7 New iOS 27 Features You’ll Want to Try Out

iOS 27 is here for iPhone and iPad, and while most of the efforts of the OS 27 releases were put towards performance enhancements and improving the core operating system itself, there are also some new and interesting features introduced with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 too.

From the new Siri AI, to further customizing the interface and Lock Screen, to AI tools for editing your photos, and more, check out a few of the highlight iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 features.

1. Adjust Liquid Glass Transparency

If you were previously unhappy with the Liquid Glass interface, or you simply wished there was greater customization available, this adjustment tool might be for you. The new Liquid Glass transparency slider in iOS 27 allows you to finely adjust the translucency of the interface, letting you choose between a clearer, more transparent look or a non-transparent tinted appearance, or somewhere in-between.

You can find the Liquid Glass slider in Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass

2. Try the New Photos Tools: Cleanup, Extend, Reframe

Photos app now has three powerful AI tools that are easy to use:

• Cleanup – clear up a blemish, remove a photo bomber (or unwanted person), remove an object from a photo, etc
• Extend – uses AI to extend the photo beyond its current edges
• Reframe – uses AI to change the framing of the photo, to a different angle or otherwise,/li>

These new Photos features use AI tools and are unfortunately device limited to iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or any iPad with an M-series chip. So if you don’t see these functions on your iPhone or iPad, it’s probably because your device is not compatible with Apple Intelligence.

3. Siri AI

The all new much hyped Siri AI is a significant improvement over the prior Siri, so don’t be shy in asking it questions. Plus there’s a dedicated Siri app now, which is a bit like a chatbot, so you can use the Siri app in the same way that you would ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another LLM.

Remember, Siri AI is currently still in beta, and you must enable it manually on your iPhone or iPad to gain access to Siri AI features and capabilities.

4. Save a Video Frame as a Photo

If you’ve ever paused a video at a certain point and then taken a screenshot to turn that still frame into a photo, you’ll be excited to know you do not need to do that in any longer, because now you can simply pause on the frame and directly save the video frame as a picture.

From a video, navigate to the frame you want to save as a photo, then tap on the … and choose “Save Video Frame as Photo”.

5. Minimalist Tiny Lock Screen Clock to Emphasize Wallpaper

If you want to maximally emphasize your wallpaper on the iPhone Lock Screen, you can use the new minimalist micro clock option.

When you’re customizing the Lock Screen, either from the Lock Screen directly or through Settings > Wallpaper > Customize, tap on the line over the box button to toggle the tiny clock option, which sits subtly at the very top edge of the display.

6. Drawing in Messages

You can now draw and doodle directly in Messages. This is just a fun feature and probably won’t revolutionize your life, but it might entertain you, or someone else, or provide some joy and entertainment.

In Messages app, when you’re in a conversation tap on the + plus sign, then choose “Drawing” and doodle away.

7. Hide Your Location from Someone You Share It With Without Them Knowing

This is kind of a weird feature because the entire premise of sharing your location through Find My is that you are opting to share your location with someone in the first place, but now you can hide your location without the person knowing.

Maybe you don’t want your spouse to know you’re at some place you should not be, so now you can hide your location? Wow what a great feature? Or maybe you don’t want your parents to know that you skipped school, so you can hide that location change? Revolutionarily convenient? Amazing? You can probably sense my sarcasm here, who is this feature for exactly? Why not just not share your location, or turn off your location if you don’t want someone seeing it? I don’t know what this feature is supposed to be used for exactly, but it’s new, and it’s a feature of Find My and Messages now.

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What do you think of these features of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27? Are there any new favorites? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below.