Apple iPhone 15 Plus ( left ) and Apple iPhone 15 Pro MaxAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
Apple has just released the iOS 17.5 update for iPhones , which bring a host of unexampled feature film . For European Union residents , it enables vane Distribution , which intend you’re able to sideload apps from the cyberspace and wo n’t be limited to the App Store .
Another illustrious addition is Repair State , which give up user to keep the Find My tracking system enabled when sending in a gimmick for repairs . For iPhone users across the human beings , the latest update institute an offline modality to the Apple News+ app , tolerate users access to the News+ tab and the Today feed even when they are not link to the internet .
Apple iPhone 15 Plus (left) and Apple iPhone 15 Pro MaxAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
But the most renowned addition is support for Cross - Platform Tracking Detection notice . This important safety gadget feature automatically find if an unknown tracker is traveling with you , nearby .
So far , Apple has only enabled this system for AirTags , follow report of stalkingthat use hidden AirTags . In some scenarios , Apple ’s object tracker was also used for car thieving , among other condemnable behavior .
“ crabby - Platform Tracking Detection delivers notifications to users if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them , regardless of what operating system the twist is paired with , ” allot to the iOS 17.5 going note .
This refuge lineament is part of a collaborative effort between Google and Apple . In 2023 , the two companies released a draft specification on a detection protocol for Bluetooth - based trackers to prevent abusive use .
Dubbed theDetecting Unwanted Location Trackers , the proposals put the Bluetooth protocol at the center for altering users about obscure Bluetooth - free-base devices moving with them . Thanks to the unified attack , iPhones will be able-bodied to observe AirTags as well as trackers from other brands , such as Samsung and Tile , to name a few .
The communications protocol is not limit to Bluetooth - based trackers only . alternatively , it also leave the doors open for GPS - base devices and those rein other media like Wi - Fi and cellular line , among others .
In the wake of far-flung concern , Apple made some tweaks to the alert systemfor AirTags , but it was n’t a fool - proof method . With iOS 17.5 wreak support for a standardized Bluetooth tracker communications protocol , iPhone user no longer have to worry about hidden trackers from an obscure brand .
To download Io 17.5 on your iPhone now , unfold the preferences app , tapGeneral , and then tapSoftware Update . look a couple of second , and the iOS 17.5 update should be there hold off for you .