iOS 17.6 offers one final feature before iOS 18 rolls in — sports streaming ‘Catch Up’

(Image credit: Apple (Edited))

While all the eyes may be turning to iOS 18 and its big Apple Intelligence feature release, there’s still some life — and cool new tricks — left in the iOS 17 software generation.

Apple’s just revealed iOS 17.6, pushing the update out to all iPhone users to safely download without the niggling fear of bugs that the accompanying iOS 18.1 dev build release comes with.

Releases like iOS 17.6 usually focus on bug fixes and security needs, and iOS 17.6 is no different in that respect. But it still had space for a late-in-the-day feature addition for iOS 17, in the shape of ‘Catch Up’, which should excite Apple’s sports streamers.

Keeping up with the action

If you’re streaming a sports game through the Apple TV app following the iOS 17.6 update, and happen to miss some of the action you’ll now be able to access a ‘Catch Up’ feature. This collates highlights from the game so far, are offered at the start of an in-progress stream, and can be accessed at any time if you pull up the video controls.

Messi Inter Miami — (Image credit: Inter Miami)

The catch to Catch Up? It’s currently limited to Apple’s Major League Soccer season pass streams. But the assumption is that it’ll spread to Apple’s other sporting ventures eventually too.

Regardless of whether or not you want to relive Messi’s best MLS moves again and again via Catch Up, you should be nabbing the iOS 17.6 update just for its security-bolstering aspects. Download iOS 17.6 by tapping through Settings > General > Software Update.

As for iOS 18? While the full Apple Intelligence experience in the public release of iOS 18 is now expected to be delayed beyond the launch of iPhone 16 in September, you can get a taste of Apple’s big AI push in the also-just-launched iOS 18.1 developer beta release.

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Gerald Lynch is the Editor-in-Chief of iMore, keeping careful watch over the site's editorial output and commercial campaigns, ensuring iMore delivers the in-depth, accurate and timely Apple content its readership deservedly expects. You'll never see him without his iPad Pro, and he loves gaming sessions with his buddies via Apple Arcade on his iPhone 15 Pro, but don't expect him to play with you at home unless your Apple TV is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system.

Living in London in the UK, Gerald was previously Editor of Gizmodo UK, and Executive Editor of TechRadar, and has covered international trade shows including Apple's WWDC, MWC, CES and IFA. If it has an acronym and an app, he's probably been there, on the front lines reporting on the latest tech innovations. Gerald is also a contributing tech pundit for BBC Radio and has written for various other publications, including T3 magazine, GamesRadar, Space.com, Real Homes, MacFormat, music bible DIY, Tech Digest, TopTenReviews, Mirror.co.uk, Brandish, Kotaku, Shiny Shiny and Lifehacker. Gerald is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press, and also holds a Guinness world record on Tetris. For real.