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Apple spent a big chunk of WWDC 2026 talking about the new Siri AI and how Apple Intelligence is set to transform the iPhone experience with iOS 27. The company is (once again) betting heavily on AI, promising a much smarter Siri that can interact with apps and surface information buried deep inside your phone — something that the company believes will become one of the biggest reasons to upgrade to iOS 27.
The thing is, I've been using the iOS 27 beta for the past couple of days, and like many other users, I'm still stuck on the Siri AI waitlist. So while Apple wants Siri to be the star of the show, I haven't actually been able to use most of its new capabilities yet.
What I have been able to use, however, are dozens of smaller changes scattered throughout iOS 27. And after spending some time with the update, I'd argue many of these features are more exciting than Siri AI. Here are some of the small and hidden iOS 27 features that have impressed me the most so far.
Save images from videos directly
Raise your hand if you've ever recorded a video and then wanted to pull out a single frame as a photo. Until now, the usual workaround was taking a screenshot, cropping it, and then sharing it wherever you needed.
Thankfully, iOS 27 makes this much easier. While playing a video, you can tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and select Save Video Frame as Photo. iOS will then extract that frame and save it directly to your photo library as a standalone image in full resolution.
More control over iCloud Photos syncing
Not all of us buy iPhones with huge amounts of storage, which is why iCloud ends up being pretty important. One of the long-standing annoyances, though, is that iCloud Photos typically waits until your phone is connected to Wi-Fi and charging before it starts backing everything up.
With iOS 27, Apple is finally giving users more control. You'll now be able to force an immediate sync of your photo library to iCloud. So, for example, if you're traveling and taking lots of photos, you might want those images uploaded immediately in case your phone gets lost or stolen, or accidentally gets dropped in the pool.
And the best part is that you can enable the feature temporarily for a single day, and after that, iOS automatically reverts back to the normal syncing behavior.
View only photos taken with your iPhone
This is something iPhone users have been asking for years, and Apple is finally doing something about it in iOS 27.
Until now, the Photos app has always lumped all images in your library together, whether they came from WhatsApp, Telegram, screenshots, or others. While Apple already separates things like videos and screenshots, there was never an easy way to see only the photos you had actually taken yourself.
With iOS 27, that's finally changing. Apple has added a new section that lets you view only the photos captured using your iPhone's camera. To find it, head to the Collections tab, then Utilities, and finally Captured by Me.
Independent alarm volume controls
Android has had this for years, but Apple is finally bringing independent volume controls to the iPhone with iOS 27.
Until now, alarm volume was tied directly to your ringtone volume, which meant lowering one also affected the other. With iOS 27, you can finally set separate volume levels for alarms, ringtones, timers, and other system sounds. That means you can keep your ringtone volume relatively low while cranking up the alarm volume, or vice versa.
The Clock app now understands holidays
One small (yet useful) feature Apple added to the Clock app in iOS 27 is the ability to detect your days off. The feature uses your calendar and regional holidays to understand when you might not actually need to wake up early.
For example, if you have an alarm set for a weekday morning but the next day happens to be a public holiday, iOS can proactively ask whether you'd like to skip that alarm.
Share a phone number between two iPhones
Another interesting addition in iOS 27 is the ability to use the same phone number across two different iPhones. This should somewhat work like how an Apple Watch with cellular shares your iPhone number. Apple says you'll be able to use a single number across multiple iPhones, making it easier to switch between devices without juggling separate SIMs.
There are still a few unknowns here. It appears to be carrier-dependent, and it isn't known if there will be any additional fees involved. But if you're someone who regularly uses two iPhones at the same time, this could end up being surprisingly useful.
Voice typing is much smarter on iOS 27
Apple is also bringing a much better voice typing to the iPhone with iOS 27. Using on-device AI, the feature can better understand context, recognize complex words, and automatically remove filler words like 'umm' and 'ahh' from your speech, similar to tools like Wispr Flow.
It is worth noting, though, that the feature requires Apple's newer on-device Siri models and is currently limited to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air.
If you own a supported iPhone, you can enable this by going to Settings > General > Keyboard, then turning on Advanced Dictation Preview.
Paste copied content faster
Another small feature I noticed in iOS 27 is that the keyboard can now surface copied text and even screenshots directly in the suggestion bar. When you copy something and switch to another app, you'll see that content appear above the keyboard for quick pasting.
Previously, this mostly worked for one-time passcodes and links, but Apple is now expanding it much more broadly.
Show more wallpaper on your Lock Screen
If you're like me and prefer seeing more of your wallpaper and less clock, iOS 27 now lets you use a smaller Lock Screen clock with the date and time displayed in a single row at the top.
It's a small change, but it helps show off more of your wallpaper. Apple has also finally made playback controls dismissible on the Lock Screen. You can now swipe them away, just like notifications, which is especially useful when streaming content from an Apple TV.
Connectivity Assist
If your Wi-Fi connection is weak or inconsistent, iOS 27 can now automatically use cellular data alongside Wi-Fi to keep things running smoothly. Apple calls this Connectivity Assist. The feature can help maintain faster and more reliable speeds, although it may increase mobile data usage. In my case, it used around 300MB in just 48 hours.
You can enable it by heading to Settings > Wi-Fi > Connectivity Assist.
Add your own passes to Apple Wallet
Apple is finally bringing one of the most requested features to the Wallet app with iOS 27: the ability to create custom passes.
The feature lets you manually add things like event tickets, memberships, and other passes directly to Apple Wallet. For example, if you have a physical ticket but no digital version, you can simply scan it with your iPhone and create a Wallet pass from it.
When creating a pass, Apple gives you a few templates to choose from, including membership and event passes. You can then customize details such as the pass name, location, admission type, membership number, and even the background design.
AirPods Pro 3 gains GymKit support
Finally, one of the most underrated additions in iOS 27, at least in my opinion, is that Apple is expanding GymKit support to the AirPods Pro 3. This means you'll now be able to connect not just your Apple Watch, but also your AirPods directly to supported gym equipment for the first time.
AirPods Pro 3 can already track your heart rate, and with this feature, just as you would tap your Apple Watch against a reader to pair it, you'll now be able to pair your earbuds with compatible cardio equipment, treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes, to keep track of metrics like pace, heart rate, and more.
Bottom line
Having spent a few days with the beta, it's becoming pretty clear that iOS 27 is much more than a Siri AI update.
In fact, in addition to the features mentioned above, Apple says iOS 27 also focuses heavily on the fundamentals. The company claims things like app launches, AirDrop transfers, and general system responsiveness have all been improved.
We'll have to wait and see whether Siri AI lives up to Apple's promises. But even if it doesn't, iOS 27 already feels like a surprisingly substantial update.
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