Siri’s AI overhaul may have been the headline announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, but Apple’s broader AI strategy is taking shape through a number of smaller features built into the software.
Instead of asking consumers to adopt the new AI-powered version of Siri to reap all the benefits of AI, the company is embedding AI into the apps and services people already use, focusing on solving real-world problems. The result is that your iPhone can, among other things, split restaurant bills among friends, secure your passwords after data breaches, automate tasks, and organize information with less manual effort.
On their own, these features may not be as dramatic as a Siri that finally understands your personal context and can take action on your behalf. But taken together, they reveal a vision for AI that’s less about chatting with a bot and more about making Apple’s software itself smarter and more powerful.
Beyond Siri AI, here are the smaller AI features in iOS 27 that we’re most excited to use. The features are now available in developer beta and will soon be available in public beta ahead of iOS 27’s general release later this fall.
Invoice Splitting
When iOS 27 launches later this fall, customers will be able to split the restaurant bill using Apple Cash. Using Apple Intelligence, you simply take a photo of the receipt (or upload a photo) and then see a new option to share the receipt with others. Apple Intelligence extracts the most important details from the invoice, such as the items ordered and their quantities, the tip and the total amount. You can select the items you ordered from the receipt and then send a request for others to do the same by sending a message to the group chat. Others can choose their items and quantities – even half (half) if they share with someone else. To pay, double-click like any other Apple Cash transaction.
Photo credit:Apple
The bill splitting option doesn’t seem complicated since it only appears when needed and works with existing apps and services that people already know, like Messages and Apple Cash. It is also smart enough to collect everyone’s share of the tax and tip along with the item prices.
Password Update
Thanks to password managers like Apple’s Passwords app or other third-party apps like 1Password, Dashlane, or Bitwarden, you’ve probably now created complex passwords that aren’t easy to guess. Unfortunately, this is no longer enough to keep passwords safe. As numerous data breaches have shown us over the years, your passwords often still end up in the hands of criminals through no fault of their own.
Photo credit:Apple
Apple’s new Password Update feature now uses AI to actively take action on users’ behalf by identifying both weak and compromised passwords – such as those found in a data breach. Instead of forcing you to update your passwords manually, the feature securely navigates websites, logs in, and updates your passwords to new, more secure versions.
One-Tap Message Suggestions
If you thought the feature that automatically displays the SMS passcode you need to log into a website right above the keyboard was one of the best things Apple ever introduced, you’ll like the new One-Tap Suggestions in iOS 27.
Photo credit:Apple
Using Apple Intelligence, the Messages app offers a variety of one-tap suggestions based on the topics of user conversations. For example, if a friend texts you to bring them something when you meet up, One-Tap Suggestion might ask you if you want to add the request to your reminders. When someone asks you to share the photos of an event, Apple Intelligence can suggest the right photos to share based on its knowledge of the keywords, locations, and people in the photo library. Or if you’re planning a dinner or work meeting, messages may prompt you to add the event to your calendar. And so forth.
Again, the feature itself just seems like a useful tool in your chat rather than an obviously AI-powered addition.
Call Context
Another under-the-radar option introduced in iOS 27 will make phone calls with company customer service departments a little less stressful by showing you the necessary information you may need to share with the responding company representative. For example, when you call about your flight reservation, the call context feature displays your confirmation code directly on the call screen.
Photo credit:Apple
To work, the feature uses Apple Intelligence to retrieve the information from your emails in Mail and runs entirely on the device for privacy reasons. Furthermore, it is a tool that simply works in the background. You don’t need to talk to an AI assistant to extract the information – the necessary details are simply displayed.
Add Calendar Events
Reproducing a feature that third-party apps like Fantasical have had for years, Apple now also lets you add or change calendar events by simply describing them in natural language. Under the hood, Apple Intelligence extracts the contacts and locations and creates a title for the event on your behalf. This feature makes it easier to add things to your Apple Calendar without having to think about which field to enter information into.
Vibe Coding Shortcuts
One of the more powerful apps on the iPhone, Shortcuts, has been out of reach for many users due to the technical complexity involved. The app lets you script tasks and workflows and create automations to make your life easier. But using shortcuts could be a frustrating experience for non-power users as they would have to search for online tutorials or other resources like shortcut galleries to find the tools they need.
ScreenshotPhoto credit:Apple
In iOS 27 you can easily describe what you want your iPhone to do. Apple suggests that you can configure your alarm each night based on the events in your calendar the next day, or set it to open your favorite productivity apps in a specific way every time you connect your Magic Keyboard to an iPad. But you don’t even have to be that nerdy — Shortcuts can also handle other everyday tasks, like automatically texting your partner your ETA when you leave work or turning on the porch light when your DoorDash order arrives.
Less Home App Spam
Smart home users know that their apps can often flood them with a ton of unimportant notifications that are actually just a single event. For example, if your partner comes home, opens the smart garage door, checks the mail, and then enters the house, you may receive one notification per action—which feels like spam. Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 allows the Home app to understand different actions and their context, so it sends a single notification related to the overall activity: that someone has arrived home and closed the garage door.
Photo credit:Apple
AI can also help you find clips you need through search, such as: B. a package delivery or other event. And in the Home app, notable clips appear at the top of the screen for review.
Organized Tabs in Safari
Another, less obvious AI feature is the tab organizer in the Safari web browser. Using Apple Intelligence, Safari can now understand what you browse across different websites and then organize your tabs into relevant topics. For example, if you have multiple tabs open related to a planned trip, Safari can add all of the tabs to a travel tab group. These appear at the top of the browser, above the webpage, so you can easily access them when you’re ready to continue your web research.
Photo credit:Apple
Apple points out that the AI that does this work for you also respects user privacy because it doesn’t reveal your browsing data to anyone – not even Apple.
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