Following the release of the iPhone Duo and iOS 27.2, Apple is now beta testing iOS 27.3. The previous update brought several notable improvements, and iOS 27.3 builds on them with even more changes.
Here’s everything new in iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3 and watchOS 27.3 beta 1.
iOS 27.3 and iPadOS 27.3 beta 1: What’s new and changed
With iOS 27.3 still in beta, some of what you see today could change before Apple releases the update. Even so, the beta gives us an early look at what Apple has been working on since iOS 27.2.
Redesigned Health app is back
Photo: Apple
Apple introduced a redesigned Health app in the early iOS 27.2 betas before removing it. The redesigned app makes a comeback in the first iOS 27.3 beta.
In a press release, Apple highlighted the redesigned Health app’s features and improvements. “Built with Apple Intelligence at its core, the Health app dynamically adapts to an individual’s health metrics across iPhone and iPad, offering insight into how to optimize their day and a comprehensive view of long-term wellbeing,” says the company.
As part of the detailed metrics, the new Health app also gets a Longevity tab that will analyze your “heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement, metabolic health, hearing, and nutrition.”
Besides the redesign, the redesigned Health app will feature expanded language support, including global English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Siri AI becomes more powerful
Apple is making Siri AI even more powerful with iOS 27.3 beta 1. Siri can now function and take actions across Apple apps like Music, Messages, Photos and Safari.
So, you can ask Siri to schedule or edit messages on your behalf and react with emojis. Likewise, in the Calendar app, you can use Siri AI to create new events with location and video call links. In Safari, Siri can organize or move your open tabs, clear your browsing history, etc.
Siri AI gains support for more languages
iOS 27.3 expands Siri AI’s language support to four new languages: Chinese (traditional), Norwegian, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Gym strength plans in Apple Fitness+
Apple is expanding Fitness+ to include gym strength plans. The “Gym Strength” workout option will generate a four-week workout plan based on your goals, fitness level, schedule and the available equipment. The Fitness+ app will show short video demos of the exercises, along with a timer and audio cues.
Gym Fitness in Apple Fitness+ will be available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch running iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3 and watchOS 27.3.
Siri Recap and Live Rewind come to Apple Watch
Image: Apple
The first watchOS 27.3 beta brings Siri Recap and Live Rewind to Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Apple first showcased these features when it unveiled its latest watches in early September.
With Siri Recap, your Apple Watch can use AI to summarize a conversation. You can start a recap manually or have it start automatically at a set time or when you arrive at a specific location.
Siri Recap doesn’t store audio or send it to Apple’s servers. All unsaved summaries are auto-deleted after seven days.
Live Rewind provides a text transcript of the last 15 seconds of a conversation. Press twice on the Digital Crown to bring up Live Rewind and get a transcript of what you missed hearing in the last 15 seconds.
Both Siri Recap and Live Rewind are a part of Audio Intelligence suite on Apple Watch. They need to be explicitly enabled and don’t store any audio recordings or identifiable information.
iPhone Duo’s StandBy feature comes to other iPhones
Apple introduced several new StandBy faces on the iPhone Duo. With iOS 27.3, it will expand these improvements to other iPhones, starting with the iPhone 11. The new enhancements include updated Analog and Digital Clock faces and a new Photos, Calendar and Weather faces.
Safari gets some big upgrades
Photo: Cult of Mac
The iOS 27.3 beta brings major changes to Safari, starting with a new Vertical Tabs option that helps it catch up to rival browsers. As the name suggests, Safari stacks your tabs in a sidebar on the left.
You can enable vertical tabs from Settings > Apps > Safari.
Another notable new addition is Adaptive Dark Mode. This lets Safari automatically apply dark mode to websites that don’t support it. This option will automatically appear in Safari on your iPhone or iPad if you have dark mode enabled.
Lastly, Siri can now move, sort, and take other actions on your open Safari tabs.
Reachability expands to iPhone Duo
iOS 27.3 beta 1 brings Reachability to the iPhone Duo. Unlike on the regular iPhones, Reachability on the iPhone Duo shifts the screen content to the left or right edge to make one-handed use easier.
Siri mode comes to iPad’s Camera app
iPadOS 27.3 beta 1 brings the Siri mode in the Camera app to the iPad’s Camera app. This will allow you to point the iPad’s camera at objects near you to get more information about them.
This feature is only available on iPads using an M1 or later chip, as well as the iPad mini with an A17 Pro or newer SoC.
Apple Intelligence finally expands to China
iOS 27.3 beta 1 marks the expansion of Apple Intelligence to China, over two years after its initial announcement and debut. Despite the delayed launch, the full suite of Apple Intelligence features is not making it to the Chinese market.
For now, regulatory restrictions keep Siri AI, the enhanced Siri app, and the new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 27 out of reach for iPhone users in China.
The first iOS 27.3 beta is feature-packed. The second beta should also include some tweaks and enhancements, with beta builds after that focusing on bug fixes and stability improvements. Apple should release iOS 27.3 to the public in December.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
You can reach out to him at mail[at]rajeshpandey.me.
