Apple will unveil iOS 17 in less than two weeks. In a new report, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says the Cupertino firm plans to add a new interface for iPhones to show more data when locked horizontally.
Some of these pieces of information include calendar appointments, the weather, and notification “in the style of a smart-home display.” Gurman says this feature will operate similarly to what Google and Amazon offer with the Nest and Echo Show devices.
The report shows this feature will use a “dark background with bright text to make it easier to read.” This is an expansion of the Lock Screen widgets announced by Apple alongside iOS 16. Currently, the company is rumored to add interactive widgets for iOS 17, which makes sense with today’s Gurman story.
The journalist says this smart display-like functionality could come to the iPad, although it’s unclear if it could launch with the first iteration of iPadOS 17. Gurman notes that Apple hasn’t revamped iPadOS 16 Lock Screen, which the company could be saving for now as a new feature. With iOS 14, for example, Apple released the App Library for the iPhone, but this feature was only made available for the iPad with iPadOS 15.
If this iOS 17 feature comes to the iPad, this could be another hint at the low-cost tablet Apple is reportedly developing, which could attach to walls and stands. Bloomberg says this device’s effort also “has been slow going.”
Besides this new smart display-like feature, iOS 17 is expected to be packed with a new journaling app, enhancements to the Wallet app, and upgrades for SharePlay and AirPlay, in which hotels and other places could offer TVs and speakers ready for Apple technologies.
iOS 17 will be previewed during the WWDC 2023 keynote on June 5, with a public release expected for this fall, around September. BGR will bring all the new feature updates as soon as we learn about them.
