The iPhone 17, iOS 26, and even the new AirPods Pro 3, are packed with valuable features and tools, but it can be hard to know which ones are worth your time and where to find them.
I review phones for a living and have been using the iPhone 17 Pro for over two months. As I've tested the new Apple phone and accessories, I've amassed my share of hidden tips and tricks to quell my friends, family members (and strangers) who ask me, "What's a good iPhone feature that I should try?" Or "how do you do that thing with your AirPods that I saw on TikTok?"
These tips may not be new to everyone or exclusive to the iPhone 17 line (most require iOS 26), but they're the less obvious ones that I use the most.
1. Photos app Wallpaper Suggestions
Your iPhone's lock screen has been more customizable since iOS 16. Apple
Over the years, Apple has given the lock screen and home screen a major visual overhaul. There are endless options to customize the look of your apps, the lock screen clock, and add trippy spatial effects to bring your wallpaper to life.
However, one of my favorite recent discoveries is Wallpaper Suggestions in the Photos app, which selects wallpaper-worthy photos from your library and crops them to fit your screen. There is even a 3D animation effect that can be added to really give your wallpaper some pizzazz. Above is a photo of my phone with a wallpaper of one of my cats (from the Suggestions), for example. It delights me to no end that it looks like her head is popping up from the corner of the screen as if to say, "Are you unlocking your phone?!"
If you don't see Wallpaper Suggestion in the Photos app, go to Settings, then to Photos, and check that Show Featured Content is enabled. Subsequently, if you don't want to see Wallpaper Suggestions, you can turn them off here. But why would you?
2. Use raw photos to make the moon pop
Here are three photos of the moon taken within seconds of each other. The left and center photos are JPEGs, with the left one exposed for the moon and the center one exposed for the buildings. The photo on the right was taken as a raw image and edited later to balance the exposure for both. Patrick Holland/CNET
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