iOS 17 May Turn Your iPhone's Lock Screen Into A Smart Display

Apple is yet to enter the smart display segment. The big products in this arena, Google's Nest Hub and Amazon's Echo Show, have a screen mounted atop a smart speaker to show basic information like upcoming calendar entries, time, date, and a photo stream from your gallery. It looks like Apple still wants to provide this data, but right on your iPhone's lock screen.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is developing a new iOS 17 feature that turns the iPhone's lock screen into a smart display. Set against a dark background with bright color tones for the text elements, the smart display mode picks up elements from the iOS 16 lock screen customization controls that already serve essential items like time, weather, and a few app tickers, among others.

iOS 17's smart display view on the lock screen will only launch when the device is flat or in landscape orientation. Apple will likely rely on the proximity and gyro sensor to dictate when the mode kicks into action. However, Apple's upcoming lock screen wizardry isn't the first software trick of its kind.

Amazon's Fire series of budget Android tablets come with a Show mode that can be enabled with a single toggle. When turned on, it shows weather, news highlights, Alexa responses, Amazon Prime Videos, and the controls for all your connected smart home devices. 

While Apple's planned iOS 17 feature sounds convenient, it could do double duty by putting Siri on the lock screen. Siri has been a relative laggard when it comes to Google Assistant or Alexa regarding the cadence of feature development. Plus, the arrival of generative AI doesn't help its cause in the foreseeable future. A more meaningful integration on the lock screen could boost its appeal. 

The fresh rumor is aligned with older reports claiming that Apple is planning a smart display that is essentially an iPad attached to a HomePod speaker base. Apple is also expected to introduce a new journaling app with iOS 17, alongside improvements to the control center and some functional boosts to the Dynamic Island. Apple is said to be cooking up more lock screen customization options in iOS 17 alongside deep AR / VR integration ahead of its eagerly-awaited headset launch.