iPhone tips: 6 useful features in iOS 17 to try during your next foreign vacation

iPhone 15 or any iPhone user with iOS 17 software should know about a few little-known features that can make planning vacations easy, especially if flying to foreign destinations is on cards. Whether you are looking to click a passport photo to apply for a visa, planning a travel itinerary or sharing photos, iOS 17 has several ‘travel-friendly’ features that can make life easy.

Planning a vacation requires travel bookings, stays, packing, itinerary, and much more to make your trip memorable. Here are 6 new features in iOS 17 to try during your next foreign vacation.

Planning for visa- how to take a passport photo with iPhone

If you need to click a passport photo quickly for an online visa application or even get prints from a studio, you can use your iPhone with iOS 17 to take a passport photo with white background at home
 

• Tell your friend or family member to take your photo on iPhone in good lighting, ensure nothing is covering your face, and your phone is set to Light Mode.
• Tap and hold on the subject of your image to lift it from the background, then tap “Copy” and paste the image into a new note in the Notes app. Make sure dark mode is turned off with your white background. If you use dark mode then the Notes app will show a black background.
• In the Notes app, take a screenshot of the note, and open it in Photos. Tap “Edit,“ and “Crop.“
• Select the rectangular icon in the top right, and select your aspect ratio. From there you can shift the shot around to make sure you’re fully in frame.
• Tap “Done“ and your new ID photo is ready for upload!

Use Reminders app to create a reusable packing list for vacations

For every trip, the list of things to pack almost remains the same. So, creating a reusable packing list template on iPhone makes sense so that you can simply tick items while packing before every new trip. You can use the Reminders app for the same.
 

• Create or select an existing list in the Reminders app.
• Tap the three dots in the top right, then select “Save as Template.
• “Rename” the template and hit “Save”

After it’s saved, tap the overlapping squares icon to access your Templates and select the template you want to use, rename it, then hit “Create.“ Now open the new list and modify as needed.

To add a location to your Reminder tap the Location button to assign a notification based on where you are. Select one of the options provided, or tap Custom to add your own location, choose whether you want to be notified when arriving or leaving, and set the perimeter of your reminder area. You can set a due date, add a tag or attachment, like a photo.

Plan and make a list of places to see in Apple Maps
 

Before your trip, create and customise a guide in Apple Maps. You can share your guide with your travel companions, and even download Maps on your iPhone to use offline.

To create a guide in Apple Maps, do these:

• Scroll down to the My Guides section, tap “New Guide,” enter a name for your guide, add a photo, and tap “Create.“
• To add a place, tap the plus sign on the bottom right, and type in the location. Tap the plus sign to add it, and hit “Done.“
• To share your guide with friends and followers: tap your picture or initials at the top right of the search card in Maps, then tap “Guides.“ Choose a guide and tap the Share icon at the bottom, centre of the screen.

Download maps in Apple Maps to use offline

With offline maps in iOS 17 and later, you can use Maps for information and navigation even when you don't have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

• To save a detailed map of an area, search for the name of the area to save for offline use.
• Tap “Download.“ Then you can adjust the size of the area on the map to optimise storage.
• Tap “Download“ again to begin your download.