Once you install the public beta, you'll notice that your Siri hasn’t changed! That’s because you need to sign up for it via a waitlist (don't worry, the wait should be short). Just go to Settings, select Siri, then tap Try the new Siri (Beta). Once you have the new Siri, you'll notice the brand-new Siri AI app and a completely different Siri interface. While you can start using it right away, it will take a while to be as smart as you want it to be. In order for Siri to know everything there is to know about you, it has to index all of the data on your phone (think photos and videos, calendar entries, and text messages, among other things), which can take days.

There is a lot that the new AI-powered Siri can do! With on-screen awareness and personal context, it can help you do useful everyday things like quickly find the restaurant that your friend suggested. It also navigates between different apps, so that once you read a text inviting you to an event, you can simply ask Siri to add that event to your calendar and make a note about things you'll need to prepare for that event.

Since Siri has access to all the information you have shared via iPhone apps like Contacts, Messages, and Photos, you can easily find a specific memory just by talking to Siri using natural language. If you've already installed the public beta, you can try saying something like, "Show me a memory of what I did on this day last year." 

My colleague Amy has been using the new Siri a lot. Here are two recent examples of how it's made her life easier:

• Amy's dad was in the hospital, and she asked Siri which hospital and which room he was in so she didn't have to scroll back through a long, complicated text thread.
• Amy's daughter is enrolling in preschool, and instead of opening and re-reading the entire onboarding email, she just asked Siri when the preschool enrollment paperwork was due.

• The Photos app has a lot of new ways to organize photos and find what you want more easily. You can now add keywords to photos and rate them, plus there are new metadata you can search photos by, including which iPhone lens was used to take them.

• There are also new AI-powered photo-editing features, including expand, which uses AI to fill a photo's background so that you can "zoom out" of a photo after you've taken it. There's also reframe, which lets you change the composition of a photo.

• The Shortcuts app has always been a little daunting to use, but with the new Siri, you can simply explain what you want your app to do with natural language, and the shortcut will be created for you. You can also edit or tweak it using natural language.

• When messages you send aren't delivered, they will now attempt to resend automatically, which is super useful and can save you time and frustration.

• You can now ask Safari to notify you when a website has any updates. For example, if something you ordered has shipped, Safari can let you know.
• Splitting checks with family and friends is easier than ever. Just take a photo of the check, and Visual Intelligence will help you figure out who pays for what.

• There are lots of other changes across almost every core app that fix common complaints but aren't notable enough to list here. You can read about them here.

There aren’t any notable new security features coming to iOS 27, but it’s important to note that if you download the beta, you will still be getting regular smaller updates that help fix glitches and strengthen any security concerns. As important as it is to always update your phone, it can be even more important if you have the public beta, because it can significantly improve your experience, safety, and security.

Tim Cook is about to step down as the CEO of Apple, but we can still blame him for any of the company’s shortcomings for now. I experienced a lot of issues with the developer beta, and I know lots of people who spent almost a week on the waitlist to get the improved AI. If you experience this, I recommend restarting your phone in case it fast-tracks the process — this worked for a few of us on the iPhone Life team!

This fall we’ll be getting the final release of iOS 27, which will be the most complete and stable version of this software to date. Honestly, it might be best to wait, unless you have a secondary Apple device you can install it on in case it causes issues on your primary device.

See you next time!

P.S. We'd love to hear you think about our newest newsletter. Please email us at radar@iphonelife.com and let us know what you think! We welcome your feedback and suggestions while we fine-tune the iOS Release Radar.  

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