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 series of smaller features embedded across its software.
Rather than asking consumers to adopt the new AI-powered version of Siri to get all the benefits that AI brings, the company is weaving AI into the apps and services people already use, with a focus on solving real-world problems. The result is that your iPhone will be able to split restaurant bills among friends, secure your passwords after data breaches, automate tasks, and organize information with less manual effort, among other things.
Individually, these features may not be as dramatic as a Siri that finally understands your personal context and can take action on your behalf. But combined, they showcase a vision for AI that’s less about chatting with a bot and more about making Apple’s software itself feel smarter and more capable.
Beyond Siri AI, here are the smaller AI features in iOS 27 that we’re most looking forward to using. The features are live now in the developer beta and will soon arrive in the public beta, before iOS 27’s general public release later this fall.
Bill splitting
When iOS 27 rolls out later this fall, customers will be able to split the restaurant bill using Apple Cash. Powered by Apple Intelligence, you simply take a photo of the receipt (or upload a photo), and you’ll then see a new option that lets you choose to split the bill with others. Apple Intelligence works to extract the key details from the bill, like the items ordered and the quantities, the tip, and the total. You can choose the items you ordered from the receipt and then share a request for others to do the same by messaging the group chat. Others can select their items and quantities — even selecting a half (1/2) if they split with another. To pay, you double-click just as you would for any other Apple Cash transaction.
The bill-splitting option doesn’t feel complicated because it only shows up when it’s needed and works with existing apps and services people already know, like Messages and Apple Cash. It’s also smart enough to request 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 others from third parties like 1Password, Dashlane, or Bitwarden, you’ve now likely created complex passwords that aren’t prone to being easily guessed. Unfortunately, that’s no longer enough to keep passwords secure. As numerous data breaches have shown us over the years, your passwords often still end up in the hands of bad actors through no fault of your own.
Apple’s new password-updating feature will now leverage AI to agentically take action on users’ behalf by identifying both weak and compromised passwords — like those found in a data breach. Instead of forcing you to manually update your passwords, the feature securely navigates websites, signing in and upgrading your passwords to new, more secure versions.
Messages’ one-tap suggestions
If you thought the feature that automatically displays the SMS passcode you need to sign into a website right above the keyboard is one of the best things Apple has ever introduced, you’re going to like the new one-tap suggestions in iOS 27.
Using Apple Intelligence, the Messages app will offer a variety of one-tap suggestions based on the topics of users’ conversations. For instance, if a friend texts to ask you to bring them something when you meet up, the one-tap suggestion might ask if you’d like to add the request to your reminders. If someone asks you to share the photos from an event, Apple Intelligence can suggest the right photos to send using its understanding of keywords, locations, and the people in their Photos Library. Or, if you’re planning a dinner date or work meeting, Messages can prompt you to add the event to your Calendar. And so on.
Again, the feature itself just appears like a useful tool in your chat, not as an obviously AI-powered addition.
Call context
Another under-the-radar option coming in iOS 27 will make phone calls with companies’ customer service departments slightly less stressful, as it will surface necessary information you may need to provide the business rep who answers. For instance, if you’re calling about your airline reservation, the Call Context feature will display your confirmation code directly on the call screen.
To work, the feature is leveraging Apple Intelligence to pull the information from your email in Mail, running entirely on the device for privacy. What’s more, it’s a tool that just works in the background; it doesn’t require you to speak to an AI assistant to extract the information — the necessary details just appear.
Adding Calendar events
Replicating a feature that third-party apps like Fantasical have had for years, Apple will now also allow you to add or change Calendar events just by 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. The feature makes it easier to add things to your Apple Calendar without having to think about which field needs information entered.
Vibe coding Shortcuts
One of the more powerful apps on iPhone, Shortcuts, has been out of reach for many users because of the technical overhead involved. The app lets you script tasks and workflows and create automations that make your life easier. But using Shortcuts could be a frustrating experience for non-power users, who would have to seek out online tutorials or other resources, like Shortcut galleries, to find the tools they needed.
In iOS 27, you can just describe what you want your iPhone to do. Apple suggests you could configure your alarm every night based on what events you have on your calendar the next day, or make it so your favorite productivity apps open in a certain way every time you connect your Magic Keyboard with an iPad. But you don’t even have to get quite that nerdy — Shortcuts can also perform other everyday tasks, like automatically texting your partner with your ETA when you leave work, or turning on the porch lights when your DoorDash order is arriving.
Less Home app spam
Smart home users know their apps can often drown them with a slew of unimportant notifications that are really all one single event. For instance, if your partner comes home, raises the smart garage door, checks the mail, and then enters the house, you could get one notification per action — which starts to feel like spam. With Apple Intelligence in iOS 27, the Home app can make sense of the multiple actions and how they’re connected, so it sends a single notification related to the overall activity: that someone arrived at home and closed the garage door.
The AI can also help you find clips you need, like a package delivery or other event, via search. And the Home app will feature noteworthy clips for review at the top of the screen.
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’re browsing across websites, then organize your tabs into relevant topics. For instance, if you’ve got multiple tabs open related to a trip you’re planning, Safari could add all those to a tab group for travel. These appear at the top of the browser, above the webpage, for easy access when you’re ready to return to your web research.
Apple notes that the AI that does this work for you also respects users’ privacy, as it doesn’t expose your browsing data to anyone — even Apple.
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