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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- iOS 27 brings some much-needed changes to the Control Center.
- The Photos app is getting a new folder for photos and videos.
- Apple’s iOS 27 is currently available to test in public beta.
The public beta of iOS 27 is now available, following Apple’s announcement of the upcoming iPhone software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. I installed the developer beta soon after the initial rollout and have been using it over the last month.
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The next big iPhone software update isn’t a massive overhaul like iOS 26, but it irons out several bugs that have bothered me for months. Sure, Siri AI and new photo editing tools are the flashy highlights, but these five more understated iOS 27 features are making a massive difference in my daily life.
1. Control Center optimizations
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I’ve noticed two subtle changes to the Control Center on iOS 27. First, the Wi-Fi and Mobile Data toggles are both available with one-tap access without needing to expand the Connectivity widget.
Earlier, you had two options for this widget: either add a square 1×1 tile or expand it to cover a full Control Center page. Now, you get a third option, which covers half the page and gives one-tap access to Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, AirDrop, Mobile Data, Bluetooth, Personal Hotspot, and VPN. However, you can’t rearrange them within the widget. If you want to customize the placement, you can always add these toggles separately.
Also: After a week with iOS 27, I’ve found 5 hidden features that make even older iPhones better
Second, Apple has optimized the Control Center for landscape orientation. It’s immensely helpful for my muscle memory when I’m holding the phone horizontally (for movies and YouTube videos) and need to change the screen brightness.
This makes the brightness and volume toggles better positioned in iOS 27, as the Control Center icons stay where they’re supposed to in both orientations.
2. A separate folder for the photos you take
It is helpful to have all photos and videos taken by me in a single place.
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On iOS 26, the Photos app is segregated into two sections: Library and Collections. The Library contains everything from photos taken by you to saved media from iMessages, Instagram, WhatsApp and more, whereas Collections is divided into sections with sub-folders. However, there’s no way to add a folder that contains only the photos and videos taken by you. Apple is fixing this with its upcoming iPhone software.
With iOS 27, Apple has added a Captured by Me folder under Utilities to store all the photos and videos you take on your iPhone in one place. I find this folder to be quite helpful on Android phones when I have to look for a recent shot and I don’t have to jump through other saved media. I’m glad Apple is finally bringing it to iOS.
To find the new folder, go to Collections > Utilities > Captured by Me. I recommend pinning it so you can find it below the Memories section in Collections.
3. Auto-paste suggestions on top of the keyboard
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The keyboard currently auto-detects one-time passwords and suggests them on top of the keyboard, so you have one-tap access to information without leaving the on-screen app. This feature is now expanding to more things in iOS 27.
Also: The two biggest iOS 27 features at WWDC for me had nothing to do with Siri AI
It can now surface copied text, addresses, and screenshots directly in the suggestion bar. You no longer have to long-press on a text field and wait for the copy-paste menu to appear. When you copy something and switch to another app, the iOS keyboard will show the content for quick pasting. It might not seem like a big deal, but day in and day out, it has resulted in a more intuitive experience for me.
4. Improved on-device dictation
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Apple has also improved the voice typing on iPhones with the new iOS 27 update. When dictating a message, your iPhone will better understand context, recognize complex words, and automatically remove filler words like ‘umm’ and ‘ahh’ from your speech. It automatically added commas at the right places when dictating an email reply. While I had to polish it to add full stops, the new Advanced Dictation Preview is more accurate and polished than before.
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However, this feature isn’t enabled by default, at least on the beta. You can enable it by going to Settings > General > Keyboard and turning on Advanced Dictation Preview. It runs on Apple’s AFM Core Advanced model (which also powers expressive Siri voices) and works on-device.
5. A separate toggle for ringer, alarm and system volumes
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I am tired of missing my alarms when I minimize the ringer volume on my iOS 26-running iPhone 17 Pro Max. I do not want my ringer volume to be more than 25%, but I do need my alarm volume to be set at 100% at all times. Apple is finally giving us a way to do so with iOS 27.
On the upcoming iPhone software version, you’ll be able to adjust the ringer, alarm, and system volumes separately. Under Settings > Sounds & Haptics, you can now choose to match the alarms, timers and system tones to the ringer volume or set them at different levels.
Also: Your iPhone may support Channel Sounding via Bluetooth with iOS 27 – and it’s a big deal
Overall, iOS 27 is a mix of minor improvements, bug fixes and Siri AI enhancements that you’ll notice in day-to-day life. It is currently available in public beta, but my iPhone Air (with iOS 27) already feels faster than my iPhone 17 Pro Max (with iOS 26). I can’t wait for the stable build to roll out in September alongside the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra models.
