Top Features in Apple’s iOS 17 and iPadOS 17: Compatible Devices, Release Date

• Adaptive Audio: If you have the second-generation AirPods Pro, there's a new listening mode called Adaptive Audio. This is a blend of Apple's Transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation, so you can block out annoying sounds but hear important ones. If you start speaking, Conversation Awareness will automatically lower the media volume, reduce background noise, and enhances the voices in front of you. Also new is the ability to tap the stem of the AirPods Pro (first and second generation), AirPods (3rd gen), or the Digital Crown on AirPods Max during a call to mute and unmute. 
• CarPlay gets SharePlay: On a road trip? If the car has CarPlay and everyone inside has an iPhone, anyone can control and contribute to the playlist. 
• Hotel AirPlay: Apple is bringing AirPlay to hotel rooms. You can just scan a QR code from the TV to share videos, photos, and music from your device to the big screen. Apple says it's starting with brands from IHG Hotels & Resorts. 
• Offline maps: Google Maps has had it for years, but Apple has finally caught up. You can now save an area of a map to your device and use it when you don't have an internet connection, including turn-by-turn navigation. 
• Accessibility updates: There's a new feature called Assistive Access, which adds a customizable interface to make the iPhone easier to use for people with cognitive disabilities. Live Speech offers up a way for people that can't speak to have their words spoken in person or on the phone. Personal Voice lets people “at risk of speech loss” create a voice that's similar to theirs. And then there's Point and Speak, which helps blind people and those with low vision read text on physical objects by pointing the phone at the item. 
• Visual lookup: When you tap on a subject in a photo to lift it out (to create a Sticker or paste it anywhere else), you can also press Look Up to get more information about it. This works in paused video frames too.  
• Simpler Siri: You no longer have to say “Hey Siri" to trigger the voice assistant; just say “Siri." Similarly, you no longer have to keep saying it when making back-to-back commands. Just add another command. 
• Health app updates: Apple is letting you log your daily moods in the Health app, with access to depression and anxiety assessments typically found in clinics (and other resources). Also, if you are using Apple's Screen Time feature for your kids, there's now a Screen Distance tool that will use the TrueDepth camera to encourage children to move further away if they are holding the phone closer than 12 inches from their face for an extended period of time. Apple says this can help lower the risk of myopia and reduce digital eyestrain in adults. Additionally, the Health app is finally available on the iPad. 
• Family of AirTags: You can share your AirTag with up to five people, and everyone will be able to keep track of the item in the Find My app. 
• Fur friends in Photos: The People album in the Photos app is now the People and Pets album, because it can finally identify your furry friends. No, it won't show photos of just any cats and dogs, but will smartly know your pet.