by Juli Clover
Apple is continuing to refine iOS 27 ahead of its planned September launch, and the third beta includes several new features. Siri is more customizable, there’s a fun new wallpaper action, and some useful improvements to Photos and Shortcuts.
Siri Voice
Beta 3 adds support for Siri voice customization on compatible devices. The customization option existed in prior betas, but it was not active. It’s now usable, and you can customize the pace and expressivity of Siri, with two base voice options available right now.
Siri voice customization requires an iPhone 17 Pro or an iPhone Air because it uses on-device processing.
Live Recognition
In Accessibility, Apple added a new Live Recognition section. Live Recognition uses on-device intelligence to detect and describe things around you with the camera app. The feature is able to answer questions about what it sees, with an option to set a default question. There’s also support for custom activities.
Reminders
The Reminders app has an updated icon with Liquid Glass to-do list bullets.
Photos
In the Photos section of the Settings app, there’s a new Show Rating Controls toggle. It displays star ratings on photos and videos, and shows a rating badge on thumbnails.
Control Center
In Control Center, you can see details about your cellular connection even when connected to Wi-Fi. It shows signal strength and whether you’re connected to LTE or 5G.
Shortcuts
You can now choose whether to open to the Describe a Shortcut interface or the manual Shortcuts editor when creating a new shortcut.
Wallpaper
When you swipe down into the notification center, a cutout of the subject of your wallpaper now appears first over the Home Screen or app you’re using.
AirPods
The Adaptive setting on the AirPods has a slider that lets you select more transparency or more noise cancellation.
Home App
Apple clarified that Apple Intelligence features in the Home app will require a 2GB iCloud+ plan.
Maps
Apple added a tooltip to make it clearer that route preferences haven’t been eliminated and can be accessed by tapping under the options interface when getting directions.
Lock Screen
The Control Center buttons on the Lock Screen now have black icons instead of white icons with some wallpaper.
5G in India
5G+ is now available in India on supported carriers.
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