iOS 17.1 beta: Everything new for iPhone users

Published Sep 28th, 2023 7:57AM EDT

With Apple starting the iOS 17.1 beta cycle, the company is bringing several new features for iPhone users that were previously delayed from the official release of iOS 17, in addition to other new functions. In this article, we’ll gather everything new with the beta cycle of iOS 17.1.

iOS 17.1 beta 1 changes

Apple has added several new features with iOS 17.1 beta 1, such as:

Apple Music Playlist Suggestions: When adding a song to a playlist, Apple Music now suggests a few songs based on the music available on the list.

Apple Music Favorite Songs: Apple Music also lets you favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists. Your favorite music is automatically added to your Library and improves your recommendations.

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Apple Music Playlist Covers: The service lets you create custom playlist covers. Apple offers eight different options.

AirDrop with Cellular Data: Teased during the WWDC 2023 keynote, you can now continue to send and receive content when Wi-Fi is unavailable during AirDrop.

NameDrop for Apple Watch: With iOS 17.1 beta and watchOS 10.1 beta, Apple is finally enabling NameDrop from iPhone to Apple Watch. With that, you can seamlessly exchange contact information with others.

Flashlight Indicator on Dynamic Island: Previously limited to iPhone 15 Pro models, the flashlight indicator on Dynamic Island is also available for iPhone 14 Pro and all iPhone 15 models.

New ringtones: With iOS 17.1, Apple removed the new ringtones added with iOS 17. Apple will likely re-add them in a future update.

Wrap up

BGR will keep updating this article as we learn more about the new changes coming with this beta cycle.

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.