iOS 17.4 introduces some awesome new features.
Let's quickly unpack iOS 17.4's biggest new feature,
Stolen Device Protection.
Stolen Device Protection beefs up security when your iPhone is away from home or work
and ensures that if someone steals your phone, they won't have an easy time messing with
your accounts.
And this is the catch: even if they know your passcode!
How does it work?
We'll break it down.
To turn on Stolen Device Protection, head to Settings, then scroll down to Face
ID and Passcode.
Enter your passcode, then come on down to Stolen Device Protection.
Tap to open up the menu and then turn Stolen Device Protection on.
And if you want nonstop security, you can set this to Always.
Normally, accessing sensitive information like your stored passwords or credit card
details is a cinch with Face ID or Touch ID.
But the problem with that system is that you could always just enter the iPhone's
passcode and bypass the biometrics.
But with Stolen Device Protection activated, there is no passcode fallback.
Only your unique biometrics, like your face or your fingerprint,
can unlock these features, which means that thieves can't impersonate
you.
But as I mentioned before, there is a catch.
This level of security kicks in only when your iPhone is in unfamiliar locations.
But if you want to be ultra cautious, you can opt in to turn on Stolen Device Protection
full-time regardless of where you are.
Now, here's a feature I'm glad Apple stole from Spotify,
collaborative playlists.
Now in iOS 17.4, you can invite your friends to make a playlist along with you.
Personally, I don't use this feature because none of my friends like the same music
that I do.
But I can imagine this being a great feature for those who plan on road tripping with your
friends.
It's simple.
First, we'll need to open the Apple Music app.
So we'll swipe up from the bottom of the screen, go back to the home screen, then tap on Music.
Then we need to find a playlist we want to add someone to,
and I'll add Zech over here.
Tap Library, then tap Playlists.
Take a look at the party playlist I have here.
There's a little tiny person icon at the top of the screen.
You can click on that person.
Then it says anyone with a link will be able to edit and reorder songs,
and your name and photo will be shown to others.
I'm just gonna tap Start Collaborating here.
And then let's invite Zeck to the party.
And I'll send it off to him, and now he is allowed to collaborate with
me on my party playlist.
Speaking of reactions, ever since iOS 17, there's been a new default notification sound,
and it stinks.
Play the sound, Zeck.
Let's head back into Settings.
I'll swipe up from the bottom of the screen with my finger,
hold it there, and then let go.
Then I'll tap on Settings.
And we're going to head to Sounds and Haptics, tap on that.
There's a new Default Alerts section, which you'll find if you scroll down here,
tap on that.
So Rebound is the default, and we can try a different one.
Much better.
Unfortunately, there still aren't any customizable alert tones in this section,
but at least it's a step up from what we originally had,
which was no control at all.
Next, Inline Predictions, a helpful new feature that makes you feel like your iPhone
is trying to read your mind, but instead it's just putting the mess in
your messages.
I'm already in the Settings app, so I'll tap the back button,
and then tap back again to the main page of Settings.
Then I'm going to open up General, tap on that,
scroll down to Keyboard, tap on that,
and then Show Predictions Inline.
Make sure the switch is turned off.
Speaking of typing, let's stay on this topic with a new Siri setting
that's going to make your life easier and a little bit more exciting.
If we go to Settings, I'll tap back to General,
then back to the main page of Settings, and scroll down to Siri and Search,
tap to open that menu up, then tap Messaging with Siri,
and turn on the switch next to Automatically Send Messages.
I have been waiting for this feature for a while.
Of course, we know that Siri doesn't always get dictation right,
and that's where the exciting part comes in.
Who knows what message you just sent?
But wait, there's more.
Siri can now read your incoming messages in various languages,
including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and many more.
Maybe you live in Canada and speak two languages.
Imagine receiving a message in French and Siri whispering it into your ear
in the language of love.
Très magnifique.
Am I right?
Next, let's dive into a neat feature in iOS 17.4,
AirTag Sharing.
It's like handing someone a digital key to your physical keys.
We're gonna open the Find My app.
I'll swipe up from the bottom of the screen, and then I'm just gonna swipe down
from the middle of the screen to open Spotlight, and start typing in something like Find My,
and tap to open the app.
Then we'll select the AirTag we want to share.
So I have Devices here.
Now I'll go over to Items, David's Keys.
Looks like I'm already sharing.
I'll tap on my wallet since I'm not sharing that with anyone.
Then under Share this AirTag, I'll tap Add Person.
I'm not gonna go through this whole process because you'll figure it out.
Next, we're gonna talk about an iPhone setting that's built for Apple Vision Pro users.
Now, if you haven't watched our video about Apple Vision Pro settings to turn off
now, go watch it after this video because it's
interesting.
I'm in the Siri section of Settings right now.
I'll tap back in the upper left-hand corner and back again to Settings,
and I'm gonna scroll down here all the way to Camera.
Tap on that, then tap Formats, scroll down, and make sure the switch here
next to Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro is turned on.
So here's how it works.
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen with your finger,
and let's go into the Camera app.
And I'll swipe on the bottom here to go over to Video,
and you'll see the little Vision Pro icon appear
in the left-hand corner of the screen.
Just tap on that, and you are shooting spatial 3D video.
The video doesn't look any different on your iPhone,
except it actually looks worse because it's recording in 1080p.
But if you watch it on the Vision Pro, it makes you feel like you're actually there
again, except it doesn't at all.
But the camera that's built into your iPhone is better than the one that's built into the
Vision Pro, so if you're gonna try this feature out,
use your iPhone to do it.
Next, a setting for you iPhone 15 Pro users out there.
Did you know your iPhone has a hidden Translate button?
Actually, it's just the Action button, but in iOS 17.4, you can live translate with
this button.
To set it up, let's go back to Settings, then tap back to the main page of Settings,
and back to the main page of Settings, then scroll all the way up here to Action
button.
Tap on that.
Then we're gonna slide over here to Translate, and then all you have to do
is press and hold the Action button, and you get this cool little dialogue
at the top of the screen, automatically plays it back in the other language,
and it works both ways, English to Spanish, Spanish to English.
It's amazing.
It's like Star Trek.
Next, we'll talk about one of the classic tips,
system services.
I'll swipe up on the screen to make the dialogue go away,
then I'll tap back to Settings in the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
and I'm gonna scroll down to Privacy and Security, tap on that, then tap Location Services,
and go all the way to the bottom, and tap on System Services.
This is important.
Why do we talk about this a lot?
Well, it's because it can be a huge battery saver for you.
So turn off everything except Compass Calibration, which lets you have the little arrow direction
thing in GPS apps, like the Maps app,
Emergency Calls and SOS, Find My iPhone, Satellite Connection,
Share My Location, and System Customization, if you use it.
I'm gonna turn it off on my phone.
Also, I recommend turning off Significant Locations,
but if you wanna use Stolen Device Protection and have your iPhone know where home is and
where work is, you may need to have this turned on.
Fortunately, as we said in the beginning of the video,
you can set Stolen Device Protection to work everywhere,
and therefore, this feature becomes useless.
I went real quick through this section, but we do have a video where we go through
every single one of these settings in depth.
We'll leave a link in the description so you can watch it after this video.
In iOS 17.4, you can ask new questions to Siri,
like, what is my altitude?
Or what's my estimated arrival time?
But Siri is still nowhere close to other voice assistants,
or even in the same ballpark as something like Chat GPT.
Hopefully, in iOS 18, this will improve.
AI is the cool, trendy thing going on in the smartphone industry right now.
New AI features in the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 Pro
are all the rage, but will Apple join them in iOS 18?
Well, what if I told you that Apple was already there?
At least most of the way.
You know the cool draw on the image to look it up feature on the S24?
Apple did that three years ago with Visual Lookup.
I'll just go to an image with something I want to look up.
Let's go to Photos here, and let's look up.
There's Trudy in her little bed.
She got a new bed.
She is thrilled with it.
I can press and hold on Trudy there, then let go,
tap Look Up, and now we know that Trudy is a tabby cat.
You can also press and hold on a picture of food
to get a recipe, or even press and hold on a photo
of a laundry tag to tell you what those little symbols
actually mean.
This has been around for a while now, and I'm learning something new it can do all
the time.
Next up, a really cool new widget you might want to add to your home screen.
We don't talk about widgets a ton here, but let me show you this one.
It's a new clock.
I'll swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go back to the home screen,
then press and hold anywhere in the background until all my apps start to wiggle.
Then I'll tap the plus sign on the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
and rather than going through this giant list, I'm gonna tap into the search field here at
the top where it says Search Widgets,
and we're just gonna type in clock.
C-L, how about that?
Tap on Clock.
This is the new digital clock right here.
I'll just tap Add Widget, and now you've got this big digital clock
right on your home screen.
You don't have to struggle to look at the other little digital clock
in the upper left-hand corner of the screen now.
More clocks, the better.
That's what I say.
I don't know about you guys, but I can read a digital clock a lot faster
than I can read an analog clock with the hands and the seconds and this thing.
I'm always confused by it.
Why do I have to go backwards to find the hour?
Doesn't make any sense.
Maybe somebody can explain that to me.
Here's another quick tip.
Let's open Settings.
Go back to the main page of Settings.
Back, back, and back once more to Settings.
Now we're gonna scroll up to Notifications and tap on that.
Next, we're gonna scroll all the way to the bottom
and tap Emergency Alerts.
All the way to the bottom.
Tap on that.
And then this new local awareness switch is awesome.
Apple can use your approximate location to improve the timeliness, accuracy,
and reliability of emergency alerts you receive.
Why would you not turn this on?
It could be seen as a battery drainer, but I don't think it's really gonna have any
impact on your battery life.
And honestly, if it's an emergency alert and this is gonna get the emergency alert
to me faster, let's turn it on.
Next, we're gonna go back to the main page of Settings.
I'll tap back in the upper left-hand corner of the screen
and back to Settings.
We're gonna go into General.
Then we're going to tap on this new little section,
AppleCare and Warranty.
In iOS 17.4, you can see exactly which devices you have coverage for and also for how long.
So for instance, this one expires September 21st, 2024.
This is just another quality of life update that I can appreciate,
especially after owning a lot of these devices for so long.
And don't forget that if your charger breaks on your iPhone,
you can bring it to the Apple Store and it's covered under the warranty
or if your cable frays.
If you have an old cable that broke and your new phone is under warranty,
you can bring it to the Apple Store and they'll replace the old cable
because your new phone has the same cable.
And a shout out to our friends in the EU who I'm not jealous of.
In iOS 17.4, those of you in the EU can access side loading
and third-party app stores.
Unfortunately, those of us who are not in the EU
are gonna have to either wait for Apple to add this feature
or accept that they probably never will.
I can't even show it to you because Apple has made it really, really difficult
to access.
If you are from the EU and you have access to these features,
please let us know how they are in the comment section below or join our Discord.
Let us know how they are in there.
I personally would love to know.
Watch this video next and don't forget to join our channel
if you'd like a free PDF guide of all the settings we talked about in this
video.
We appreciate it.