10 iOS 17 features you should disable
Miscellaneous / / October 04, 2023
The new firmware has features that are annoying or not suitable for everyone.
1. Distance to screen
iOS 17 introduces a new eye protection feature that uses the True Depth camera to track distance from the screen to the eyes and blocks the image if within 3 minutes the distance is less than 30 cm. As planned, this should help prevent myopia, but in fact it only irritates everyone who wears glasses or simply has poor eyesight.
Fixing the situation is very simple: open “Settings” → “Screen Time” and turn off the “Screen distance” toggle switch.
2. NameDrop
In the new iOS, it has become easier to share information via AirDrop - just bring two iPhone, and you can send contacts and other content. This is convenient, but may cause false alarms in crowded areas, so you may want to disable this feature.
To do this, go to “Settings” → “General” → AirDrop and deactivate the “Device proximity” switch.
3. Password reset
Another thing that's made easier in iOS 17 is resetting a forgotten passcode. If less than three days have passed since the password was changed, it can be canceled using the previous password. However, this carries a risk in a situation where someone recognizes your old combination. Considering that the password code can be reset and
in other ways, it is better to disable this function for security reasons.In system settings, find the “Face (Touch) ID and passcode” section, then click “Revoke old passcode” and confirm the action.
4. Protection from obscene content
This function is designed to protect against inappropriate photos and videos, which iOS will hide with a blurry bar when recognizing nudity in them. However, the content can still be seen by clicking "View". Therefore, such protection is useless even for childrenwho will be interested in hidden information at least out of curiosity.
To disable the function, go to “Settings” → “Privacy and Security” → “Warning for obscene or inappropriate content” and deactivate the toggle switch of the same name.
5. Notifications when screen sharing
Another feature that could potentially compromise your privacy is the display of notifications when you share your screen during video calls. To avoid accidentally exposing yourself to your colleagues or superiors, it is better to disable iOS from displaying notifications at such moments.
Open “Settings” → “Notifications” → “Screen Sharing” and turn off the “Allow notifications” toggle switch.
6. Show notifications in Standby mode
The situation is similar with notifications in the appeared mode information panels. If you use it, for example, at your workplace, nearby colleagues may accidentally see personal messages and other things not intended for prying eyes.
To disable it, just go to “Settings” → “Waiting” and deactivate the “Show notifications” toggle switch.
7. Show contact poster
The new full-screen cards feature displays your photo and name by default to other iOS 17 users who are in their contacts list. As a rule, everyone has a lot of strangers in their phone book with whom you most likely do not want to share your data.
To fix this, open the Phone app, on the Contacts tab, tap My Card → Contact Photos and Poster, and turn off Show name and photo.
8. Crossfade songs
When listening to tracks from Apple Music or your own library, the player in iOS 17 can smoothly reduce volume at the end of the current song and simultaneously start the next one, “mixing” them in this way and avoiding pauses. For electronic and dance music, this looks quite appropriate, but if the playlist contains tracks from different genres, then this will only be annoying.
To disable iOS such DJ things, launch “Settings” and in the “Music” section turn off the “Crossfade” toggle.
9. Chamber level
To improve the quality of pictures, iOS 17 introduced a level function that helps you avoid blocking the horizon. In fact, it is unnecessary - after all, the grid already allows you to correctly orient the frame. If the level line only distracts you, then it’s easy to turn it off.
Go to “Settings” → “Camera” and deactivate the desired switch.
10. Menu in Messages
The standard messenger has been greatly improved in recent years, and in iOS 17 it has acquired many additional features such as custom ones stickers, “Connected” functions and others. All this overloads the menu. But unnecessary items are easy to remove.
To do this, open any chat, click on the plus sign and drag unused functions down to the “More” section. In the same way, you can add new items or change their order.
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