Here’s What’s New in IOS 27 Beta 3
Apple is actively testing the iOS 27 beta , testing new features like Siri AI , new AI-powered image editing , and improved parental controls . Developers and testers can gain early access to these and other features by installing the beta on their devices. While this beta is very similar to the iOS 27 Apple promoted at WWDC, it changes significantly with each subsequent update. For example, Apple released the third beta of iOS 27, introducing a number of new features and changes to the OS. Here’s what’s new:
In iOS 27, you can now customize Siri’s voice.
Siri has a lot going for it this year. Apple has finally updated its voice assistant with Apple Intelligence, which promises to be much more useful than the old version of Siri. However, among these changes is something particularly useful for those who like to customize their devices: Apple now allows you to customize Siri’s voice.
This feature wasn’t available in the first two betas, but beta testers can now try it out—provided they have a supported iPhone. While Siri AI is available on the iPhone 15 Pro and newer, this customization feature only works with the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. If you have one of these devices and are using the third beta of iOS 27, you can now adjust both the tempo and expressiveness of the voice assistant.
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Siri artificial intelligence arrives in watchOS 27.
If you’re using the watchOS 27 beta, good news: Apple has finally added support for Siri AI as part of the third round of beta testing. This includes a new Siri app, so you can continue conversations from your other devices on your watch. Again, this all assumes you have a compatible Apple Watch: Apple has discontinued support for all Apple Watches older than Series 9 , including the first-generation Ultra and second-generation SE. You should also exercise caution before installing watchOS betas: unlike iOS betas, from which you can revert to the previous version (even if it involves some difficulty), Apple doesn’t allow you to uninstall a watchOS beta. This means that if you experience problems or regret your decision, you’ll have to wait until Apple releases the full version of watchOS 27.
Siri AI can now use data from third-party apps.
As 9to5Mac notes , Siri AI can now use third-party apps on your iPhone to obtain results. So far, testers have only found one working feature: retrieving battery information from electric vehicle apps. But this is a real improvement and a small demonstration of how effective Siri AI can be as an assistant on iOS. This is something author Khamosh Pathak was missing when testing Siri AI on the second beta of iOS 27. While Siri AI is excellent at retrieving information from your Apple apps, it hasn’t yet been able to use non-Apple apps. Hopefully, the list of available features and apps will continue to grow, making Siri AI even more useful.
You can control Adaptive Mode on your AirPods.
Apple’s Adaptive mode combines active noise cancellation and transparency mode. It adapts to changes in your environment, boosting sound when it’s quiet and blocking it when it gets too noisy. In my experience, it works well, especially when you want to hear what’s going on around you without letting particularly loud sounds irritate your ears. However, it’s not easy to customize: you usually have to dig through the settings to find the Adaptive mode controls if you want it to be more or less sensitive to noise.
This has changed in iOS 27 beta 3. Now, as part of the improved AirPods settings menu in iOS 27, you can easily control Adaptive Mode using the volume slider. This is much more intuitive and noticeable than before, and hopefully will be included in the official iOS 27 release.
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In iOS 27, Apple added a new animation to the lock screen.
When you update to iOS 27 beta 3, you’ll notice something new when you swipe down to the lock screen: your wallpaper image will slowly fade in before fully displaying. I’m not 100% sure Apple intended this for beta 3, but if so, it’s a bold move.
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iOS 27 now displays a warning before sending data to Google servers.
Apple isn’t alone in its new AI features. In addition to using ChatGPT for some services, the company also leverages Google servers for certain AI processes. In the third beta of iOS 27 , a pop-up will appear on your iPhone before sending data to Google. You can choose to send the data once, allow iOS to send data as needed, or block access entirely. Apple insists that any data sent to Google servers remains protected by the same private cloud security as data processed on the company’s own servers.