iOS 27 features: Apple expands Wallet, Find My, Maps

JAKARTA — iOS 27 features go well beyond a new Siri and Apple Intelligence. Apple is also overhauling Wallet, Find My, Maps, Apple Music, Podcasts, and Photos with upgrades that should be noticeable in everyday use.

The main idea is simple: Apple wants the iPhone to feel more useful in the small moments people handle without thinking twice. Paying for dinner with friends, sharing a location on the way home, finding a place to go, or listening to music and podcasts. Everything is meant to feel faster. Tighter. Smarter.

The information was reported by TechCrunch from Apple’s announcements at WWDC earlier this month. On the main stage, Apple put Siri AI and Apple Intelligence front and center. But the package is much broader. That is where the practical value shows up.

iOS 27 features strengthen Apple Wallet for everyday use

The biggest update comes in Apple Wallet. Apple is adding the ability to scan receipts with the iPhone camera, then split the bill automatically with friends using Apple Cash. The system uses Apple Intelligence to read line items on the receipt one by one, calculate tax and tip shares, and prepare payment directly through Messages or Wallet.

For users, that may sound small. But the impact is real. No more manual math at the table. No calculator. No double-checking who ordered what. For people who often eat out with coworkers or roommates, a feature like this can cut down on the kind of back-and-forth that usually turns messy.

Wallet will also support digitizing physical membership and loyalty cards. Users can point the camera at a barcode, or scan a digital card, and save it straight into Wallet. The support extends to Apple Watch, where passes can be pulled up quickly through Smart Stack.

Apple is also refreshing the hotel key experience. iPhone and Apple Watch users will still be able to open rooms and hotel facilities, but Wallet will now show travel details, activity schedules, service information, and real-time updates. For travelers, it feels a bit like carrying a miniature concierge in your pocket.

Find My and Maps get more flexible

In Find My, Apple is giving users more flexible location-sharing controls. Starting this fall, users will be able to share their location for a custom period: a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or until a specific date and time. There is also an option to pause location sharing with a certain contact until the end of the day.

That helps in situations that come up all the time. Heading home late. Waiting for a friend at the station. Setting up a surprise party. Not every moment needs location sharing to stay on all day. Sometimes a short window is enough.

Maps is getting updates too. Apple is improving Flyover with more detailed visuals and smoother navigation. For anyone unfamiliar, Flyover is the immersive 3D view of cities and landmarks. The new version is meant to look smoother, feel more alive, and work better when browsing locations.

Apple is also introducing Local Lists, a new way to find and save recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other places based on what is trending in Maps. It is a clear move to keep users inside Apple’s own ecosystem instead of sending them back to Google Maps, Instagram, or TikTok every time they want to find a place for dinner.

iOS 27 features in Apple Music, Podcasts, and Photos

Apple Music is getting several additions that users will notice right away. Lyrics Translation now supports seven more language pairs, including English translations for songs in French, German, Italian, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese. There is also Lyrics Pronunciation to help people sing along with phonetic on-screen guidance in five new language pairs.

AutoMix is getting smoother too. Transitions between songs are being made more fluid and more immersive. The feature is also expanding from iPhone to Apple TV and HomePod. For Apple Music subscribers with compatible audio gear, Apple is opening Hi-Res Lossless Audio on Apple TV 4K as well. The sound gets much closer to studio quality.

In Podcasts, Apple is adding in-show search. Users can search directly within an episode on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, and the web. Video podcasts are also coming to Mac and Apple TV. That is a clear sign that video-first formats are becoming more important, and Apple does not want to miss the shift.

Photos is getting practical updates too. Apple is adding full-resolution photo sharing, support for additional file types, emoji reactions, a cleaner activity feed, and activity views by album. There is also a temporary album for short projects or events. Groups can collaborate without filling permanent iCloud storage.

One detail stands out: people without Apple devices can also contribute photos through the web. It is a small step, but an important one. Apple is opening the door wider.

iOS 27 also touches travel, shopping, and fitness

On the shopping side, Apple Pay gets a new checkout look in apps and on websites. Users can swipe through payment cards more easily while seeing rewards balances, debit balances, and available pay-later options. Later this year, Apple will also allow users to add funds directly to eligible debit cards through Wallet or at Apple Pay checkout.

For merchants, Apple is expanding Tap to Pay on iPhone with a Tap to Share feature. Customers can tap their device on a participating merchant to share details such as loyalty accounts, shipping addresses, and contact information securely. It works like a quick data exchange, but still stays inside Apple’s payment framework.

In fitness, Apple is preparing a Fitness+ program called Strong Through Menopause, a three-week series with guided Yoga and Strength workouts. Apple is also adding a Time to Walk episode with actress Busy Philipps, who discusses her personal experience with perimenopause. That shows Apple is paying more attention to adult users’ needs, not just step counts and calorie totals.

All of these features are already available for testing through the Apple Developer Program, while a public beta is scheduled to arrive next month. That means the changes shown on the WWDC stage will soon reach regular users. After that, the real test begins: which features people actually use, and which ones only look good in a demo.

In short: Wallet is getting smarter for bill splitting and card storage; Find My and Maps are becoming more flexible; Apple Music, Podcasts, Photos, and Fitness+ are getting updates too. Apple’s focus is clear: make the iPhone more useful in daily routines, not just in the headline features shown onstage.

Quick FAQ: When can people try it? Developers can test it now, and the public beta arrives next month. What looks most practical? Bill splitting in Wallet, location controls in Find My, and in-episode podcast search. What will affect the most users? Apple Wallet and Apple Pay updates, since they touch payment tasks almost everyone uses.

Looking ahead, the only real question is whether users will move their everyday habits into these new features, or keep using the older apps they already know by heart.