Technologies
iOS 17 Brings Updates to Apple’s Messages. Here’s What to Expect
Messages are getting an upgrade through Apple’s iOS 17 update.

Updates are coming to Apple’s Messages, but you’ll have to wait to get your hands on them (unless you’re in the company’s developer program). Apple revealed its iOS 17 software update on June 5, but it won’t arrive until the fall. The iOS 17 update makes some major changes to Messages, adding abilities like turning pictures into stickers, transcribing voice memos, keeping your friends and family notified on your way home, and more.
News about the iOS 17 Messages update came during the keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple traditionally uses the annual event to give developers a preview of updates to its desktop and mobile software, and sometimes it introduces new hardware too. At the conference the company unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro.
More from WWDC 2023
Live Stickers coming to iOS 17
With the update to Messages in iOS 17, people will be able to take their photos and turn them into stickers they use in text conversations, alongside standard emoji, which can also be used as stickers. People can customize their stickers with effects — like shiny, puffy, comic and outline — and keep them in a new drawer in the keyboard for streamlined access, Apple said in a press release. Stickers will be available systemwide, including in third-party apps.
To make a photo into a sticker, you’ll touch and hold an object in a photo. Then you can style your object with various effects, outline it or create animated Live Stickers with Live Photos. To use the sticker in Messages, you’ll add them in the bubble from the Tapback menu.

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Search in Messages, Check In and more
Also coming is a refined search feature. People will be able to apply additional filters to their Messages search to more quickly find the exact conversation they’re looking for. Plus, when you’ve received lots of texts in a group chat, you’ll be able to use the catch-up arrow to locate where the conversation left off last.
iOS 17 Messages will also transcribe voice memos you receive, if you don’t have the time to listen to them. Apple also announced a new feature that will let you keep track of your friends by viewing their location in your text conversation.

Apple’s Check In feature through iOS 17.
Another new location sharing feature is Check In. If you want to keep a friend or family member updated on your journey home, for example, you’ll be able to use Check In, which notifies the person of your whereabouts and lets them know if you’re having trouble getting home. «If they are not making progress toward their destination, useful information will be temporarily shared with the selected contact, such as the device’s location, battery level, and cell service status,» Apple said in the press release. Check In will be end-to-end encrypted, so only you and the person you’re sharing this information with is privy to your location.
Developers can try out iOS 17 today, and everyone can try out the public beta in a month. These iPhones will be able to run the update.
Other iOS 17 updates
The iOS 17 updates don’t stop at Messages. Apple also introduced Live Voicemail, which will give people the ability to see the message a person is leaving you as it is being recorded. This could help with deciphering between important calls that unknown numbers leave and spam.
The iOS 17 update for FaceTime includes audio and video messages, so people can leave their friends and families a FaceTime voicemail of sorts.
Also, if people want to share a contact with one another, they can use the new feature NameDrop. By bringing two iPhones or one iPhone and one Apple Watch close together, contact information can be transferred from one device to the next.
Apple kicked off WWDC by unveiling a 15-inch MacBook Air and offering details on its latest desktop software, MacOS 14 Sonoma. Also at WWDC, Apple revealed its brainiest Mac chip yet and upgraded its Mac Pro to M2 Ultra Silicon. There are new features coming in Watch OS 10 too.
Technologies
Why Amazon Is Giving Surprise Refunds for Years-Old Purchases (And If You’ll Get One)
Recent internal reviews at Amazon unleashed a wave of new refunds: Some are getting more than $1,000 back from purchases made up to 7 years ago.

Amazon buyers are reporting an influx of unexpected refunds from products they ordered months or even years ago, with one customer on LinkedIn saying he received a refund of $1,800 for a smart TV bought seven years ago. Others made similar comments about products bought long ago.
According to Bloomberg, the new refunds are because of changes Amazon made after an internal review. That review may be related to a 2023 consumer lawsuit by a group of Amazon shoppers who claimed that Amazon had reversed their legitimate return-related refunds.
A representative for Amazon told CNET that only a small number of customers would be affected.
«Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued,» an Amazon representative said. «There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue.»
In its latest earnings call, Amazon reported a one-time expense of $1 billion connected to refunds that the company had not yet sent out. These earmarked funds could be responsible for the sudden updates that shoppers are now seeing regarding purchases as far back as 2018.
Read more: I’ve Been Tracking Tariff Price Impacts Every Day and Here’s What I’ve Found So Far
If you receive an email about a surprise refund from Amazon orders, it may be related to these changes Amazon has made behind the scenes. You may still want to confirm it’s not fraud by logging into your Amazon account or making a quick service call, especially if it’s a larger amount like a payment for a TV. Scammers may be taking advantage of this news, too, so be wary of any notification that asks you for financial information, which Amazon should already have.
Technologies
Expect Record Traffic for Memorial Day Weekend: 6 Money and Time Savers
Technologies
Memorial Day Sale: Google’s Pixel 9 Series Has Up to $300 Off Right Now
Get the standard Pixel 9 or the more premium Pixel 9 Fold for less with these incredible Memorial Day deals.

Android users who want to upgrade to a shiny new phone are always going to be pleased if they check out the Google Pixel 9 lineup. Right now is a great time to pick one up too, because the Memorial Day deals are in full swing, and they can save you some serious cash.
In fact, right now you can get your hands on this line of phones with up to $300 off right now on Amazon, meaning you can get one for as little as $599. You can save even more money if you’ve got a phone to trade in and go with Best Buy too.
There is so much to love about the Pixel 9 series, including its sleek design, the impressive camera setup and even AI features such as the ability to search for content in screenshots, create images from scratch using Pixel Studio app and more.
Pricing varies depending on which model you choose, along with the exact configurations, but there are plenty of options for nearly everyone right now. As a rule, the base Pixel 9 lists for $799 — but right now you can save $200 and score yours for just $599. It’s also our pick for the best phone for Android purists.
Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.
However, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL also made the list as the top Google phones you can get. They retail for $999 and $1,099, respectively. However, you can get your hands on the 6.3-inch model for as low as $799 or the 6.8-inch model for as little as $899. Of course, if you’re looking for a foldable phone, you’ll enjoy the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It typically starts at $1,799, but it’s down to as low as $1,499 right now — a whopping $300 discount.
SMARTPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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$799 (save $200)
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$300 (save $100)
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$357 (save $273)
Why this deal matters
Right now you can save up to $300 off select Pixel 9 series phones at Amazon. The Google Pixel 9 series is chock-full of great options with a lot of features we loved, but that usually carries a large price tag. Saving up to $300 goes a long way, and as these prices are at record lows, we don’t expect the cost to drop any lower any time soon. Getting any of these phones at a discount is a great find, but these prices likely won’t stick around for long, so act fast if you’re interested.
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