iOS 17 is about to be released, AI and IoT are the biggest highlights

In a few days, iOS 17 will be unveiled at WWDC 2023. But unlike the iOS previews we saw in previous years, everyone’s attention to iOS 17 this year seems to be less intense than in previous years. Of course, this is understandable. After all, Apple MR, which has been rumored by everyone but has never been exposed on the Internet, will be released at WWDC. This will naturally steal a lot of attention from iOS 17.

Secondly, This year's iOS 17 preview version may abandon the past "description file" distribution method and will directly use developer account permissions for distribution. This will undoubtedly improve everyone's The threshold for "early adopters" iOS 17.

Image source: Apple

But we cannot ignore another possibility: in the face of the increasingly complete Android ecosystem, the appeal of iOS 17 is no longer as attractive as before. After all, in the past few versions of iOS updates, Apple has focused the updates on services rather than features. It’s no wonder that everyone is becoming less and less interested in iOS 17.

However, in order to give everyone a general preparation before WWDC, Xiaolei is still here to sort out and predict several hot features that may appear in iOS 17. I don’t know what such iOS 17 can do Will it win everyone's love so that everyone can take the initiative to update it at the risk of their phone becoming stuck?

App sideloading is finally open?

It is almost certain that under the threat of a global revenue fine of up to 20% and a ban on sales in the European market, Apple is likely to come up with a practical App sideloading solution that allows users to sideload through specific methods App. Considering the increasing revenue share of the App Store, the sideloading function will most likely only be provided in some markets - the "specific market" referred to here naturally refers to the European market.

Although we still don’t know how Apple will use to determine whether a user has “sideloading qualifications,” considering special circumstances such as overseas residents, sideloading permissions should be based on the account region rather than GPS or network IP. Main judging criteria. In addition, there are many possibilities for iPhone's specific sideloading solution: Is it as completely open as Android? Or only issue package certificates to specific developers like in macOS?

Image source: Lei Technology

Here Xiaolei believes that the possibility of the latter is relatively higher: This solution has not only been verified and implemented by Apple for many years, but it can also restrict the distribution of Apps from developer permissions through Xcode. At the same time, Xcode, as the only development tool, can also control the permissions of side-loaded apps to a certain extent through complete API management and control, thereby ensuring the security of iOS.

Siri is finally no longer "artificially retarded"?

In addition, under the premise that almost all technology companies have positioned AI as the future development direction, iOS 17 is also likely to use AI to further improve the practicality of Siri, allowing Siri to get rid of the evaluation of "artificial retardation".

As early as November last year, technology reporter Mark Gurman mentioned that Apple was considering providing more functions for the voice assistant Siri, and simplifying the voice wake-up command from "Hey! Siri" to "Siri", and This is likely to be the starting point for Siri’s transformation in iOS 17.

Simplifying Siri’s wake-up instructions does not seem to be a particularly difficult task, but in scenes with complex sound environments, how to train AI to accurately recognize wake-up words is actually the direction Apple has been working on for a long time. On the other hand, the addition of AI may provide more third-party application program interfaces for Siri, allowing third-party program calls.

Source: Apple

In addition, local machine learning on the device has been one of Apple’s research directions for the past many years. Considering the popularity of generative AI, Apple is likely to launch its own at WWDC that can run locally on mobile devices. AI models and preemptively apply them to Siri, which can already run locally. However, considering the massive computing resources required to run AI locally, this feature is likely to be unveiled as an exclusive feature of the iPhone 15 series at Apple’s special events in the fall.

In addition, iOS 17 may also provide a new control center. Since iOS 11 made drastic changes to the control center, the control center of iOS has always been what it is now. Even the control centers of iPadOS and macOS have also become this interactive interface specially developed for mobile phones. Only watchOS and The control center of tvOS retains its original appearance due to limitations of screen size and interaction methods.

Let’s not discuss the distance between this control center and Android’s feature-rich control center. Judging from Xiaolei’s identity as an iPhone user for many years, the lack of customization of the iPhone control center alone is worthy of Apple’s "Reflection" from the sketching stage. For the controls in the upper half of the screen, let alone custom types, I can't even adjust the order of the controls. The shortcut functions below are not logically unified:

The air conditioning component in the home can be directly clicked to switch states, and it can also be long pressed to open a pop-up window for control; the HomePod icon can only open a pop-up window for control, and cannot be directly clicked to pause; the Apple TV remote control icon will open an independent The app doesn’t even have pop-up windows. This confusing logic is a direct consequence of Apple’s neglect of the Control Center for many years, and it is also an unavoidable topic in iOS 17.

Image source: Lei Technology

According to existing news, there are two possibilities for the new version of the iOS 17 control center. The first possibility lies in the functionality of the control center. From the birth of the control center to the first major revision, it is not difficult to see that Apple tends to upgrade the control center when the product form changes to adapt to the new product form.

Another possibility lies in the artistry of the control center. At WWDC 2020, Apple announced macOS Big Sur, which imports the iOS control center and practical gadgets into macOS. The overall design adopts a unique and concise art design style, which is completely different from the design style of the iOS control center.

Image source: Lei Technology

It is reported that the new version of the iOS Control Center will adopt an art design similar to the macOS Control Center. Not only will it appear visually clearer, but the buttons in the Control Center will also be redesigned and integrate more functions. For example, brightness and volume have become horizontal adjustments, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other switches are placed at the bottom of the control center, and the original custom buttons may be integrated into the "Smart Island".

Matter Agreement brings new test

In addition, family apps may also be the focus of iOS 17 updates. In the new generation of Apple TV, Apple has added support for Thread network, which also means that more and more third-party devices will appear in the iOS Home App. These third-party devices have different functions and also have different requirements for operating interfaces and interaction methods. In other words, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the functionality of home apps at this stage.

Take the air conditioner in Xiao Lei’s home as an example. Although the accessory natively supports HomeKit, I can only design the working mode and operating temperature of the air conditioner in the home app. timing? Air volume? Sweep mode? None of these. Even the mode menu for adjusting cooling or heating uses an impractical scrolling menu.

Image source: Lei Technology

If Apple still wants to use Matter and Thread to maintain its influence in the field of smart homes and even whole-house intelligence, the Home App must be the focus of iOS 17 updates.

In addition to the three main directions just mentioned, it is almost certain that iOS 17 will also add more small fixes to service functions, such as providing Apple high-precision map coverage in more areas, allowing users to More apps are added to the CarPlay list, Apple Music Classic service is launched in more markets, and even allows users to use iPhone as a controller or sensor for MR devices to achieve more cross-device linkage.

These functions just now are just Xiaolei’s own ideas. In fact, no one can be sure about the performance of iOS 17 at this stage. However, judging from the rumors of iOS 17’s “transformation”, the development of iOS has indeed encountered some obstacles.

Can iOS 17 keep the “iOS myth”?

It is undeniable that iOS is indeed the most special existence among the global mobile phone systems, and it is also the object of imitation by many OS/UI. For example, a certain mobile phone brand that has won a lot of market share in Europe once learned the functions of iOS "1:1". The graphic design and even the warm-up video of Apple's press conference were also used by some companies as pixel-level " Learn from it.”

But judging from the performance and market satisfaction in recent years, the influence and appeal of iOS, which Apple is proud of, seems to be losing year by year. Since Huawei has faded out of the mobile phone market, and Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and other manufacturers have frequently been blocked from entering the high-end market, the pressure on Apple in the high-end mobile phone market has dropped sharply. After consolidating its position in the high-end market, Apple also began to act recklessly. Not only did it start squeezing out toothpaste in terms of configuration parameters, it also began to insert advertisements into the system.

Image source: Apple

In the absence of strong competitors, Apple’s approach is understandable, but now the Android camp is struggling to catch up. After making up for the shortcomings in performance, and giving full play to its advantages in charging, imaging, and system experience, it still has the strength to compete with Apple. Higher and lower.

Nowadays, many people no longer blindly pursue Apple, but will also shop around when buying products to measure the cost-effectiveness. At the same time, this year’s new Android phones also ushered in a milestone overall improvement, becoming a powerful weapon for impacting the high-end. If Apple continues to work behind closed doors, the ecological moat built by iOS will be the first brick in the collapse of the so-called "Apple ecosystem".

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