Apple is engaged on a brand new function in iOS 17 that turns the iPhone’s display screen into a sensible home-style show, in response to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. As famous by Gurman, the interface will present issues just like the climate, calendar appointments, and notifications when the cellphone is locked and tilted horizontally.

It is going to present these widgets on a darkish background with vivid textual content, Gurman notes, and expands on the lock display screen widgets that Apple revealed with iOS 16. This might turn out to be useful when you’ve got your iPhone set atop your desk or in your nightstand and wish to sustain with any notifications or upcoming appointments.

Google already has an analogous function for its Pixel gadgets once they’re used with the Pixel Stand. Whenever you place your Pixel on the stand, you may entry varied settings or select to show a slideshow of photographs from Google Photographs whereas the gadget is charging. The Pixel additionally comes with Google’s At a Look widget that reveals the date, calendar appointments, air high quality alerts, and different useful notifications from the house and lock display screen.

Moreover, Gurman says that Apple’s working to convey this function to its iPad as nicely and is engaged on a magnetic mount that you need to use with the gadget. This could assist the iPad higher compete with the Google Pixel Pill, which comes with a speaker doc that additionally costs the gadget. Just like the stand, you may configure the pill’s show to indicate an array of sensible dwelling controls as soon as it’s mounted on the dock or have it operate as a digital picture body.

Apple is predicted to disclose the function alongside iOS 17 at its Worldwide Builders Convention subsequent month. Different rumored options coming to the OS embrace a journaling app that encourages you to log your ideas all through the day in addition to an replace to the Pockets app.