iOS 27 Arrives With a Long List of Non-AI Features Beyond Siri
Apple released iOS 27 this week with Siri AI and Apple Intelligence as the headline additions, but the update also brings full-resolution iCloud Shared Albums, independent alarm volume, extra-large Home Screen widgets, a rebuilt Apple Pay checkout, a new Find My design and CarPlay audio scrubbing.
In the Music app, Apple has updated AutoMix with new transitions. The 9to5Mac writer who compiled the list said the first version of AutoMix, introduced in iOS 26, was already a favorite and described the iOS 27 transitions as noticeably better and more immersive.
Photos has two entries on the list. iCloud Shared Albums now share at full resolution, an upgrade the writer said makes it considerably easier to send photos and videos to other people without giving up image quality. Separately, users can now save a specific frame from a video as a photo, removing the need to take a screenshot of a video to keep a single frame as a separate image.
In the Clock app, alarms can now be given their own volume. The option sits in the Settings app under Sounds & Haptics, which means an alarm or timer no longer has to match the ringtone volume.
Home Screen widgets gain an extra-large size, and Apple has added full-screen widgets for apps including Music, Photos, Weather and Calendar. On the Lock Screen, users can swipe away the Now Playing widget, and the clock can be moved into the top widget row so that it no longer covers the wallpaper.
The Apple Pay checkout flow has been substantially overhauled, with the 9to5Mac writer saying it is now much easier to switch between payment cards. Landscape support has been extended to more apps, among them Music, Reminders and Weather, a change the writer welcomed as someone who keeps an iPhone docked on a desk.
Find My has a new design and more flexible sharing options. The writer singled out the new layout for showing more specific location information without requiring a tap on an individual person.
Two smaller conveniences round out the list. When something is copied to the clipboard, iOS 27 shows a built-in paste shortcut above the keyboard the next time a text field is opened, speeding up the movement of text, links and photos between apps. In CarPlay, an audio scrubber now allows skipping to different parts of a song or podcast directly on the car's display.
Siri AI and Apple Intelligence remain the central selling points of the release, and 9to5Mac framed its list as the writer's personal favorites among the non-AI features rather than a complete changelog of the update. The piece closed by asking readers which non-AI features they preferred in iOS 27.