Apple released iOS 17.4 in March, with some new features, like more Stolen Device Protection settings, but the tech giant’s release of iOS 17.2 was packed with new things you may have missed. The 17.2 update was released in December and came with over a dozen new and useful features, like the long-awaited Journal app and Contact Key Verification. It also has fun features like the ability to react to messages with Live Stickers.
Here are the features you may have missed in iOS 17.2.
Read more: Why You Should Really Download iOS 17.4.1 Right Now
The Journal app
Apple finally released the Journal app with iOS 17.2. The tech giant announced the app at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference event in June alongside iOS 17, but it was absent from the update’s launch on Sept. 18.
Apple said at WWDC that the app uses on-device machine learning to create personalized writing suggestions. Some of these suggestions are created using information on your iPhone, like photos you’ve taken and music and podcasts you’ve listened to throughout the day. If you forget what podcast you listened to earlier in the day — like I regularly do — the app shows you that information when you go to make an entry.
This is how you react to a text with a Live Sticker, but honestly, the heart reaction would suffice in this instance.
Apple introduced live Stickers in iOS 17 at launch, and the feature lets you create your own stickers from pictures you’ve taken. With iOS 17.2, you can react to texts in Messages with your Live Stickers. To react with a Live Sticker, long-press on a text like you would to add a reaction, then tap Add Sticker in the dropdown menu to pull up your stickers.
New Apple Music settings
If you subscribe to Apple Music (which costs $11 a month) iOS 17.2 lets you automatically add songs you’ve favorited to your library. If you don’t like this, you can turn the setting off by going to Settings > Music and tapping the toggle next to Add Favorite Songs.
More Memoji customization
There’s a new menu in the Memoji editor called Body that lets you edit the appearance of your Memoji’s body with iOS 17.2. You can adjust your Memoji’s waist, bust, shoulders and arms in this menu. Only three options are available in each of these sections at this time, so Memoji isn’t a full-on character creator menu as you’d see in a video game.
Change your default notification sounds and haptics
With iOS 17.2, Apple lets you to change the default notification sound. This is the first time Apple has allowed iPhone users to change the default notification sound. To change this sound, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Default Alerts, and you’ll be able to select new and classic tones.
In the Default Alerts menu, you can also change your haptics by tapping Haptics near the top of the page. Here you can choose between a handful of haptic patterns, and you can create a custom haptic by tapping Create New Vibration.
Read more: Change Your iPhone’s Default Alert Tone With These 3 Easy Steps
Photos and Apple Music working together
If you go into the Photos app after updating to iOS 17.2, Photos will ask permission to access your Apple Music library. The screen says it will use songs from your library to curate songs for your Memories.
AppleCare and Warranty menu
With iOS 17.2, if you go to Settings > General you’ll see a new option called AppleCare and Warranty. If you tap into this option, you’ll see all of your devices that are or aren’t covered under AppleCare or a warranty. In previous betas, this option was called Coverage.
Catch-up arrow in Messages
A new feature in iOS 17.2 can help you understand what’s happening in a texting group or if someone sends you a lot of messages. The beta brings the catch-up arrow back to Messages, so if you wake from a nap with a lot of messages, you can jump to the beginning of the new messages and follow the drama for context.
The catch-up arrow was in some early iOS 17 betas, but it has been absent since.
New options for sharing Contact Posters
You can now share your Contact Poster through Phone and FaceTime with iOS 17.2. If you go to Settings and either Phone or FaceTime, you will see an option called Share Name and Photo. Tap this and you can select whether to automatically share your Contact Poster with your contacts or whether to require your phone to always ask before sharing. This feature was only in Message before.
iPhone 15 Pro action button updated
If the gray words are annoying, you can now cancel them.
Have you ever been typing a text in Messages and suddenly a gray word appears in front of your cursor? This is called inline text predictions, and if you’ve ever been confused or annoyed by this feature, iOS 17.2 introduces the ability to turn it off.
Read more: Here’s How to Disable Inline Text Predictions on Your iPhone
More Sensitive Content Warnings
Sensitive Content Warnings were introduced in iOS 17 and blur out images and videos that show up in certain Apple services and that might contain nudity. With iOS 17.2, these warnings have been expanded to include live stickers and contact posters that might include nudity.
Read more: How to Easily Block Unsolicited Nudes On Your iPhone
More Siri requests
With iOS 17.2, you can ask Siri a few new questions, like what your altitude is and what’s your estimated arrival time if you’re using the voice assistant for directions.
The new digital clock widget is easier to read, and the new weather widget packs more information in a small package.
News app supports Live Activities
The News app also gets an update with iOS 17.2. Now, you can enable Live Activities for the app, so you can follow news events, like elections, as they happen on Live Activity-enabled iPhones.
Apple TV app updated
The Apple TV app also gets an update with iOS 17.2. If you open the app and tap Store in the bottom menu, you’ll see the Movies and TV Shows sectionsacross the top of your screenare gone.
Local Awareness option in Emergency Alerts
For more Apple news, here’s what could be coming to your iPhone in iOS 17.5 and why you should download iOS 17.4.1 now. You can also check out our iOS 17 cheat sheet.
