20 Hidden Features Apple Didn’t Announce at WWDC 2026
This year’s WWDC presentation was different in both tone and pace. Apple focused on performance and stability improvements, new parental controls, and, of course, Siri AI and Apple Intelligence . Unlike previous years, there wasn’t a separate section dedicated to the improvements in iOS 27 or the new features in macOS 27 Golden Gate , as is usually the case. As a result, many new and exciting features didn’t receive the attention they perhaps deserved. Instead, they ended up as footnotes in Apple’s WWDC preview pages. Here, I’ve compiled 20 such features that I think are worth mentioning. If you watched WWDC, here are the features you probably didn’t hear about:
You can independently adjust the volume of ringtone, media and alarm.
In iOS 27, Apple will finally let you set different volume levels for your ringtone, media, and alarms. In the Sounds & Haptics screen in Settings, you can control the volume of all three settings independently . By default, they’re the same, so disable “Match Ringtone Volume” under Alarms & Notifications to set different volume levels for each.
You can close the Now Playing widget.
The “Now Playing” widget on your lock screen is now completely under your control. You can swipe left on the widget to reveal the new “Clear” button. After clearing the widget, playback will continue, but you’ll be able to control it from Control Center instead of the lock screen. To restore it, simply change the audio source.
You can generate a QR code for any supported membership type.
The Wallet app now has a new “Create Pass” feature that lets you convert physical passes, such as a barcoded membership card or event ticket, into a digital pass. This generates a QR code that can be scanned anywhere you scan your physical pass, unlocking the same privileges. Once added, these privileges also appear on your Apple Watch.
Video podcasts are now available on Mac and TV.
Apple TV and tvOS were barely mentioned in the presentation, but an interesting new feature for video podcast lovers was introduced. The Podcasts app on Apple TV and Mac will gain video podcast support, similar to the iPhone and iPad apps.
Very large widgets have appeared for the iPhone home screen.
Apple has introduced a new “Extra Large” widget size that can take up the entire home screen of your iPhone. Not all apps support it, but Calendar and Weather look great right now. Developers will also be able to utilize this feature, so keep an eye out for new widget sizes from third-party developers.
You can save video frames as images.
You can now stop taking video screenshots just to save a single frame. After the update, open a video, pause on the desired frame, then go to the “Edit” menu. From there, tap “Menu” and then select “Save video frame as photo.” The frame will be added to your library with the appropriate metadata (which is not available when taking a video screenshot). The Photos app can also generate captions for your recorded videos directly on your device.
More Apple apps support landscape mode
Is this a sign of the upcoming Apple Fold ? Apple has redesigned quite a few of its existing apps to work better in landscape mode on the iPhone. In my opinion, the Activity and Weather apps look best in landscape mode, but Find, Health, and Music also feature landscape mode. The latter app also supports swiping between songs.
A new dynamic user interface for setting timers has been introduced.
Tapping the Timer control in Control Center will display a new slider interface in the dynamic menu. You can swipe left or right to change the timer duration.
New location sharing features and an updated Find My Apple Watch app are available.
The Find My app on iPhone has a new, redesigned location sharing interface designed for personalization. There are now tools for choosing the duration of location sharing with family members, as well as a new option to hide your location for a day without notifying family members. Apple has also redesigned the Find My app on watchOS, focusing on the map interface. The app will now display a map and the locations of devices and people, rather than just a list, and you’ll also get the new location sharing features available in the iPhone app.
Minimize the clock on the iPhone lock screen
If you don’t like the large iOS lock screen clock and prefer to see your wallpaper, Apple has a solution. When customizing your lock screen, you can now shrink the clock by moving it to a much smaller top row. While you can’t completely remove it, it will focus attention on your wallpaper rather than the time.
You can insert hints from the keyboard.
After the update, when you copy text or an image to the clipboard and then bring up the keyboard, you’ll see a prompt showing how to paste the data from the clipboard with one tap.
New “Connection Assistance” switch
Apple has updated Wi-Fi Assist, giving it a new name and improving reliability. The new Connectivity Assist feature manages both Wi-Fi and cellular networks much more quickly, so you won’t experience a sudden drop in connection quality when leaving home or work.
Use the same number on two iPhones.
In a future update, Apple will allow you to use the same phone number on two iPhones. If you need two devices but don’t want to pay for two cellular plans, this feature may be suitable for you. Details about this feature are not yet available, and its capabilities may vary depending on your carrier.
You can switch songs in CarPlay.
In iOS 27, CarPlay now lets you rewind songs on the car’s display, just like on an iPhone. Apple is also adding support for video apps in CarPlay—though, of course, they will only work when the car is parked.
External monitors have received updates in macOS 27.
macOS 27 adds improved support for high-performance ultrawide monitors. There’s now built-in support for ultrawide monitors with 5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, and macOS will remember the window layout on your ultrawide monitor, so you don’t have to recreate the workspace each time you reconnect. This is a major win for ultrawide monitor fans in macOS.
Find out what Wi-Fi technology you use.
Does your router really use the new Wi-Fi 7 or 6e standard? Apple has added a new “Wi-Fi Type” section to Settings to help you determine exactly which Wi-Fi standard you’re connected to.
The notch no longer hides menu bar items on Mac.
Currently, if you have more than two menu bar apps, they are automatically moved behind the notch, making them unavailable without third-party tools. Apple will now display an arrow icon when menu bar apps are hidden. Clicking it will reveal the apps in the menu bar to the left of the notch.
The Sidecar app on iPad finally supports touch input.
In macOS 27, Apple enabled touchscreen support for Sidecar on iPad. You can now use your fingers to navigate macOS, open menus, and more. Previously, this only worked with the Apple Pencil. This may be a small improvement for iPad users, but it also hints at Apple’s upcoming touchscreen MacBook .
iPhone screen mirroring now supports window resizing.
You can now resize iPhone app windows running on your Mac using iPhone Mirroring. You can expand the app window to fit the iPad’s size. This is quite convenient and perhaps another sign of a future iPhone Fold?
The ability to refresh a page using the “pull down” gesture has arrived on Mac.
Safari and Mail on macOS 27 now support refreshing a page with a pull-down gesture. When at the top of a page, you can simply pull down with your trackpad to refresh the page. Similarly, you can refresh your inbox in the Mail app by pulling down on the page.