Apple has created a new “charging stand” experience for iPhones running iOS 17. With the StandBy feature, they turn the iPhone into a pseudo-smart docking center whenever it’s connected to power and rotates to the horizontal position.
You can view a digital photo album, see the time and date, and access widgets for weather, home, and more. The feature is enabled with any iPhone running iOS 17, all you have to do is rotate it horizontally while connected to power, either plugged in or using wireless charging. Let’s see how it works!
On iPhones without an always-on display, your waking experience will be limited because the screen goes black after a few minutes, as it always does. So this really seems like a feature aimed at those who own an iPhone “Pro” with an always-on display.
Enable StandBy functionality
StandBy is enabled by default in iOS 17, but if you need to make sure it’s enabled, simply open Settings and choose StandBy.
There are other useful features within the feature itself, such as the ability to hide notifications (the most important ones will always be shown), toggle Always On Display on or off, and toggle On or Off mode night. Night mode gives the screen a moderate red tint in ambient light, which is ideal if your phone is on the nightstand.
To use StandBy, simply plug your phone or into a wireless charger and turn it to landscape orientation while on the lock screen. It may take a few seconds for StandBy to activate, so don’t worry if it doesn’t turn on immediately.
The default screen saver displays a clock on the left and a calendar on the right. They’re actually two widgets: swipe up and down to view them, and edit them if you want.
If you swipe left on the screen, you will see a full-screen smart photo album. Swiping your finger up and down scrolls through images. Swipe left again to enter full-screen clock mode. Swiping your finger up and down changes the clock type to one of five layouts.
Customize widgets, photos and clocks
In any view, long press to customize the feature. On the widgets screen, for example, long-press the left or right side to choose which widgets are included in each stack. You can also choose to enable or disable smart rotation and widget suggestions.
This is where the true power of StandBy will be realized, as third-party developers will be able to create widgets optimized for the StandBy view.
On the photo screen, long press to choose the types of photos you want to view, and you can even add a folder from your photo collection.
The watch screen doesn’t have as many options. You simply change the color themes for each watch face.
How to choose the correct time for the clock in sleep mode
If you find that the watch is not displaying the correct time, please follow these steps:
- Press and hold the watch that appears in sleep mode.
- Tap the + icon at the top left of the next screen.
- Add the clock widget with the correct time to the list. This will now be the default clock.
Siri and app integration
There are StandBy-optimized visual experiences for various things your iPhone can do. You can listen to music, for example, and you’ll see a little animated waveform icon at the top of your idle screen. Tapping it opens a music view that lets you control playback.
Siri also plays an important role in the StandBy experience. With iOS 17, you no longer need to say “Hey”… now it’s just “Siri”… and the voice recognition model is much smarter. If your iPhone is in sleep mode, new information screens appear for common Siri responses, such as weather, calendar events, reminders, and more.
It seems clear that StandBy is paving the way for a future Apple product integrating the HomePod with a screen, built into or connected to your iPhone or iPad. Even if that doesn’t happen, it’s a useful new display that makes us want a MagSafe charging stand more than ever.
How to download iOS 17?
To download the new software, it’s very simple, just follow these steps:
- First click on the Settings icon on your phone.
- Tap General, then Software Update. This should show you all the updates available on your phone.
- If the update does not install, it may be because your phone does not have enough space.
- Check how much storage your phone has by tapping iPhone Storage in the General menu.
- This will also provide suggestions for places you can clean up to free up space, like emptying your recently deleted pictures folder.
iOS 17 Sleep beyond the nightstand
If you’re using an iPhone with an always-on display, the StandBy screen will stay on. If you have another iPhone, you’ll need to tap it to wake the screen, which seems odd given that StandBy only works when the phone is connected to power. And when the room is dark, StandBy detects it and turns the screen red so it’s not distracting.
Separately, Apple also developed DockKit, a set of tools allowing developers to create motorized stands for the iPhone. This is intended for use while taking photos and videos, but it’s easy to see how it could work in standby as well.
Located on a motorized mount, your phone could also follow you around the room so it’s always in front of us. Or, it might only come back to you when you receive a FaceTime call. There’s a lot we could do with StandBy, or even imagine this on a HomePod with a screen. It’s a watch and music player, it can show you the feed from your front door camera, track your pizza delivery, and make FaceTime calls while following you around the room…
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