My 2 iphones keep connecting to each other after ios 17.03 update

That’s not it. When I lay my iPhones next to each other, they both get what appears to be a rain drop if the display were water. Then a black banner appears that shows my contact picture and name with the words “connected” under. The banner remains in my way, covering things on the top of my phones, and I want to turn it off, but idk what this feature is even called.

This seems to be a newly activated feature of Airdrop in the latest iOS. If you go to Settings --> General --> Airdrop --> turn off "bringing devices together", this seems to solve the issue (for me at least).

Hi colinfromwellingborough,

Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you're referring to calls and messages in particular when you say that your iPhones are connecting. In that case, it may be your iMessage settings. Do you use the same phone number for any settings on both iPhones? You might try disabling iMessage on one of your iPhones. Otherwise, iMessages will be delivered on both. Check out the following from Add or remove your phone number in Messages or FaceTime - Apple Support.

"Set up your phone number

On your iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > Messages and make sure that iMessage is on. You might need to wait a moment for it to activate.
2. Tap Send & Receive. If you see "Use your Apple ID for iMessage," tap it and sign in with the same Apple ID that you use on your Mac, iPad, and iPod touch.
3. In the "You can receive iMessages to and Reply From" section, make sure that your phone number and Apple ID are selected.
4. Go to Settings > FaceTime and make sure that your phone number and Apple ID are selected in the "You can be reached by FaceTime at" section.

On your other devices, you can now turn on the phone number that you just set up:

• Turn on your phone number for your Mac
• Turn on your phone number for your iPad or iPod touch"

Take care.

I believe it is the auto connect when two phones (with same Apple ID) are next to each other. Have the same issue. It’s not about sharing calls or imessage. It’s about direct connecting when close to each other. Guess it is a new feature. It reminds me more of hotspot connection.