Owners of a recent iPhone are getting improvements to security and a way to work together on Apple Music playlists with iOS 17.3.
Devices rarely stay the same way they were out of the box these days, and that is a good thing.
Between firmware updates and software updates, chances are that gadget you bought last year is going to get some new features a few months later, and nowhere is that more true than in phones.
Mobiles get regular drops for updates and features, and it’s one of the main reasons why keeping your phone updated is always a great idea. Another is security, and is probably the most important reasons, but feature drops are always appreciated.
For Apple, those feature drops are fairly regular, and often arrive with a new operating system, such as its most recent for iPhone and iPad, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.
If you haven’t made the update to iOS 17, you’re missing out on some great features, like StandBy, but there’s about to be another rolling out this week, and it has to do with the security of an iPhone.
Rolling out as part of iOS 17.3 (and therefore needs iOS 17 if you don’t have it) is a feature called “Stolen Device Protection”, which you can kick in if your device has been left somewhere or taken from you.
Found under the “Face ID & Passcode” menu in settings, it’s an anti-theft system that will lock up more parts of the phone if triggered, forcing authentication by Apple’s biometric security systems of Face ID or Touch ID, even if the thief has your passcode.
It means that even if your password is terrible such as Kanye West’s old password of “000000”, an iPhone can be further locked remotely and require things a thief can’t manipulate, like your face or finger.
Apple further adds to the Stolen Device Protection with a security delay when passwords are changed, using either Face ID, Touch ID, or an hour’s wait. It’s just a little bit extra to make security that little bit more bolstered.
There’s more to the update, including new Unity wallpaper for Black History Month in the US, AirPlay support in hotels to let you stream your media to supported TVs, and also something we’re a little excited about: collaborative playlists in Apple Music.
That is to say if you use Apple Music and you have friends or family that use Apple Music, you can now invite friends and family to add, reorder, and heaven forbid remove songs in your Apple Music playlist.
We won’t be inviting anyone to edit either the Pickr Sound Test or the Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio playlists on Apple Music, but other playlists may soon become a little more open slather, particularly if you happen to be making playlists ahead of time for your kids.
