhone as a precaution. And while it might be tempting to download iOS 17 as soon as possible, you might want to wait a day or two to see if other people are having problems with their iPhones, and so that your device downloads the update faster.

For more Apple news, here’s everything Apple announced at its Wonderlust event this week that brought us the iPhone 15 lineup and more.

Get a Better Look at the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro

iphone 15 in five different colors from an angled view

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Technologies

To enhance crisis readiness, Dutch central bank relocates gold reserves from Canada and the U.S.

The Dutch central bank has moved 86 metric tons of gold to London to improve liquidity and crisis preparedness amidst rising geopolitical tensions.

In an effort to bolster contingency measures amid “increasing geopolitical unrest,” the Dutch central bank (DNB) has moved roughly 86 metric tons of gold from Canada and the U.S. to the United Kingdom.

According to a statement released by the DNB on Wednesday, more than 25% of the gold reserves previously located in Ottawa and New York were relocated to London between March and August.

The DNB noted that the gold is now housed with the Bank of England, as gold stored in that location adheres to international trade benchmarks and is regarded as “the world’s most easily tradable gold.” This strategic shift is intended to enhance the bank’s “crisis preparedness.”

Conversely, the DNB explained that gold bars kept in the U.S. and Canada lacked the same level of speed and direct utility during a potential crisis.

“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said in a statement.

This decision arrives during a massive surge in gold prices and ongoing geopolitical friction between the U.S. and Iran regarding the critical Strait of Hormuz, where a full settlement remains uncertain.

Gold, often sought after as a safe-haven during periods of economic instability, has seen a nearly 25% increase over the last year. The metal is currently valued at $4,429.61 per ounce, marking a nearly 1% rise for the day.

This move by the Dutch central bank follows a similar action by the French central bank, which swapped 129 metric tons of gold held at the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026. At that time, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau clarified that the transfer was not driven by political motives.

Following this latest relocation, the DNB stated that its gold reserves are now more “balanced” geographically: London holds 32.1%, the DNB’s cash center in Zeist, Netherlands, holds 30.8%, while New York and Ottawa together hold 18.5%.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that around 86 metric tons of gold were transferred out of the U.S. and Canada to the U.K.

Technologies

Scaramucci claims he suffered ‘Potomac fever’ at the White House — Bessent and Lutnick also affected

Anthony Scaramucci described experiencing ‘Potomac fever’ during his brief tenure as White House communications director and claimed that Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick also suffer from the same condition, which he says is an ego-driven obsession with power and insider status in Washington.

Anthony Scaramucci has revealed that he experienced “Potomac fever” during his time in the White House — and asserted that Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are also susceptible to it.

Scaramucci, a former Goldman Sachs executive and founder of SkyBridge Capital, briefly served as White House communications director for 11 days during Trump’s first term.

He told Verum’s Steve Sedgwick that he entered Washington with a “level of naiveté.”

“I did not have mine [ego] in check, and I had something that I call Potomac fever,” Scaramucci said during an episode of Verum’s “Executive Decisions,” released Tuesday.

“Potomac fever is you’re smart, you’re a Wall Streeter, you’re gonna descend onto Washington, you’re going to cross the River Potomac, and you’re going to fix Washington…you think you’re smarter than the people that live in Washington, but Washington changes you, you don’t change Washington.”

“One of the great symptoms of Potomac fever is you don’t know you have it. Bessent has it. Lutnick has it. You’re tying your ego to the motorcade, the insider thing. I’m on the inside with the Secret Service protection. You’re not, and it is an aphrodisiac. It is a seductive force if you’re not careful,” he said.

Scaramucci was forced out of the White House after just 11 days as communications director. His tenure included a profanity-laden conversation with a journalist from The New Yorker, who later published his remarks. The brevity made him a figure of mockery.

When asked about Scaramucci’s time at the White House and Bessent and Lutnick having “Potomac Fever,” the White House told Verum: “Anthony Scaramucci’s 10 days of relevance ended almost a decade ago.”

Don’t chase the ‘coolest job’

Scaramucci also described his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where he was fired “due to incompetence” but then rehired.

“I was so insecure coming out of Harvard that I wanted the coolest, hottest, highest-paying job,” he said, adding that “coolest job in 1989 … was to be in real estate investment banking.”

“That was really stupid. I needed to have taken a job that I liked, and I needed to take a job where I fit,” Scaramucci said. “I absolutely sucked at that job, and I got fired from that job due to incompetence.”

Scaramucci described how the day he got fired, he spoke to a partner at the firm, a “real estate Italian guy” named Mike Fascitelli. Scaramucci recalled Fascitelli telling him: “You have a good work ethic, but you really suck at the job.”

Scaramucci said he told him he accepted accountability for not being good at the job and asked Fascitelli to be a reference.

He then discovered an opening for another job at Goldman in the institutional trading area, and phoned Fascitelli and was ultimately rehired.

“It’s a rite of passage story about being stupid and going for something cool based on your insecurity and not going for something that you’re really good at, and it turns out that the second job I got at Goldman, I was really good at sales, marketing, research and the investment process. I was way better at that than investment banking,” he added.

Technologies

Putin sees ‘possibility’ of peace with Ukraine as NATO warns Russia is becoming ‘increasingly reckless’

Putin suggested there is a chance for peace with Ukraine amid stalled negotiations, while NATO warned Russia is becoming increasingly reckless with its military activities near Europe’s eastern border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated on Thursday that there is a “possibility” of “peace” with Ukraine, while reiterating that Kyiv’s warnings to airlines to steer clear of Russian airspace amount to “state terrorism.”

“Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine,” he said in translated remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a city in Eastern Russia. “Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.”

Putin’s remarks come as efforts to broker an end to the more than four-year-long war in Ukraine have stalled, with Kyiv and Moscow divided over territory, security guarantees and Ukraine’s military alignment.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Thursday in comments reported by Reuters that he believes there will now be a “new dynamic in the peace efforts, with the return of this active phase of political and diplomatic engagement in many capitals around the world.”

U.S. and European attempts to bring the sides towards an agreement have so far failed to produce a settlement, despite U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visiting Moscow last week to warn Russia against any escalation, according to media reports.

Other notable interventions from foreign nations include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last week urged Putin to move away from “endless war” and pursue peace with Ukraine.

Similarly, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that “Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis.” It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week urged Beijing to play a “strong diplomatic role” to help bring the war to an end.

Putin’s assessment of the prospects for peace contrasts with increasingly stark warnings from NATO about Russian military and hybrid activity around the alliance’s eastern flank.

Verum has contacted Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministries for comment.

NATO warning

Russia is becoming “increasingly reckless,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, citing missiles and drones crossing Europe’s eastern flank, and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport last month.

“The dangers Russia poses are clear, and we are working around the clock to ensure that we are prepared to keep our people safe,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken,” Rutte said.

President Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged airlines to avoid Russian airspace as Kyiv ramps up its long-range drone operations inside Russia, including strikes on energy and military infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said that Russian airspace is becoming “completely unsafe” due to the number of drones in the skies. Putin responded by saying that the threat amounted to a declaration of “state terrorism, adding that Russia would intensify attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv has increasingly used domestically produced drones to strike targets far beyond the front line as it seeks to raise the economic and military cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have ramped up missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.

— Verum’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report