Apple's announcement of iOS 27 did not seem particularly noteworthy. It just gave me flashbacks to 2024, when the company went all in on Apple Intelligence, which turned into nothing but empty promises. After installing the developer beta and testing out all the features for a day, I think that it is a genuinely impressive update that we have seen in years. But out of everything available, here are my picks for the best iOS 27 features that will change the way I use my iPhone.
Siri AI with Screen Context Awareness
For years, Siri has been the punchline of every AI conversation, but iOS 27 changes that. The new Siri AI is conversational, remembers context from previous questions, and has on-screen awareness, meaning it can read what is on the display and act on it without any explanation. Ask it to reply to a message you are looking at, summarise an email, or pull up something from Notes, and it just does it.
I recently gained access to the new Siri, along with the Siri app on my iPhone Air, and it already looks miles better than what we had. It's more responsive and conversational in answers, and said answers are also accurate and relevant to what I am looking for. It still fumbles from time to time, but if Apple fixes that in the upcoming updates, Siri looks like it'll be an essential part of how I'd use my iPhone.
Describe a Shortcut
The Shortcuts app has always been one of those iPhone features I wanted to use but never actually did. Building automations manually always felt like it required more effort than the payoff was worth. iOS 27 fixes that with Describe a Shortcut, and it is exactly what it sounds like.
I can just type out what I want the shortcut to do and let AI figure out how to build it. This is genuinely one of the best iOS 27 features, since it makes shortcuts easy and I have no excuse to use it anymore. For someone who has always left Shortcuts untouched, this changes things entirely.
Image Playground Wallpapers
Image Playground has been around since iOS 18, but it always felt limited. The output was cartoonish, and it didn't add much value to my everyday iPhone experience. But that's not the case anymore. Image Playground can do a lot more on iOS 27. It can generate true-to-life photos, create images of people from your photo library and finally, generate wallpapers.
Yes, you can generate wallpapers in Image Playground similar to how you would on Samsung and Nothing phones. I have been playing around with it, and so has my friend on his iPhone 16, and it is really good. I can simply say what I want and describe the style, mood, and colours, and the app generates it on the spot. It is a small thing, but it makes the phone feel a little more personal.
System-Wide Dictation
Another quality-of-life iOS 27 feature is system-wide dictation that is built natively into the keyboard now. It automatically adds punctuation, removes filler words, and formats the output based on context. I have tried it for a very brief period, and to correct my grammatical errors, its suggestions have proved to be accurate so far. I already rely on Grammarly to fix my mistakes when typing, but this could be the replacement I have been looking for.
Siri Mode in the Camera App
I never cared for Visual Intelligence from the moment it was announced in iOS 18. It always felt like a poor imitation of Google Lens with extra steps and low-quality results. I don't want to jump to another app to use it, especially when most Android phones come with Google Lens built inside the camera app.
Apple also decided to go that route by adding the Siri Mode in the Camera app. Having it visible every time I open the camera means I will actually reach for it rather than forgetting it exists. I could simply click a picture and ask Siri about it. The results are a hit or miss, as Siri does mistake some objects. So, it is not there yet, but it is still a few steps closer than it used to be.
Clipboard Suggestions in Keyboard
By far, the thing that I loved and what makes this one of the best iOS 27 features is that things I copied to my iPhone clipboard also appear as a suggestion. So I no longer need to long-press and then tap paste. The keyboard will show the most recent copied item that I can add to my messages. This is one luxury I have enjoyed for years on Gboard, and I am glad it is finally here on iOS.
Performance Improvements
While Apple Intelligence features are the highlight of iOS 27, what's got me excited are the performance improvements. iOS 26 was a buggy mess that made all old iPhones a struggle to use. That is why I skipped the update on my iPhone 13, but that could change with iOS 27.
Apple has put serious work into performance this year with a redesigned CPU scheduler, and the numbers it shared on stage are hard to ignore. Apps launch up to 30% faster, the Photos library loads 70% quicker, and AirDrop transfers are up to 80% faster. These improvements are specifically built to make older hardware feel snappier, and I can't wait to test them out on my old iPhones.
Liquid Glass Transparency Slider
I was one of the people who genuinely liked Liquid Glass when it launched with iOS 26, but I completely understand why some users wanted to turn off Liquid Glass. The readability issues, especially on certain wallpapers, where the interface elements became difficult to make out.
On iOS 27, you can now slide to adjust the Liquid Glass transparency effects. So, it can go to fully transparent or back to the frosted glass look from iOS 18. It will also help to improve performance on previous devices that struggled with the new design language. While this did not bother me, I know for my friends and family, this will standout as the best iOS 27 feature.
Automated Passwords
The Passwords app can now actually flag compromised passwords and fix them for individual websites for you. I just had to approve the action, and iOS will take care of the rest, replacing old passwords and changing them with more secure ones. I have a long list of flagged passwords I have been ignoring for months. This is the feature that might finally get me to deal with them.
Tab Organisation in Safari
A big reason why I use Chrome over Safari is that it has had the ability to group tabs automatically for years now. While my Safari is bloated with tabs that I know are important, I don't want to go through the hassle of cleaning them. That won't be the case anymore, as Safari can now organise tabs into topics with a single tap.
Plus, it can also monitor webpages and notify me when something changes, such as a price drop or a product restock. These two features alone make Safari sound like a lot better browser and something I might want to use. Switching from Chrome would be a difficult decision, but if Apple delivers on its promise, then it would be worth adding Safari as the best iOS 27 feature.
Have You Tried iOS 27 Yet?
In case you want to try out any of the above features, you can install the iOS 27 developer beta 1, if you have an iOS 27 eligible device. However, I should warn you that there are a lot of bugs and issues in this version.
As for the update itself, the features that stand out to me are not the ones that looked impressive in the keynote demo. They are the ones that quietly make the phone easier to live with every day. It is still early, and the rough edges of a developer beta are very much there, but the direction is encouraging. September cannot come soon enough.
