Turn your iPhone into a smart display

How to customize StandBy mode in iOS 17.

Author

Leander Kahney
October 06, 2023

StandBy is a standout genius feature of iOS 17.

It turns your idle iPhone into a customizable smart display while it’s charging.

It’s designed primarily for the bedroom, turning your iPhone into a bedside clock while you charge overnight. But it also can be used to make your iPhone into a digital photo frame, a music control center, a news ticker, or a bunch of other things.

Even better, you can customize StandBy mode for different locations around your house — it remembers your preferences in various rooms. So in the bedroom, it can act like a clock, but in the kitchen, it can serve as a HomePod music console.

There are tons of possibilities. Here’s how to get the most out of StandBy.

Also in today’s newsletter:

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

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One more thing ...

❝

To build a great company, you need more than a great product. You have to pay attention to all the different areas and be as aggressive with them as with your product. Otherwise, you'll spend half your time fixing things that break.

— Steve Jobs, 1989.

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