Every new iOS 27 feature worth knowing about

While Apple’s new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence announcements dominated WWDC earlier this month, the tech giant also packed iOS 27 with a number of upgrades to its everyday apps and services, including smarter account separation in Apple Wallet, new ways to share locations in Find My, and improved Apple Maps features.

Apple Maps

Apple introduced an improvement to ‘Flyover’, the feature that provides an immersive 3D view of cities and landmarks. The feature has been revamped with more detailed graphics and smoother navigation.

The company also launched “Local Lists,” a new way for users to discover and save recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other places on Maps by seeing what’s trending. This could be Apple’s way to lure users away from using third-party apps for local exploration, such as Google Maps or even Instagram and TikTok.

Find My

Find My gets more flexible with new location sharing controls. Starting this fall, users will be able to share their location for a custom amount of time, whether that’s a few minutes, several hours, several days, or until a specific date and time.

Apple is also adding the ability to temporarily pause location sharing with individual contacts until the end of the day. The changes are designed for various situations, such as keeping a surprise birthday party under wraps.

Apple Wallet

Apple Wallet is getting a major boost. One of the stand-alone additions allows users to scan receipts using their iPhone’s camera and automatically split bills with friends using Apple Cash. Powered by Apple Intelligence, the feature can recognize individual items on a receipt, calculate each person’s tax and tip share, and facilitate repayment directly through Messages or Wallet.

Wallet also gains support for digitizing physical membership and loyalty cards. Users can simply point their iPhone camera at a barcode or scan a digital card to store it directly in Wallet. Support extends to the Apple Watch, so passes can even be pinned to the Apple Watch Smart Stack for faster retrieval.

Travelers will benefit from a refreshed core hotel experience. In addition to unlocking rooms and amenities with an iPhone or Apple Watch, guests staying at participating hotels and resorts will be able to access travel details, activity schedules, service information and real-time updates directly in the Wallet.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is getting a redesigned online and in-app checkout experience. Users will be able to more easily switch between payment cards while viewing information such as rewards balances, debit account balances and available pay later options. Later this year, Apple says users will also be able to add money directly to eligible debit cards through Wallet or when completing an Apple Pay payment.

For merchants, Apple is expanding Tap to Pay on iPhone with a new feature called Tap to Share. Customers can connect directly with participating merchants using a simple tap to securely share information such as loyalty accounts, shipping addresses and contact information.

Apple Music

Apple Music is expanding its Translate Lyrics feature to support seven additional language pairs, including English translations for songs in French, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. “Lyrics Pronunciation” will now help users sing songs in languages ​​they may not speak by displaying phonetically translated lyrics in five new language pairs.

AutoMix, which automatically creates smoother transitions between songs, is enhanced with more immersive mixes and extends beyond iPhone to Apple TV and HomePod. Apple Music subscribers also get access to Hi-Res lossless audio on Apple TV 4K, allowing users with compatible audio systems to enjoy studio-quality audio through tvOS.

Apple Podcasts

Podcast listeners are getting some welcome upgrades. A new “in-show search” feature allows users to directly search the episodes of a specific podcast on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro and the web. Apple is also bringing video podcasts to both Mac and Apple TV, reflecting the growing popularity of video-first podcasting.

iCloud Shared Albums

Apple introduces full-resolution photo sharing, support for additional file types, emoji reactions, improved activity streams, and the ability to view activity by album. Additionally, the new Temporary Albums are designed for short-term projects and events, allowing teams to collaborate without permanently taking up iCloud storage.

Notably, people without Apple devices will also be able to contribute photos via the web.

Fitness+

Fitness+ is launching “Strong Through Menopause,” a three-week program featuring guided yoga and strength workouts designed to help menopausal and menopausal people gain strength, improve mobility and balance, and manage stress. Apple is also adding a new “Time to Walk” episode with actress Busy Philipps, who shares personal stories about her experiences with menopause.

All of these features are available for developers to test right now through the Apple Developer Program, with a public beta coming next month.