The view will appear when an iPhone is locked and positioned horizontally, operating similarly to dedicated displays offered by Alphabet’s Google and Amazon, according to people familiar with the project. The idea is to make iPhones more useful when they are, for example, lying on a person’s desk.
The move is part of a broader push to embed live information in more parts of the company’s software an approach that also includes the Apple Watch‘s interface. The new view is one of several changes planned for iOS 17, codenamed ‘dawn’, which will be released later in 2023. Apple plans to unveil the software alongside its mixed-reality headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on its plans for iOS 17.
The new iPhone interface will be similar to one that came to the Android OS in a more basic form in 2019. Amazon also has long offered such an option on its tablets, allowing them to go into a mode that resembles the interface of its Echo Show smart-home devices.
The Apple feature will use a dark background with bright text to make it easier to read, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the work isn’t yet public. It will build on the company’s launch of lock screen widgets last year as part of iOS 16.
Apple is exploring other ways to turn its devices into smart-home displays. That includes developing a low-cost tablet device that can magnetically attach to walls and stands.
