I've been using iOS 27 for 3 months already — these are the 5 best features arriving on your iPhone today

Today's the day when Apple starts rolling out iOS 27 to millions of iPhones around the world — and as I've been using the developer version of the software since it was first pushed out in June, I can tell you about the best features coming your way.

<![CDATA[ <article> <p>Today's the day when Apple starts rolling out <a href="https://www.techradar.com/phones/ios/ios-27s-screen-time-update-looks-impressive-but-it-didnt-wow-me-like-android-17s-pause-point">iOS 27</a> to millions of iPhones around the world — and as I've been using the developer version of the software since it was first pushed out in June, I can tell you about the best features coming your way.</p><p>The good news is that every iPhone that can run iOS 26 <a href="https://www.techradar.com/phones/ios/ios-27-and-siri-ai-compatibility-explained">can also run iOS 27</a>, though some of the more advanced Siri AI features (like the ability to change its pace and 'expressivity') are only available on the newer models with more powerful chipsets.</p><p>You'll get a notification popping up on your phone when iOS 27 is ready for you, but if you're not patient enough for that you can open up Settings on iOS and tap <strong>General > Software Update</strong> to see if there's an update waiting.</p><h2 id="1-reframe-your-photos">1. Reframe your photos</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1339px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.24%;"><img id="iDNKpXoWonzaKNR5fPcXEN" name="WWDC 2026 Spatial Reframing header 3" alt="An iPhone showing Apple's Spatial Reframing feature at WWDC 2026." src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iDNKpXoWonzaKNR5fPcXEN.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1339" height="753" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future / Apple)</span></figcaption></figure><p>iOS 27 arrives with some clever AI-powered photo editing tricks, including one called Reframe. It lets you slightly change the angle of a picture you've taken, with AI adjusting the background to match.</p><p>In Photos, tap on an image to open it, then tap the icon showing three sliders at the bottom. If you then tap <strong>Tools</strong> and <strong>Reframe</strong>, you can touch and drag on the screen to change the perspective (use two fingers to pan and zoom). Tap <strong>Reframe</strong> to confirm.</p><p>The other options on the <strong>Tools</strong> menu can be useful too: <strong>Extend</strong> will use AI to imagine a wider background canvas for you, while <strong>Clean Up</strong> lets you remove specific objects or people from your images.</p><h2 id="2-create-shortcuts-with-natural-language">2. Create Shortcuts with natural language</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2000px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="YZwtG9FbvweWcqMJ9i932V" name="01-shortcuts" alt="iOS 27 shortcuts" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YZwtG9FbvweWcqMJ9i932V.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2000" height="1125" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">Creating shortcuts with natural language </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future)</span></figcaption></figure><p>The Shortcuts app is one of the most powerful tools available in iOS, but as <a href="https://www.techradar.com/phones/ios/exactly-what-ive-been-waiting-for-ios-27-could-let-users-build-shortcuts-with-ai-and-im-glad-apple-is-finally-paying-attention-to-one-of-the-iphones-best-features">we've written about before</a>, it's not all that easy to use. With the new software update, building shortcuts becomes much easier: you can just describe the combinations you want using natural language, which significantly simplifies the process.</p><p>Shortcuts let you set up a myriad of automations and routines on your iPhone: turn text into audio, play a podcast after your morning alarm, tag notes in batches, let people know you're running late, create GIFs from videos, and a whole lot more. Open the <strong>Gallery</strong> tab in the shortcuts app for some inspiration.</p><p>With iOS 27 installed, if you tap the <strong>+</strong> (plus) button on the main <strong>All Shortcuts</strong> screen, you can simply describe what you want your shortcut to do — whether it's attaching screenshots to emails or summarizing your to do list for the day.</p><h2 id="3-choose-a-separate-alarm-volume">3. Choose a separate alarm volume</h2><p>Not a feature that's going to necessarily grab the headlines, but definitely one of the most useful ones that I've come across since I first installed iOS 27: you can now set alarm volumes separately from the main ringtone and system volumes.</p><p>Head into <strong>Sounds & Haptics</strong> from Settings on iOS, turn off the <strong>Match Ringtone Volume</strong> toggle switch under <strong>Alarms and Timers</strong>, and set your preferred alarm volume — a customization that's been long overdue.</p><h2 id="4-adjust-the-liquid-glass-effect">4. Adjust the Liquid Glass effect</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2000px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="sbUQMG98wQx8hMz9ZKK84V" name="02-liquid" alt="iOS 27 Liquid Glass" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sbUQMG98wQx8hMz9ZKK84V.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2000" height="1125" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">Adjusting Liquid Glass in iOS 27 </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future)</span></figcaption></figure><p>The people asked, and Apple listened: you can now take the edge off the Liquid Glass effect if you find it a bit overwhelming in its default state. The available adjustments aren't huge, but you can tone it down (or turn it up) a little.</p><p>From Settings in iOS, tap <strong>Appearance > Liquid Glass</strong>. You get a slider that lets you shift from quite a lot of transparency (on the left) to hardly any transparency (on the right), with the changes previewed for you on the image above.</p><p>Apple has also done some cleaning up of Liquid Glass in iOS 27, so you should notice a few refinements as you start using the new operating system: as per Apple, Liquid Glass now offers "more uniform refraction and improved contrast", while individual app icons have been made "sharper and more detailed".</p><h2 id="5-siri-ai">5. Siri AI</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1920px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="kw6j3zDt5FbLsepdzgtbRm" name="Siri AI routine" alt="Two iPhones showing Siri AI on-screen. The AI is giving workout advice." src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kw6j3zDt5FbLsepdzgtbRm.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1920" height="1080" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future)</span></figcaption></figure><p>The biggest new feature in iOS 27 is the comprehensive upgrade that Siri's getting. It has a new name (the same as the old name, with "AI" on the end), plus vastly better underlying models (<a href="https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/this-is-how-apple-built-a-siri-thats-profoundly-more-capable-and-yes-it-was-done-with-google-and-nvidias-help">courtesy of Google</a>) that mean it's now on a par with the likes of ChatGPT when it comes to the quality and breadth of answers you get.</p><p>So what's actually new? When it first lands, Siri AI will spend a while indexing everything on your phone, so it can give you more context about what's in your texts, calendars, and emails (none of this data gets sent back to Apple) — and it can take more actions inside apps too, including creating notes, rotating photos, resuming podcasts, and much more.</p><p>You can now give commands like "show me photos from when I went to Spain" with this personal context, and ask questions like "why do stars twinkle in the sky?" without the assistant handing off to ChatGPT. There's also a standalone Siri app for the first time, meaning you can save your chats and sync them across devices.</p><div data-widget-type="multimodelreview" data-widget-title="Today's best phone deals" data-model-name="Apple iPhone 18 Pro,Google Pixel 11 Pro,Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra"></div> </article> ]]>