Apple to Focus on a Revamped Control Center With Upcoming iOS 17 Software Update: Report

Apple's iOS 17 announcement, which is expected at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 (WWDC 2023), is gradually turning out to be a big one indeed. An earlier report shed light on how iOS 17 is expected to bring performance improvements along with support for much-requested features. A more recent update also revealed that some older devices may not receive the update altogether. Now, there's another report that points out that iOS's Control Center is also expected to get some major updates, which should be enough to make it stand out from the rest.

The news comes from MacRumours, which in a report claims to have received information about some big changes coming to iOS's Control Center. The Control Center is available on both iPhone and iPad and is accessed via a swipe down from the top-right corner of the display, giving the user access to important settings in the form of toggles. The source claims that iOS 17 will be focused on performance and stability improvements, but also explained how a revamped Control Center would be one of the more “prominent changes” without getting into the details.

It remains unclear as to what these changes would be. However, it's quite obvious that Control Center has hardly received any attention over the past few years and has remained largely the same in terms of functionality. The feature was first introduced with iOS 7, which was then accessible via a swipe-up from the bottom edge of the display. It remained largely the same in terms of functionality until iOS 10, which is when Apple launched the iPhone 7 series with 3D Touch, a year after it was introduced with iPhone 6s lineup. The hardware feature basically added more layers of functionality to the available Control Center toggles.

iOS 11, which was also available on the iPhone X, introduced a Control Center that could be accessed the way it is today, with a swipe down from the top-right corner of the display, alongside the display notch or the recently introduced Dynamic Island. The feature was more recently added to Macs with the macOS Big Sur software update.

The announcement for the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system is expected to take place at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference 2023. Post the announcement, we should also get details about when the first iOS 17 beta version will be made available to developers.

A previous report hinted that Apple would be adding support for some much-requested features. The same report pointed out that the upcoming software update was earlier intended to be a “tuneup release” that was expected to focus on bug fixes and performance improvements. However, it is now gradually turning out to be a big one as Apple reportedly changed its strategy mid-way. The biggest feature we have heard of so far is that Apple may allow users to install and use alternative app stores on supported devices.

A more recent rumour also pointed out how Apple is expected to drop support for a number of older devices including the iPhone X. However, a fresh report now claims that all devices which were upgraded to iOS 16 will be supported when iOS 17 releases as well. Apple's WWDC 2023 takes place from June 5 to June 9 but will be more of an online event this year, as only limited seats for the in-person event will be made available.