Technologies

iOS 17: The New iPhone Features I’m Most Excited About

StandBy mode, a new passcode grace period and more are expected to come to your iPhone in the fall.

Apple announced a number of new software updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference, including the iPhone’s next software version, iOS 17. While the next iOS won’t be available to the general public until the fall, the software brings a lot of new and exciting features to your iPhone.

I switched to iOS from Android about a decade ago, and I’ve been testing iOS 16 betas since last year. While iOS 17 doesn’t fulfill all my iOS wishes, it has some new features that I’m really looking forward to.

Here are the cool and useful new iPhone features I’m most excited about in iOS 17.

StandBy mode

With iOS 17, you get a new mode called StandBy. If you enable this mode on your iPhone while it’s charging and in landscape mode, your phone can act as a smart display. It will be able to display the time, widgets, Live Activities and more in this mode.

This feature is helpful, especially if you charge your phone in your kitchen while you cook or on your bedside table at night, but it won’t work for all iPhones. Right now, only the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max can use this feature effectively because of these models’ always-on display

. Earlier iOS 17-compatible iPhones can use StandBy mode, but your screen will turn off at a certain point.

72-hour passcode grace period

Have you ever changed your passcode, and forgotten what it is later when trying to log into your device? In iOS 17, your old passcode can be used for 72 hours to reset your new passcode in case you forget what you set it as. This new feature will surely save people — myself included — a big headache.

Autocorrect gets an improvement

Your iPhone’s keyboard in iOS 17 will get an upgrade. The keyboard will use a transformer model, similar to what OpenAI uses in its language models, so it’ll better predict what you’ll type next, whether that’s a name or a curse word. Autocorrect will also be able to help with grammar, similar to word processing software like Microsoft Word.

While this is all very cool and helpful, my big takeaway is I won’t have to retype swear words multiple times in order to get them to stay in a message. I’ve probably wasted entire days of my life correcting words like «duck» and «shot» back to my intended curse, so I’m excited to save myself that time.

New Journal app

Journaling can help you manage stress, achieve your goals and more, and your iPhone will get a new journaling app, called Journal, later this year with iOS 17. Other journaling apps are out there already, but Apple’s will use on-device machine learning to create personalized prompts to help you out. You’ll also be able to schedule notifications to remind yourself to write. The app keeps all entries private with on-device processing, end-to-end encryption and the ability to lock the app.

If you’re more comfortable typing than using a pencil or pen and notebooks, this app could help you get into, and stay consistent with, journaling. Even if you already journal regularly, you could get some benefits from the app. I’ve been journaling for years, and while I won’t give up my notebooks or pencils, I’ll probably use this app to help me reflect on my day when I can’t think of what to write — it happens more often than you might think.

New Messages improvements and features

Messages gets some upgrades with iOS 17, too. The new Check In feature, for example, lets you quickly and easily tell a family member or friend that you made it to your destination. And if you’re a parent you can use this new feature to make sure your child made it safely to their friend’s house.

You will also be able to jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a conversation in Messages with iOS 17. This can be especially helpful if you’re in a lively group chat. Imagine you go into an hour-long meeting and come out to find the group chat you’re in with your friends has 50 notifications. With iOS 17 you can go back to the first unread message and read all the context of the latest drama. After all, no one likes spoiled tea.

And if you want to reply to a specific message in Messages, you can also swipe on that message to reply to it directly. Before you had to long hold on the message and select Reply.

You can also create stickers for messages from your photos. Apple calls these Live Stickers, and you’ll be able to add effects to these stickers and save them in your iPhone for quick access later. Now you can make your pet’s side-eye into a fun sticker — your pet will probably still be annoyed.

New Contact Posters

Three iPhones, each showing a different Contact Poster — Contact Posters aim to make your contact cards more compelling.

Apple

A fun new feature that iOS 17 brings to your iPhone is Contact Posters. Think of these posters as highly customizable contact cards. On previous iOS versions, you could differentiate contacts with their own ringtones and thumbnail photos on your phone. Contact Posters takes this further, letting you customize contacts with emoji pictures, editing the color and font of contacts and more.

Apple also said Contact Posters will be available for third-party calling apps, not just your iPhone’s contacts.

This feature feels like the integration of Apple’s customizable lock screens with Contacts, and it makes me think Apple will one day let you customize other apps and features on your iPhone. Hopefully Apple will continue to give people more customization options in the future, like letting you edit the display, color and font for different chats in Messages.

Delete password verification messages automatically

In iOS 17, if you go to Settings > Passwords > Password Options, there is a new option called Clean Up Automatically under Verification Codes. If enabled, this option will automatically delete messages in Messages and Mail that contain verification codes after you’ve inserted the code using AutoFill.

I like to keep my messages and email tidy, and this feature will surely help me in that pursuit. When I open Messages or Mail I want to see messages from my friends and family, not random messages filled with code.

Make a grocery list in Reminders

To access this feature you have to upgrade your Reminders app after upgrading to iOS 17. The app will prompt you to upgrade when you open it the first time after downloading iOS 17. Afterward, there are a few steps to make a grocery list.

A hand holding an apple — In iOS 17, the Reminders app can sort your grocery list for you.

Getty Images

1. Open a new reminder.
2. Tap the three dots (…) in the top-right corner of your screen.
3. Tap List Info.
4. Tap Standard next to List Type to select Groceries.

Once enabled, Reminders will automatically separate different grocery items into sections like Produce and Breads & Cereals.

I usually use Notes to make a grocery list, and it works fine. But my list is typically a jumbled mess that doesn’t adhere to rhyme or reason, which means I backtrack through the store to grab something I forgot about. This feature should make it easier to keep track of what I need from certain sections of the store, saving me the time and frustration of walking through the store two or three times.

Conversation Awareness on AirPods

The second-generation AirPods Pro are getting a few new upgrades with iOS 17, like Adaptive Audio and Personalized Volume, to give you a better listening experience, but Conversation Awareness is the new feature I’m most excited about.

With Conversation Awareness, second-generation AirPods Pro will recognize when you start talking, lower the volume of your music, reduce background noise and amplify the voices in front of you. No more fumbling with your AirPods or iPhone to turn down the volume to say «Hi» to someone.

This is another feature Apple will hopefully build and expand upon. A future version of this software might allow your AirPods to recognize when someone within a certain range is talking to you and lowers the volume automatically.

No more ‘Hey, Siri’

Hey Siri voice controls — You don’t need to say, «Hey, Siri» in iOS 17 if you don’t want to.

James Martin/CNET

On iOS 17, you no longer have to greet Siri to activate it. With the update, you can just say «Siri» and the digital assistant will activate and listen for any questions or commands you might have, similar to how you can address Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa.

You can also still greet and be respectful to your digital assistant; that way if there’s a robotic uprising in the future, the robots might leave you alone because you were nice to their great-grandparent, Siri. I know what I’m picking.

Back-to-back Siri requests

You’ll also be able to ask Siri back-to-back requests with iOS 17. So once you activate Siri, you can ask your digital assistant to send a text to your partner, then ask Siri to set an alarm for later without having to say «Hey Siri» or «Siri» again.

This will make talking with Siri feel more conversational, and for me, it’ll help me keep my train of thought when I’m asking for Siri’s help.

AirTags can be shared with more people

AirTags are a good way to keep track of personal items, like your wallet or luggage. With iOS 17, AirTags can be registered with more than one person, making it easier for friends and family to keep track of items. The update also allows multiple people to use the same item, like a piece of luggage, without changing trackers.

Apple AirTag 4-pack — AirTags can be registered to more people in iOS 17.

Apple/CNET

The new feature can also cut back on some minor AirTag annoyances. If you’re with someone who carries an AirTag with them, you’ll receive a notification that an unknown AirTag is traveling with you. While these notifications can help people guard against unwanted tracking, receiving these warnings can be tedious if the AirTag belongs to your partner or a friend.

The Maps app gets a boost

Apple’s Maps app is getting an upgrade with iOS 17. With the update, you’ll be able to download a map for a specific area, access turn-by-turn navigation, see estimated times of arrival and more while offline. Apple also said park trails in the US will be easier to find and EV drivers will be able to see charging station availability within the app.

Being able to use Maps offline can be very helpful if you’re a hiker and hiking an unknown trail, or if you’re visiting or driving through a remote area. This new feature, as well as the iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite and the Apple Watch Ultra, makes it feel like Apple is making a push to make products for all your home, office and outdoor digital needs.

In Maps on iOS 17, you can select how large of an area you want to download.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Sharing is easier with AirDrop and NameDrop

With iOS 17, you’ll be able to share content more easily with others using Airdrop and a new functionality called NameDrop.

With the next iOS version, you won’t need to stay in range of another person to finish sharing content with them via AirDrop. If you’re AirDropping a lot of files and it’s taking a while, as long as you started the process within range, you don’t have to stay in range for the transfer to finish. You’ll also be able to start listening to music or watch a video with others via SharePlay by bringing your iPhones together.

NameDrop is a new functionality that lets you share contact information with another person by bringing your iPhone or Apple Watch close to their device.

Sensitive content warnings

This new iOS 17 feature is meant to help protect you from any unwanted nude images or videos you might run across. You can blur those images or videos before you view them, and this feature will be available in Messages, AirDrop, Contact Posters in the Phone app, FaceTime messages and third‑party apps, according to Apple.

Looks like some guys on dating apps will have to figure out how words work and not just send unsolicited nudes to people.

Apple released iOS 17 to developers Monday, and beta testers will be able to download a beta version of the software in July — here’s how you can sign up to be an iOS beta tester. Apple plans on releasing iOS 17 to the general public in the fall.

For more Apple news, check out CNET’s WWDC recap and what to know about Apple’s Vision Pro headset and its new 15-inch MacBook Air.

Technologies

I’ve Seen It With My Own Eyes: The Robots Are Here and Walking Among Us

The «physical AI» boom has created a world of opportunity for robot makers, and they’re not holding back.

It’s been 24 years since CNET first published an article with the headline The robots are coming. It’s a phrase I’ve repeated in my own writing over the years — mostly in jest. But now in 2026, for the first time, I feel confident in declaring that the robots have finally arrived.

I kicked off this year, as I often do, wandering the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center and its hotel-based outposts on the lookout for the technology set to define the next 12 months. CES has always been a hotbed of activity for robots, but more often than not, a robot that makes a flashy Vegas debut doesn’t go on to have a rich, meaningful career in the wider world.

In fact, as cute as they often are and as fun as they can be to interact with on the show floor, most robots I’ve seen at CES over the years amount to little more than gimmicks. They either come back year after year with no notable improvements or are never seen or heard from again.

In more than a decade of covering the show, I’ve been waiting for a shift to occur. In 2026, I finally witnessed it. From Hyundai unveiling the final product version of the Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot in its press conference to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s focus on «physical AI» during his keynote, a sea change was evident this year in how people were talking about robots.

«We’ve had this dream of having robots everywhere for decades and decades,» Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia’s vice president of Omniverse and simulation told me on the sidelines of the chipmaker’s vast exhibition at the glamorous Fontainebleau Hotel. «It’s been in sci-fi as long as we can remember.»

Throughout the show, I felt like I was watching that sci-fi vision come to life. Everywhere I went, I was stumbling upon robot demos (some of which will be entering the market this year) drawing crowds, like the people lining up outside Hyundai’s booth to see the new Atlas in action.

So what’s changed? Until now, «we didn’t have the technology to create the brain of a robot,» Lebaredian said.

AI has unlocked our ability to apply algorithms to language, and it’s being applied to the physical world, changing everything for robots and those who make them.

The physical AI revolution

What truly makes a robot a robot? Rewind to CES 2017: I spent my time at the show asking every robotics expert that question, sparked by the proliferation of autonomous vehicles, drones and intelligent smart home devices.

This exercise predated the emergence of generative AI and models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but already I could see that by integrating voice assistants into their products, companies were beginning to blur the boundaries of what could be considered robotics.

Not only has the tech evolved since that time, but so has the language we use to talk about it. At CES 2026, the main topic of conversation seemed to be «physical AI.» It’s an umbrella term that can encompass everything from self-driving cars to robots.

«If you have any physical embodiments, where AI is not only used to perceive the environment, but actually to take decisions and actions that interact with the environment around it … then it’s physical AI,» Ahmed Sadek, head of physical AI and vice president of engineering at chipmaker Qualcomm told me.

Autonomous vehicles have been the easiest expression of physical AI to build so far, according to Lebaredian, simply because their main challenge is to dodge objects rather than interact with them. «Avoiding touching things is a lot easier than manipulating things,» he said.

Still, the development of self-driving vehicles has done much of the heavy lifting on the hardware, setting the stage for robot development to accelerate at a rapid pace now that the software required to build a brain is catching up.

For Nvidia, which worked on the new Atlas robot with Boston Dynamics, and Qualcomm, which announced its latest robotics platform at CES, these developments present a huge opportunity.

But that opportunity also extends to start-ups. Featured prominently at the CES 2026 booth of German automotive company Schaeffler was the year-and-a-half-old British company Humanoid, demonstrating the capabilities of its robot HMND 01.

The wheeled robot was built in just seven months Artem Sokolov, Humanoid’s CEO, told me, as we watch it sort car parts with its pincerlike hands. «We built our bipedal one for service and household much faster — in five months,» Sokolov added.

Humanoid’s speed can be accounted for by the AI boom plus an influx of talent recruited from top robotics companies, said Sokolov. The company has already signed around 25,000 preorders for HMND 01 and completed pilots with six Fortune 500 companies, he said.

This momentum extends to the next generation of Humanoid’s robots, where Sokolov doesn’t foresee any real bottlenecks. The main factors dictating the pace will be improvements in AI models and making the hardware more reliable and cost effective.

Humanoid hype hits its peak

Humanoid the company might have the rights to the name, but the concept of humanoids is a wider domain.

By the end of last year, the commercialization of humanoid robots had entered an «explosive phase of growth,» with a 508% year-on-year increase in global market revenue to $440 million, according to a report released by IDC this month.

At CES, Qualcomm’s robot demonstration showed how its latest platform could be adapted across different forms, including a robotic arm that could assemble a sandwich. But it was the humanoids at its booth that caused everyone to pull out their phones and start filming.

«Our vision is that if you have any embodiment, any mechatronic system, our platform should be able to transform it to a continuously learning intelligent robot,» said Qualcomm’s Sadek. But, he added, the major benefit of the humanoid form is its «flexibility.»

Some in the robotics world have criticized the focus on humanoids, due to their replication of our own limitations. It’s a notion that Lebaredian disagrees with, pointing out that we’ve designed our world around us and that robots need to be able to operate within it.

«There are many tasks that are dull, dangerous and dirty — they call it the three Ds — that are being done by humans today, that we have labor shortages for and that this technology can potentially go help us with,» he said.

We already have many specialist robots working in factories around the world, Lebaredian added. With their combination of arms, legs and mobility, humanoids are «largely a superset of all of the other kinds of robots» and, as such, are perfect for the more general-purpose work we need help with.

The hype around robots — and humanoids in particular — at CES this year felt intense. Even Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter acknowledged this in a Q&A with reporters moments after he unveiled the new Atlas on stage.

But it’s not just hype, Playter insisted, because Boston Dynamics is already demonstrating that they can put thousands of robots in the market. «That is not an indication of a hype cycle, but actually an indication of an emerging industry,» he said.

A huge amount of money is being poured into a rapidly growing number of robotics start-ups. The rate of this investment is a signal that the tech is ready to go, according to Nvidia’s Lebaredian.

«It’s because, fundamentally, the experts, people who understand this stuff, now believe, technically, it’s all possible,» he said. «We’ve switched from a scientific problem of discovery to an engineering problem.»

Robot evolution: From industry to home

From what I observed at the show, this engineering «problem» is one that many companies have already solved. Robots such as Atlas and HMND 01 have crossed the threshold from prototype to factory ready. The question for many of us will be as to when will these robots be ready for our homes.

Playter has openly talked about Boston Dynamics’ ambitions in this regard. He sees Atlas evolving into a home robot — but not yet. Some newer entrants to the robotics market — 1X, Sunday Robotics and Humanoid among them — are keen to get their robots into people’s homes in the next couple of years. Playter cautions against this approach.

«Companies are advertising that they want to go right to the home,» he said. «We think that’s the wrong strategy.»

The reasons he listed are twofold: pricing and safety. Playter echoed a sentiment I’ve heard elsewhere: that the first real use for home humanoid robots will be to carry out care duties for disabled and elderly populations. Perhaps in 20 years, you will have a robot carry you in and out of bed, but relying on one to do so when you’re in a vulnerable state poses «critical safety issue,» he said.

Putting robots in factories first allows people to work closely with them while keeping a safe distance, allowing those safety kinks to be ironed out. The deployment of robots at scale in industrial settings will also lead to mass manufacturing of components that will, at some point, make robots affordable for the rest of us, said Playter (unlike 1X’s $20,000 Neo robot, for example).

Still, he imagines the business model will be «robots as a service,» even when they do first enter our homes. Elder care itself is a big industry with real money being spent that could present Boston Dynamics with a market opportunity as Atlas takes its first steps beyond the factory floor.

«I spent a lot of money … with my mom in specialty care the last few years,» he said. «Having robots that can preserve autonomy and dignity at home, I think people will actually spend money — maybe $20K a year.»

The first «care» robots are more likely to be companion robots. This year at the CES, Tombot announced that its robotic labrador, Jennie, who first charmed me back at the show in 2020, is finally ready to go on sale. It served as yet another signal to me that the robots are ready to lead lives beyond the convention center walls.

Unlike in previous years, I left Vegas confident that I’ll be seeing more of this year’s cohort of CES robots in the future. Maybe not in my home just yet, but it’s time to prepare for a world in which robots will increasingly walk among us.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 29, #1685

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 29, No. 1,685.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle was a tough one for me. I never seem to guess three of the letters in this word. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel and one sometimes vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with F.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with Y.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a pastry that breaks apart easily.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is FLAKY.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 28, No. 1684 was CRUEL.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 24, No. 1680: CLIFF

Jan. 25, No. 1681: STRUT

Jan. 26, No. 1682: FREAK

Jan. 27, No. 1683: DUSKY

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 29 #697

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 29, No. 697.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a bit of a puzzler until you realize the theme. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Talk of the town.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: What a legend.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

ROIL, CLAIM, RARE, HELP, PEAR, PEARS, MORE, COIN, SPEAR, SPEARS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: