iOS 17.2: Update bringing host of new changes including Journal app and iPhone 15 Pro features

New software adds an array of features that have been expected for months – and some that had not been expected at all

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Apple is preparing a new update that will bring a host of new features to the iPhone.

Some of the tools were announced in June, when Apple first showed off its major iOS 17 update, such as the long-awaited Journal app. That uses machine learning to understand what people have done in a day, and encourages them to write about their activities to remember them.

Some are unexpected. That includes new updates to the iPhone 15 Pro’s action button: now, users can press the button to bring up a translate option, which shows a window and lets people speak text to have it appear in another language.

The action button was introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro last month, as a replacement for the mute switch that can be mapped to any activity. Apple did not say then that it was planning to introduce new actions for that button.

The new update also lets people add stickers as reactions on messages, collaborate on Apple Music playlists, redesigns the Apple TV app and some widgets, and more.

iOS 17.2 was released as a developer beta update this week. It will likely make its way to everyone’s phones in November or December, though it will be possible to get it earlier by signing up to Apple’s public beta channel.

Those on the public updates received their own update this week, in the form iOS 17.1. But the changes introduced with that update are more limited, such as new settings for the StandBy mode that shows when a phone is placed on its side and an AirDrop feature that lets transfers continue over the internet when devices are separated.