December 25 update below, along with updated release date projections. This article was first published on December 23, 2023.
The next version of iPhone software will include something all owners will appreciate: an extra layer of security to protect you if your phone is stolen by a thief who knows your password. It can’t happen too soon.
The next iOS update will have a big improvement.
David Phélan
The release will be iOS 17.3, unless there is another surprise bug fix release first. Things may change, but my final thinking is that it should land after the holidays, probably mid-January, around Tuesday January 16th or Tuesday January 23rd. This could carry over to the following week or things could move if the holidays slow down. beta testing, maybe even until early February, although I think that’s less likely. It is currently in public beta. Among the new features is something called Stolen Device Protection.
It’s bad enough that your iPhone can be stolen, but thieves who get ahold of your password, say by reading it over your shoulder at a bar, could do more. They could reset your password so only they can access it, swap their face for Face ID, then empty their bank accounts.
I wrote about how to make your iPhone less vulnerable earlier in the year, but this new update will make things much better.
It’s a topic that has been covered in depth by Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen of the Wall Street Journal, including speaking to a convicted iPhone thief about how he acted quickly to disable Find My iPhone, so that the owner cannot find or delete. the phone.
Now, in a feature that was a surprise when spotted in early developer and public betas for iOS 17.3, there’s a new level of security that will help thwart thieves even with access to your password.
Stolen Device Protection means that, when enabled, Face ID or Touch ID authentication is required for actions like viewing passkeys, erasing content, and more. Unlike now, you or your thief will not be able to resort to entering the password to make these changes.
Apple
As for the most important action for these thefts, changing the Apple ID account password, the new system cleverly adds a security delay. If the phone is in an unknown location, authentication by biometrics (Face ID or Touch ID) is then followed by an hour of waiting, after which you must authenticate again by biometrics. The same amount of time is also required to add a new Face ID or to deactivate Find My iPhone.
The one hour time limit will not apply if the phone is in a familiar location such as your home or work.
A thief who knows your password can still purchase products with Apple Pay using the password or look up passwords for other apps that don’t have separate protection. But it’s a big step forward in security.
Note that this feature is optional and if you do not choose to do so, you are no better off than you are today.
For now, you can create a passcode that’s harder to spot over your shoulder, such as one that combines letters and numbers, and never reveal your passcode. Oh, and make sure there are no hints about passwords in any of your apps. Remember that you can lock individual items in the Notes app and obviously make sure you have a separate password for this.
Thieves will still try to steal your iPhone, but this new addition should mean it will also be harder for them to steal your digital life.
Updated December 24. Stolen device protection is the big new feature, partly because it came as a surprise. With it, you cannot perform certain Apple Cash and Savings actions in Wallet, use payment methods saved in Safari, use iPhone to set up a new device or request a new Apple Card, as well as the reassuring restrictions mentioned above above.
It will be available on all iPhones from iPhone XS onwards, provided they have been updated to iOS 17 and provided the user activates it, of course.
The new software will also include other features such as Apple Music collaborative playlists. This appeared to appear in iOS 17.2, but was removed before beta versions became general release software. With this feature, you can invite friends to add songs to particular playlists or listen to songs of your choice. It’s not yet clear whether there will be a limit to the number of people who can share music. So this could be a very creative way to share music. It’s easily set up by going to a playlist in Apple Music and tapping the person’s icon to create a link you can send to others. Contributors can then react using emoji. More features will likely be added before the January release date.
Updated December 25. It looks like the iOS 17.3 update will bring some good news beyond the much-desirable stolen device protection. According to YouTuber Brandon ButchThere’s something that wasn’t mentioned in the notes for the first public beta, and that’s better battery life.
Well, increased life between charges is always welcome, but the initial review is mostly positive. He says: “I was blown away by the performance and battery life. » And this is in addition to the fact that there has been no perceptible drop in performance, he believes. He goes on to say that he thinks there might be another beta this week, Christmas week. He claims this could be the watchOS update to fix the issue that saw Apple pull the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from shelves. I’d love to see this happen, if it allows Apple to start selling its smartwatches again, but it seems a little early to me.
For iOS, he thinks the next release will be in the week starting January 8. This is consistent with what Aaron Zollo told ZolloTech Is saying. This YouTuber says the expected timeline for upcoming betas could be as late as January 9th or 10th, which has led me to believe the general release will be later in the month or even in February. I will keep you posted if this changes.
Back to Brandon Butch: his release date prediction is similar to mine, which is the week starting January 23 or even the week before. Unlike Zollo, Butch thinks it won’t happen until February. I think that’s true but, as always, things can change.
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