Apple iOS 27 brings smarter Wallet, enhanced Maps, and more
Apple has released iOS 27 with several significant upgrades, including smarter bill splitting in Wallet, customizable location sharing in Find My, and new Maps features.
Apple announced iOS 27, which brings a host of improvements to everyday apps. While the main focus at WWDC was on Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, the update includes other noteworthy changes.
Apple Maps
Maps gets an improved "Flyover" feature, offering more detailed visuals and smoother navigation for 3D city and landmark views. The new "Local Lists" lets users discover and save recommendations for restaurants and attractions based on trending spots.
Find My
Find My becomes more flexible with customizable location sharing. Starting this fall, users can share their location for a custom duration—from minutes to days or until a specific date and time. They can also temporarily pause sharing with individual contacts until the end of the day.
Apple Wallet
Wallet receives a major boost. A new feature lets users scan receipts with their iPhone camera and automatically split bills with friends using Apple Cash, powered by Apple Intelligence. It identifies items on the receipt and calculates each person's share including tax and tip. Wallet also supports digitizing physical membership cards by scanning barcodes, with Apple Watch support. A revamped hotel key experience lets guests unlock rooms and access trip details within Wallet.
Apple Pay
Apple Pay gets a redesigned checkout experience online and in apps. Users can swipe between cards more easily while viewing rewards balances, debit account balances, and pay-later options. Later this year, they can add funds directly to debit cards through Wallet. For merchants, "Tap to Share" allows customers to securely share loyalty accounts, shipping addresses, and contact details with a simple tap.
Apple Music
Music expands Lyrics Translation to seven new language pairs. Lyrics Pronunciation helps users sing along in foreign languages with phonetic translations in five language pairs. AutoMix is enhanced and expands to Apple TV and HomePod. Subscribers get Hi-Res Lossless Audio on Apple TV 4K.
Apple Podcasts
Podcasts introduces a "search within show" feature to search through episodes of a specific podcast. Video podcasts are now available on Mac and Apple TV.
Apple Photos
Photos gains full-resolution sharing, new file types, emoji reactions, improved activity feeds, per-album activity, and temporary albums that don't consume iCloud storage. Non-Apple device users can contribute photos via the web.
Fitness+
Fitness+ launches "Strong Through Menopause," a three-week program with Yoga and Strength workouts. A new "Time to Walk" episode features actress Busy Philipps sharing stories about perimenopause.
All features are available now to developers in beta, with a public beta coming next month.
