Widgets function differently in the iOS 17 update. Previously widgets could appear on your home screen, but interacting with them meant opening the app for that particular widget. In the iOS 17 update, you can work on a specific widget right on your home screen. This includes all of your Apple widgets, but also third party widgets that are built to function in this way.

If you’ve been enjoying iOS 16, then you probably know the option that allows you to create a photo cutout, lifting the subject of a photo from the background by holding your finger on the subject. This can be placed in the Messages app and reused like a sticker. Apple expands on this idea in iOS 17 with the Live Stickers addition.

Once you have iOS 17 installed, hold your finger on the subject of a photo or Live Photo to see an option to create a Live Sticker by tapping the Add Sticker button. The new sticker is then placed in a Sticker Drawer, where you can access it for use in Messages or anywhere that you would normally use the emoji button. You can add effects to these, and they can be static or animated (if you create from a Live Photo) and used over and over again. The options to create here are endless.

Have you ever called someone on FaceTime and they weren’t available, so rather than calling them back, you wish you could leave a video message? How about a video message using video effects? With iOS 17, you can! Once your call is missed, you can choose the Record Video option that allows you to do just this. Then you can use Control Center to add effects. Video messages that you leave can be played back on the Apple Watch as well.

With iOS 17 installed, go into your Settings, choose “Siri & Search”, then “Listen for”. You can change what your phone listens for, which allows you to say “Hey Siri”, or simply “Siri”. You can also make requests for Siri without using your Siri activation phrase again. This also allows you to have more of a conversation with Siri on a particular subject, making your search for information quicker and much more smooth.

Love using your Apple Watch? StandBy has always been on the Apple Watch, but with iOS 17 update, StandBy can now be used on your iPhone as it’s charging and turned horizontally. This makes having a MagSafe charging stand handy, but not necessarily required. You can customize your StandBy experience, using a clock option you like, widgets you’d like to appear in StandBy mode, and you have access to the Control Center. StandBy is really up to you! You can show photos, see important information, even real-time information with all of the widgets available.

You can see a live transcription of a voicemail as it’s being left. This let’s you “screen” the call, and you can even accept the call mid message and answer your phone. You also get a Voicemail button when a call is incoming that lets you send the caller directly to voicemail.

iOS17 contains the capability to create Contact Posters with a full screen image that you can apply effects and backgrounds to for each of your contacts. When you create one of these for yourself, it can be automatically shared with your contacts using iOS 17 as well.