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Your iPhone could steal this Pixel Tablet feature when it gets iOS 17

By Peter Hunt Szpytek Published May 24, 2023

iPhone 14 Pro with always on display no wallpaper or notifications — Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

With iOS 17 coming in hot for its expected June reveal during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, iPhone owners are anxious to hear about any big features coming with the update. According to Bloomberg, a major change is coming in the form of a complete interface overhaul for locked devices that effectively turns your iPhone into a smart display.

The new interface will supposedly display a plethora of information like the weather, push notifications, upcoming significant calendar dates, and more. Per the report, this new interface displays automatically when your iPhone is locked and laying horizontally with its screen facing up.

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A change like this would make all iPhones running iOS 17 similar to other smart home screens we’ve seen over the years — with the most recent of note being the Pixel Tablet, which displays similar information when connected to its speaker dock. If Apple is trying to push the iPhone in a direction that’s more suited for being a smart home controller, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the company might make its own docks for the iPhone or, perhaps more likely, the iPad if iPadOS gets a similar update.

iPhone 14 Pro with a black always-on screen. — Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Apple fans have had mixed feelings about the idea of always-on displays, such as the one seen on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, so a change like this coming with iOS 17 for all compatible devices might be divisive. While the update might be controversial, the Bloomberg article that broke the story cited an anonymous inside source that says that the interface is meant to “build on the company’s launch of the lock screen widgets last year as part of iOS 16,” which went over well with Apple fans.

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Based on what we’ve heard so far, it seems like iOS 17 will be a major shake-up for iPhone users in ways that are meant to build on previous ideas that have been implemented. Since most of the major recent changes to iOS have been solid, we’re excited to see what Apple has cooking for iOS 17, and if the smart display interface will be an exciting addition or something to immediately disable. Either way, it seems like we’ll be seeing it revealed soon, during the upcoming developer conference on June 5.

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Peter Hunt Szpytek

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A podcast host and journalist, Peter covers mobile news with Digital Trends and gaming news, reviews, and guides for sites…

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