Top iOS 27 Features Every iPhone User Should Know

While Apple’s AI-powered Siri and Apple Intelligence updates dominated the spotlight at WWDC earlier this month, iOS 27 also introduces a wide range of improvements across Apple’s everyday apps and services. The update includes smarter bill splitting in Apple Wallet, expanded location-sharing options in Find My, refreshed Apple Maps features, and several other enhancements.

Apple Maps

Apple has upgraded the Flyover feature, which offers immersive 3D views of cities and landmarks. The refreshed experience delivers more detailed visuals and smoother navigation.

The company has also introduced Local Lists, a new feature that lets users discover and save recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other places by viewing what’s currently trending. The addition could encourage more users to rely on Apple Maps instead of third-party services such as Google Maps, Instagram, or TikTok for local recommendations.

Find My

Find My is receiving more flexible location-sharing controls. Starting this fall, users will be able to share their location for a custom duration, ranging from a few minutes to several days or until a specific date and time.

Apple is also introducing the ability to temporarily pause location sharing with selected contacts until the end of the day, making it easier to keep plans such as surprise celebrations private.

Apple Wallet

Apple Wallet is gaining several notable upgrades. One of the headline features allows users to scan paper receipts with their iPhone camera and automatically split bills using Apple Cash. Powered by Apple Intelligence, the feature can identify individual items, calculate each person’s share of taxes and tips, and send repayment requests through Messages or Wallet.

Wallet will also support digitising physical membership and loyalty cards. Users can scan a barcode or digital card and save it directly to Wallet. The feature is also coming to Apple Watch, where passes can be pinned to the Smart Stack for quicker access.

For travellers, Apple is expanding hotel key capabilities. Guests at participating hotels and resorts will not only be able to unlock rooms using their iPhone or Apple Watch but also access trip details, activity schedules, hotel services, and live updates directly from Wallet.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is receiving a redesigned checkout experience across apps and websites. Users will be able to switch between payment cards more easily while viewing rewards balances, debit account balances, and available pay-later options. Later this year, eligible users will also be able to add funds directly to supported debit cards through Wallet or during Apple Pay checkout.

Apple is also expanding Tap to Pay on iPhone with a new feature called Tap to Share. The feature allows customers to securely share loyalty accounts, shipping addresses, and contact information with participating merchants using a simple tap.

Apple Music

Apple Music is expanding Lyrics Translation to include seven additional language pairings, offering English translations for songs in French, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. Lyrics Pronunciation is also being enhanced to help users sing along by displaying phonetically translated lyrics across five new language pairings.

AutoMix, which creates seamless transitions between songs, is receiving more advanced mixing capabilities and is expanding beyond iPhone to Apple TV and HomePod. Apple Music subscribers will also gain access to Hi-Res Lossless Audio on Apple TV 4K for studio-quality playback on compatible audio systems.

Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts is introducing a new “Search within show” feature, allowing users to search for individual podcast episodes across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, and the web. Apple is also bringing support for video podcasts to Mac and Apple TV as video-first podcasting continues to grow.

iCloud Shared Albums

Apple is enhancing Shared Albums with full-resolution photo sharing, support for more file types, emoji reactions, improved activity feeds, and album-specific activity views. New temporary albums are also being introduced for short-term projects and events, enabling groups to collaborate without permanently using iCloud storage.

People who do not own Apple devices will also be able to contribute photos through the web.

Fitness+

Fitness+ is introducing Strong Through Menopause, a three-week programme featuring guided Yoga and Strength workouts designed to support people experiencing perimenopause and menopause by improving strength, balance, mobility, and stress management. Apple is also adding a new Time to Walk episode featuring actor Busy Philipps, who shares personal experiences with perimenopause.

All of these features are now available to developers through the Apple Developer Program, while a public beta of iOS 27 is expected to be released next month.