Apple dropped the first developer beta for iOS 27.3 on Tuesday. While this update isn’t as large as iOS 27 proper, it’s surprisingly feature-filled for a 0.3 update. This is only a beta, so anything could (and likely will) change before Apple officially launches the update. But, as it stands, iOS 27.3 tests 10 new features—including one feature the company trialed in the previous beta.
Technically, anyone with a compatible iPhone can try out iOS 27.3 right now—assuming you enroll your Apple Account in the developer program. But a word of warning: Betas can be temperamental, and could be risky. As such, I’d recommend avoiding the beta until Apple releases the public beta, which comes after a bit more testing to iron out larger issues. Either way, make sure to make a full backup of your iPhone to a Mac or PC first, as issues with the beta could result in permanent data loss.
Audio Intelligence
With watchOS 27, Apple released “Audio Intelligence,” a new set of features for Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. Audio Intelligence uses the watches’ new S11 chip, along with on-device AI and cloud-based AI, to run new features, like Sound Recognition and Shazam (music recognition).
With iOS 27.3, however, the company is now officially testing the other two Audio Intelligence features it originally announced with watchOS 27. First, there’s Live Rewind: By double-clicking the watch crown, you can pull up a transcript of the last 15 seconds of a conversation. Siri Recap, on the other hand, displays summaries of conversations you had that day, in case you need a refresher on any chats you might have otherwise forgotten about,
The company generated some controversy when it first announced these two Audio Intelligence features, since, on the surface, it sounds like these new Apple Watches are essentially spying on people all day long. According to Apple, however, that isn’t really the case. The company says Audio Intelligence is private, and never records or stores any audio. No speakers are ever identified, and text results (both transcripts and summaries) are deleted automatically after a set period of time unless the user saves them to the Siri app. You can read more about how Audio Intelligence works here.
Despite their claims, I’m sure there will still be strong feelings surrounding these Audio Intelligence features. We’ll have to see whether Apple can prove Live Rewind and Siri Recap aren’t all that creepy throughout the iOS 27.3 beta process.
Siri AI app actions
iOS 27.3 also introduces app actions for Siri AI. Apple is testing new abilities for Siri AI, including organizing files, planning events, or adding photos to albums. You could ask Siri to organize your Downloads folder, or delete files that haven’t been opened in more than a year. You could ask Siri to find a coffee shop you went to last week, or to save an article to your Reading List in Safari. You could ask Siri to check your calendar and set up a time for an event based on when you’re free. You can even ask the assistant to schedule, edit, or unsend messages.
For example, you could ask Siri AI to help you plan a trip with your friends. You could ask the AI to put together a themed playlist in Apple Music, schedule a message to a group about an upcoming trip, organize the websites you’ve been visiting in Safari into a tab group, and, after the trip, ask Siri to move your best photos to your favorites album. These new actions work in the following apps: Calendar, Files, Finder, Journal, Mail, Maps, Messages, Music, Notes, Photos, Preview, Reminders, Safari, Shortcuts, and Weather. Developers can also add Siri AI app actions support to their own apps.
The new Health app is back
Apple started testing its new Health app with the iOS 27.2 beta, but pulled the redesign before the official release. Now, with iOS 27.3, the new app is back. The new Health app has a health dashboard for the first time, as well as new features like Health Age and movement assessments. It seems to be pulling from some popular competitor services, hopefully, for the better. For more on the new Health app, check out Lifehacker health editor Beth Skwarecki’s explainer.
Fitness+ Gym Strength
Continuing on the Health track, iOS 27.3 also introduces “Gym Strength.” This is a new Fitness+ feature that offers a personalized four-week strength-training plan. You can customize these plans to meet your goals, experience level, and schedule, and they adapt as you progress. You’ll get recommendations based on your experience with exercises, reps, and sets, including video demos for exercises. You can access Gym Strength on both iPhone and iPad, and Apple Watches are optional—though you can log your progress with the wearable if you have it.
What do you think so far?
Safari gets vertical tabs
Vertical tabs have been a favorite among browser aficionados, as they give you more screen real estate in your browser while keeping your tabs off the side. Apple hasn’t made the jump—until now. This feature works with iPads running iPadOS 27.3 as well as Macs running macOS 27.3.
Safari can now automatically turn websites dark
Another new Safari feature in testing is “Adaptive Dark Mode.” This feature forces websites into a dark theme, if they don’t have a native theme of their own. There are third-party apps that can do this, but this is the first time Apple has offered this feature built into Safari.
StandBy gets an upgrade
Apple is also testing new StandBy experiences with iOS 27.3, which were previously only available on the iPhone Duo. When you turn your iPhone sideways while plugged in, you’ll find new Analog and Digital Clock faces with new customization options. There’s also a new Photos face, with the option to pull images from Shared Albums.
iPhone Duo gets Reachability
“Reachability” pulls your iPhone’s display down towards the bottom of the screen, so you can access items towards the top of the display with one hand. It’s a useful feature for those of us with big iPhones, and now, there’s no iPhone bigger than the Duo. With iOS 27.3, Apple is testing Reachability for its first foldable phone. It’s a bit like the inverse of how Reachability currently works: You can swipe on the left or right side of your Duo’s display to shift the other side of the screen towards your current position. If you’re holding your Duo in your left hand, a swipe of the left side will pull the right side over to the left, and vice versa.
Siri AI is available in new languages
Apple is also rolling out new languages for Siri AI in iOS 27.3. Now, Apple’s smart assistant supports Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, and Norwegian.
Siri Mode on iPadOS
If you have an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPad running iPadOS 27.3, you now have access to Siri Mode in Camera. As with iOS, you can open the Camera app on iPadOS to access Siri Mode, and ask Siri about your surroundings.
