Apple’s “second-party” LG accessories will debut another Apple Home feature: Proximity Control.

As with HomePod, tapping or bringing iPhone near the accessory shows a hint in the Dynamic Island. An “Open Controls” button opens the accessory’s controls. Cameras and doorbells show a camera viewer.

An iPhone without a Dynamic Island will show a 30-second notification instead. You can disable this behavior in the Home app after setup.

You’ll also see feedback in the Dynamic Island as iPhone launches setup when you first tap the accessory to pair it.

Behind the scenes, the accessory writes an “apple-deviceid” in the Matter payload stored on its NFC tag that helps iOS identify it when tapped. It also broadcasts a Bluetooth Low Energy advert for Apple Proximity Control.

The feature appears in code since iOS 27.0. In earlier versions, Apple showed three presentation options instead of the on/off toggle in iOS 27.2:

• Never: Suppresses proximity controls.​
• Ask to Launch: ​Shows Dynamic Island hint or notification, which deep links the control card.
• Launch Automatically: Shows control card.​

In the current implementation, the enabled state is equivalent to Ask to Launch. Home’s helper text reads: “Show controls when you bring your iPhone near your [accessory].” The feature is still in active development across beta releases, so the final behavior may change.

The Dynamic Island proximity control code in iOS 27.2 was first reported by Aaron Perris.

Shown in the video: Setup instruction asset for the LG thermostat, and an actual Proximity Control notification on an iPhone without a Dynamic Island.

Apple is working on bringing Call Context to the Dynamic Island. Currently hidden behind a feature flag in iOS 27.2 (ConversationKit / CallContextCardExpansion).

Added in Beta 2. Shown here in an iOS 27.2 simulator with the flag force-enabled.

Apple Music will soon show you release countdowns for upcoming albums. Currently hidden behind a feature flag (Music/jojo) on macOS 27.2 DB1.

iOS 27 RC adds a dedicated Hermès MagSafe wallet attachment animation. There are also new wallet styles with Find My support.

Added in RC.

https://preview.redd.it/jq1m2mxlq4ph1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff9a27edf34c81a286ffa4a4700a737b5d946cf6

Part of video controls in Control Center, iOS 27 RC adds an Edge Light implementation. Currently gated behind a device subtype that points to iPhone Duo. The color temperature setting isn’t fully implemented.

There’s also code to adjust the interface so content isn’t obscured by Edge Light.

Added in RC

iPadOS 27 (hence, also iOS 27) has a new PencilFeedback framework that can produce audible feedback whenever you use Markup tools.

Sound feedback changes based on the tool you use, how you hold your Apple Pencil, pressure, tilt, roll, tool thickness, and more.

No app currently calls on this framework, but you can hear what each tool sounds like in the video above.

The entire framework was added in Beta 1.

Apple is working on a broader set of Camera improvements in iOS 27 than what the company announced at WWDC26 this past June, and what iOS betas currently allow users to access. Here are five features in the Camera app currently hidden in iOS 27.

Exposure scopes: waveforms and histograms​

The Camera app in iOS 27 contains a complete implementation of waveform and histogram displays. These can help users judge exposure in different formats. You can use a histogram to get a read on how many pixels fall into the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. Alternatively, a waveform can show the same information while preserving the horizontal pixel position, which makes it easier to identify a bright or dark area to a specific part of the image.

https://preview.redd.it/tp6y28o124oh1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=05f56f290ff7f00e09c4717f500a6326d3117ab6

iOS 27 ships with 3 presets for both scopes: Luminance, RGB Composite, and RGB Parade. The histogram also has a separate choice between a continuous curve or individual bars. The rendering implementation for all graphs was added in iOS 27 beta 2 and is present in the latest beta.

You can see a demo of all graphs against stock photos below. There is no consumer within the Camera app to enable waveforms and histograms, but the graphs use the real LiveVideoAnalytics pipeline, so these graphs match what you’d see inside the camera app.

https://reddit.com/link/1w9ufa7/video/kojmhv6m24oh1/player

Focus peaking and highlight-clipping overlays​

The Camera app in iOS 27 also adds code to overlay important information about the current composition over the preview window. In fact, the system can produce them separately or together under a new preview-processing stage.

Focus peaking​

Focus peaking emphasizes edges with strong local contrast to help users know which parts of the image are clearly defined. The feature can add colored emphasis over the edges. iOS can select a color, adjust how sensitive the effect is, and the transition duration.

There is no consumer in Beta 8 to enable the feature in the Camera app. In the demo, below you can see the effect within the preview window.

https://preview.redd.it/9i3g1hro24oh1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=26460fedb903d13124a7ec02645e55d8debe4256

Highlight-clipping​

Relatedly, the Camera app can also warn users about highlights that are becoming too bright. The preview window can present an overlay over the affected areas instead of relying on another graph.

The current implementation supports four styles: solid color, pulsing color, diagonal stripes (“zebra style”), and checkerboard. Once again, iOS can control the clipping threshold and overlay color.

There is no consumer in Beta 8 to enable the feature in the Camera app. In the demo, below you can see the effect within the preview window.

https://preview.redd.it/2lov02eu24oh1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9f9f3fc08d2c3ce8f356a10b12472f9e73482e4

Repeated self-timer captures​

The Camera app also includes a new feature named “Captures.” With this, once you have selected one of the pre-determined timer options, you can select a number of repeated captures to take with a countdown of the selected duration before each capture.

The code restarts the timer after requesting a capture, so the app doesn’t have to wait until the photo is fully processed to begin the next countdown.

The interface for this feature is unfinished in Beta 8. Forcing the feature enabled in a test environment causes “A menu cannot be produced for Captures.” error. The underlying capture loop logic is implemented behind an internal development capability in Beta 8.

https://preview.redd.it/mh7a9bpv24oh1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=db626c3737de9bb3687f4179afea423c422ba42d

Manual focus​

Apple has also tested manual focus in the Camera app, with a control for changing the lens position. This would let you choose where the camera focuses and hold that position instead of relying on autofocus. Similar systems ship in Apple’s Final Cut Camera and third-party apps already.

The control showed up in iOS 26 versions as ChromeLensPositionControls, along with the implementation to respond when the user moves the focus slider. Exposing this control in iOS 26 reveals a Focus slider, with acceptable values between 0 and 1. Moving the slider locks the focus and sends the selected lens position to the capture controller.

The story gets more interesting in iOS 27. The lower-level command for locking focus at a selected lens position remains. While the Focus slider and the code to respond to user input was removed in beta 1, Apple added an explicit capability check that checks the device’s first supported iOS version. The current capability check requires a compatible iPhone with a first release of iOS 27 or later, meaning that the feature is not compatible with any existing iPhone.

https://preview.redd.it/kx8vexsw24oh1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a2b5f1f9ea9dc2f8f839e20bfe0acf661f9ed86

Aperture-dependent optical processing​

The final change affects image processing and may be relevant to a device with a variable physical aperture. iOS 27 can choose and blend lens correction data based on the aperture value. These corrections are meant to compensate for differences in light distribution across the image.

Apple’s implementation can use calibration references for neighboring aperture values and combine them with varying contribution levels. I tested the original calculation code with sample inputs shown in the graph below. The calibrator accepts 1-4 correction data references. With multiple references, it finds the neighboring values and blends their corrections.

https://preview.redd.it/o9icgady24oh1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=99b2576d1ca7fc17b59c59ef7205a0b60d90e89e

While the code accepts up to four calibration references, it does not mean that the new iPhone has four physical aperture stops. iOS may be using just enough references and extrapolating lens data for intermediate aperture values.

Sources

The following links are pinned to the revision used for this post:

Exposure scopes: waveforms and histograms​

• Luminance, RGB Composite and RGB Parade presets added for both scopes in iOS 27 beta 2
• Histogram rendering, bar-count and smoothing controls added in beta 2

Focus peaking and highlight-clipping overlays​

• Focus-peaking and highlight-clipping preview APIs added in iOS 27 beta 1
• Assistive-overlay processing, clipping styles, colors and thresholds added in beta 1

Repeated self-timer captures​

• Repeated-capture count and remaining-count setters added to Camera in beta 1
• User-selected interval capture count handler added in beta 1

Manual focus​

• Older manual-focus position and lock handlers removed in beta 1
• Older ChromeLensPositionControls UI type removed in beta 1

Aperture-dependent optical processing​

• Aperture-dependent lens-shading calibration conversion added in beta 1
• Lens-shading aperture calibration restricted to one through four references in beta 2

If your call drops, iOS 27 will alert you when cellular outages have been reported in your area by other Apple devices.

There’s also a notification when your carrier has confirmed the outage.

If you haven’t already, iOS will also suggest you turn on Wi-Fi Calling.

Added in Beta 1

Apple may be holding back some of the biggest features in watchOS 27 for its September launch. Plus, more hardware details for upcoming models: new optical sensor family, and models with 128GB of storage.

New Readiness app​

Apple is preparing a separate Watch app referred to in code as Readiness or Cobalt. This app is distinct from the existing Vitals app.

The watchOS 27 launcher includes it in its default Home Screen layout ordering immediately after the Workout app. The Watch companion app on iOS 27 also references the same Readiness app in its implementation for arranging apps.

The app’s identifier changed during the betas. In beta 5, both iOS and watchOS referred to the app as com.apple.cobalt.watchapp. In beta 6, watchOS switched to com.apple.readiness, while iOS continues to use the Cobalt identifier in beta 8 today.

The app itself is not included in any watchOS beta, so its interface and feature set are unknown. The name and placement next to the Workout app could mean that Apple is ready to introduce a more substantial readiness or recovery experience on Apple Watch. While Vitals currently have a standalone app on the Watch, training load details are only accessible through the Activity app.

Richer strength workouts​

Apple has also expanded its health infrastructure to accommodate richer details in strength workouts. The new implementation can describe individual sets and store repetition counts, weight, equipment, body side, and duration for each set.

A workout activity can now represent a session with multiple sets, with different loads and repetition counts in each.

These changes were added in iOS 27 beta 1 and expanded to watchOS with beta 3, adding duration and repetition types to individual measurements. iOS and watchOS already ship with the necessary database migrations to accommodate the new records.

Still, the implementation is stubbed in both iOS and watchOS, meaning that apps cannot currently create these new expanded strength workout records.

New optical-sensing system for Apple Watch​

watchOS 27 adds a new optical-sensing family called Sunstone4p0, which may point to revised heart-sensing hardware for an upcoming Apple Watch.

Revised noise modeling​

Apple Watch measures your heart rate by shining light into the wrist and detecting changes in the reflected light. watchOS 27 changes how the software models noise in the new sensor family and adjusts signal filtering. Compared to the previous Sunstone3p75plus implementation, thermal-noise coefficients are 10-20% lower, with many LED-related noise coefficients also lower.

Noise modeling has been updated in this generation as well. While the previous generation used a single set of values, the new Sunstone4p0 family comes with typical and upper-limit values. Some upper-limit values match the model values of the previous generation. All in all, the new sensor family may come with quieter electronics. While there are many factors that go into a good measurement, lower electronic noise may help improve readings when the reflected pulse signal is weak.

Changes to channel selection​

The second big change in the new sensor family is optical channel selection. watchOS uses these channels to determine the signal paths it will use for measurement. While the previous generation returns a fixed pair of optical channels, Sunstone4p0 selects different pairs according to left/right wrist and crown orientation. These changes could mean an updated physical layout, wiring, or a different choice of signals from the existing sensor array.

Hints about 128GB of storage​

The Watch update firmware also includes a clue about the storage capacity for new Apple Watch devices. There's a Samsung storage profile associated with T8320 and labeled 1024gb. Based on standard NAND flash naming, this profile is consistent with 1,024 gigabits, or 128GB of storage.

T8320 has long been identified as the CPU for upcoming Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 models. Interestingly, watchOS 26 contained both 512gb (64GB) and 1024gb (128GB) profiles, but watchOS 27 betas have only included the larger 128GB profile.

Sources

New Readiness app​

• Readiness identifier and Cobalt app identifier added in iOS 27 beta 5

Richer strength workouts​

• Set, measurement, and equipment tables added in iOS 27 beta 1
• Duration and repetition-type fields added in iOS 27 beta 3

New optical-sensing system for Apple Watch​

• Sunstone4p0 noise and filtering parameters added in iOS 27 beta 1
• Sunstone4p0 channel maps, including separate left/right wrist maps

Hints about 128GB of storage​

• T8320 NAND firmware profiles: inside the extracted update ramdisk, inspect /usr/standalone/firmware/t8320/. The 000000031000A1D8.pak entry points to bfh_ofw.t8320.ofw.samsung_tlc_3d_g8_4p_1024gb.bin.

Announced at WWDC26, iOS 27 allows users to pre-allocate storage for high-data-rate video captures across camera apps.

When you have an app that opts in to AVProVideoStorage, you'll see a new “Configure Pro Video Storage” option under Settings > Camera > Formats.

Added in Beta 1

Apple is working on a range of improvements to its current home theater offerings. Code added in audioOS 27, the operating system running on HomePod devices, shows that four HomePods may soon work as a four-speaker surround system. It also includes references to an unreleased speaker.

1. Four-HomePod surround system

Apple currently lets Apple TV use one HomePod or a stereo pair as its default speakers. Unused tuning files in audioOS 27 describe a larger arrangement with four HomePods in front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right positions.

The current-hardware configuration is designed for HomePod (2nd generation). audioOS 27 doesn’t include equivalent tunings for the original HomePod or HomePod mini. HomeKit, the Home app, and Apple TV are not wired to recognize a four-HomePod system, so it's not currently possible to set up surround sound with HomePod and Apple TV.

In the quad placement, each speaker has its own role and sound treatment. The front speakers use left- and right-specific processing, and they compensate for their potential placement close to walls and corners. Rear HomePods get an omnidirectional treatment designed to fill the space behind and around the listener.

The new tuning has a processing pipeline to manage each HomePod’s woofer and tweeters, and control bass, EQ, synchronization, and calibration data.

Each HomePod gets one of the new four roles: quad_frontleft, quad_frontright, quad_rearleft, and quad_rearright. Separate tunings in files like speaker_frontleft,  speaker_frontright,  speaker_rearleft, and speaker_rearright then apply the appropriate treatment to each HomePod.

Automatic room and speaker calibration

HomePod already uses its microphones to analyze the room and calibrate solo and stereo-pair setups. audioOS 27 extends the automatic calibration to the quad-speaker system. New management capabilities include a surround-specific measurement path, a timing-offset estimator, and a four-by-four map of the speaker positions.

Dynamic surround audio tuning

The four-speaker system changes its processing to match what is playing:

• Movie and multichannel audio receive dialogue processing, bass management, dynamic range control, EQ, and an immersive spatial mixer.
• There’s a separate low-latency surround mode.
• Music gets its own bass, dynamic range, and EQ settings.
• In stereo mode, there are two tunings:
  • Spatialization enabled. All four speakers receive a spatially processed mix.
  • Spatialization disabled. Normal stereo plays on the front speakers, rear speakers receive an empty mix.
• audioOS also includes dedicated rear-channel mixes for Siri and system sounds.

2. New hardware

Another tuning family may point to new hardware. A new tuning, internally called Forklift, shows a mixed four-speaker system: two AID12001 speakers, and two AID12007 speakers.

AID12001 is the audio-tuning family used by HomePod (2nd generation), internally known as B620. The Forklift volume profile uses two current-gen HomePods as front speakers.

The other two speakers come from the AID12007 tuning family, which does not match any of Apple’s existing HomePod products:

• Original HomePod: B238a
• HomePod mini: B520
• HomePod (2nd generation): B620, mapped to AID12001

While there is a reported B525 HomePod mini successor, the AID12007 identifier has not previously been reported. It is possible that AID12007 corresponds to the HomePod mini successor, or a new HomePod (3rd generation). Because the reference is only by name, not capabilities, there's no way to tell if it's a full or HomePod mini.

Apple also worked on the separate SUV configuration described above, which uses four AID12001 HomePod (2nd generation) speakers, so the company has tested a two configurations for its surround system:

• 4x HomePod (2nd generation)
• 2x HomePod (2nd generation) + 2x AID12007, which is unreleased hardware

3. Party Mode

Apple is also working on additional audio tunings for stereo-pair setups using HomePod (2nd generation). Several new files are selected when “Party Mode” is enabled. Designed specifically for stereo pairs, Party Mode uses a rendering mode called diffuse.

The Party Mode profiles spread the sound into a wider, more ambient mix. The goal is to make music fill a room more evenly instead of creating a perfect listening spot in front of the speakers. Siri and system sounds also receive a wide mix treatment and are spread throughout the room.

---

Unfortunately, there's no public ipsw-diff repository for audioOS updates. For reference, you can check the following files on audioOS 27 beta 8 (24J5360a) for HomePod (2nd generation):

• /Library/Audio/Tunings/AID12001/VAD/SoundAutoConfigStrips.plist: four-speaker roles and the SUV and Forklift configurations.
• /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SoundAutoConfig.framework/XPCServices/soundautoconfigservice.internal.xpc/soundautoconfigservice.internal: automatic room and speaker calibration.
• /Library/Audio/Tunings/AID12001/VAD/speaker_multichannel_movie_surround.austrip: movie and multichannel surround processing
• /Library/Audio/Tunings/AID12001/VAD/speaker_stereo_party_mode_on.austrip: Party Mode

Announced at WWDC26, iOS 27 will support switching between two iPhone devices with the same phone number.

The feature will be called iPhone Handoff. Your phone number will switch between the two iPhone devices depending on which one is unlocked.

Carrier bundles for T-Mobile US and Deutsche Telekom in iOS 27 add support for the feature, according to https://redesmoveisfixas.com/carrier. However, T-Mobile's enrollment server currently returns a 'feature disabled' response, so enrollment is not possible. There are some reports that enrollment was available last month.

The relevant support article will be https://support.apple.com/en-us/127274 when Apple releases it. For more publicly available details from Apple, see iPhone quick switch on Apple Developer.

Introduced in Beta 1, with changes along all beta releases