iOS 27 Brings Standalone Siri App as iOS 27.2 Beta Code Reveals Apple Music, CarPlay Ultra Features

The new Siri app appears on the iPhone Home Screen after users update to iOS 27. It is also planned for Mac with macOS 27, Vision Pro with visionOS 27, iPad with iPadOS 27 and Apple Watch with watchOS 27. The app lets users revisit past conversations with Siri and start new ones, with a chat-style interface, and it syncs with iCloud so conversations can continue across Apple devices. Users can also upload photos and files for analysis.

The app ties into the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence capabilities in iOS 27. Those include access to broad world knowledge and personal context from the iPhone, such as messages, emails and photos, as well as the ability to recognize what is on the screen and answer questions about it. The Siri app is available only on devices that support Apple Intelligence, which 9to5Mac said covers the iPhone 15 Pro and newer, including the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 lineups and the iPhone Air.

Apple Notes is also gaining a power-user feature in iOS 27: section links. When a user selects text inside a note and opens the edit menu, tapping “Add Link” reveals a new “Link to Section” option. That menu lists all headings and subheadings in the note. Selecting one creates a link to that section, and users can either use the section title as the link text or enter custom text. The feature is designed to make long notes easier to navigate, and it can be used to build a table of contents at the top of a note or for sections that are revisited often.

In the iOS 27.2 beta, several changes were already available for testing from day one, including a new Health app, user profiles in Apple TV and expansions to Siri AI. Code-level discoveries went further. X user pdfu found that Apple Music will soon add live countdowns for new album releases. Another discovery by pdfu involved the Shortcuts app: its “Describe a Shortcut” feature appears set to gain support for including actions from third-party apps.

Aaron Perris found code references in iOS 27.2 for a CarPlay Ultra “Drive Mode Theme” that changes elements such as gauge style and color and even syncs ambient lighting in the vehicle. CarPlay Ultra remains limited to Aston Martin vehicles, but the new theming code may indicate Apple is preparing to expand support to another automaker. Perris also found more descriptive language for a feature that more thoroughly wipes iPhone data, now called “Extended Erase,” and evidence that Apple may be preparing a demo mode for its forthcoming “HomePad” smart home device.

Apple has recently added several apps to iPhone by default. Image Playground arrived with iOS 18.2 in December 2024, and last year’s iOS 26 update added the Preview and Games apps. The iOS 27.2 beta 2 itself has so far shown minimal user-facing changes, with the more significant items appearing in code rather than active features.