Apple has created a new "charging stand" experience for iPhones running iOS 17. With the StandBy functionality, they turn the iPhone into a pseudo-smart home center every time it is connected to power and turns to the left. 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 activated 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 StandBy experience will be limited, as the screen goes black after a few minutes, as it always does. So this really seems like a feature aimed at those who have 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 on, simply open Settings and choose StandBy.
There are other useful features within the feature itself, such as the ability to hide notifications (important ones will still be displayed), turn always-on display on or off, and turn night mode on or off. 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 have your phone plugged in or on a wireless charger and turn it to landscape orientation while on the lock screen. StandBy may take a few seconds to activate, so don't worry if it doesn't turn on immediately.
The default standby screen shows a clock on the left and a calendar on the right. These are actually two widgets: swipe up and down to review them, and modify them if you want.
If you swipe left on the screen, you'll see a full-screen Smart Photo Album. Swiping up and down scrolls through the images. Swipe left again to enter full screen clock mode. Swiping 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 on 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 make widgets optimized for the StandBy view.
On the photo screen, long press to choose what types of photos you want to display, 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 standby mode
If you find that the watch does not display the correct time, please follow these steps:
- Press and hold the watch that appears in standby 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 play music, for example, and you'll see a small animated waveform icon at the top of your StandBy screen. Tapping this opens a music view that lets you control playback.
Siri is also a big part of the StandBy experience. With iOS 17 you no longer have to say "Hey"... now it's just "Siri"... and the voice recognition model is much smarter. If your iPhone is in standby mode, there are new information screens for common Siri responses, such as weather, calendar events, reminders, etc.
It seems clear that StandBy is laying the groundwork for a future Apple product that integrates the HomePod with a display, either built-in or docking your iPhone or iPad. Even if that doesn't arrive, 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 is very simple, simply follow these steps:
- First click on the Settings icon on your phone.
- Tap General, then tap Software Update. This should show you any available updates your phone has.
- If the update doesn't install, it could be because your phone doesn't 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 make space, such as emptying your recently deleted images folder.
iOS 17 Standby beyond the nightstand
If you use an iPhone with an always-on display, the StandBy display will stay on. If you have any other iPhone, you'll have to tap it to wake up the screen, which seems strange given that StandBy only works when the phone is connected to power. And when the room is dark, StandBy detects this and turns the screen red so it's not annoying.
Separately, Apple has also developed DockKit, a set of tools that allows developers to create motorized mounts for the iPhone. This is intended for use while taking photos and videos, but it's easy to see how it could also work for StandBy.
Located on a motorized stand, your phone could also follow you around the room so it's always in front of us. Or it might come back to you only when you receive a FaceTime call. We could do a lot with StandBy, or even imagine that on a HomePod with a screen. It's a watch and a music player, it can show you the camera feed from your front door, track your pizza delivery, and make FaceTime calls while following you around the room...
