Technologies

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

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.

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 — 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 — 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 — 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

Chrome Autofill Now Supports Passport, Driver’s License and Vehicle Info

Soon, you’ll never need to remember anything ever again.

Computer users are accustomed to web browsers autofilling everything from names and addresses to credit card numbers. Now, Google Chrome is adding new enhanced autofill options that allow users to automatically populate fields for passports, driver’s licenses, and their vehicle’s license plate or VIN, Google said in a blog post on Monday.

Desktop users must choose to turn on the feature, which is called enhanced autofill. Otherwise, it stays off. To turn it on, open Chrome, and at the top right of your browser, select more, then settings, then autofill and passwords. Finally, choose enhanced autofill and turn it in.

Google says Chrome now can «better understand complex forms and varied formatting requirements, improving accuracy across the web.» The company also says that enhanced autofill will be «private and secure.»

This enhanced autofill update is available in all languages, and more data options will be supported in the coming months.

A representative for Google said the company had no additional comment.

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

Chrome is a critical component in Google’s business. The web browser, currently the most popular in the world with a 73% market share, according to GlobalStats, provides the company with valuable user data that it uses to sell advertising. Advertising is how Google makes the majority of its revenues. New features help keep users loyal to Chrome, making it more difficult for them to switch to other browsers, including those from companies like Perplexity and OpenAI.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 4, #407

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 4, No. 407.

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

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle makers will never run out of categories because they have discovered they can just pick one athlete and make a connections group out of four facts about that person. They do that today with the blue category, so if you don’t know that one player, you’re out of luck. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Get up and go!

Green group hint: College hoops.

Blue group hint: Famous basketball player.

Purple group hint: Not fair, but…

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Energy.

Green group: Men’s college basketball teams with the most championships.

Blue group: Associated with Damian Lillard.

Purple group: Foul ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is energy. The four answers are pep, verve, vigor and zip.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is men’s college basketball teams with the most championships. The four answers are Kentucky, UCLA, UCONN and UNC.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Damian Lillard. The four answers are 0, Dame Time, Trail Blazers and Weber State.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is foul ____. The four answers are out, shot, territory and tip.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Nov. 4

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 4.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? There are a few tricky clues, so read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.