iOS 27.2 launches next week with new features for iPhone users, including improvements across six Apple apps. Here’s what’s coming.
One of my favorite additions to Messages this year, Suggested Actions, debuts in iOS 27.2.
Suggested Actions appear underneath messages in a conversation when relevant. They can suggest creating a calendar event or reminder, adding to a note, and more based on the context of the message.
The feature was originally part of the iOS 27 beta this summer, but didn’t make the public build. Now it’s back in iOS 27.2, new and improved. There’s also an option to fine-tune which types of suggestions you’ll see.
Read more: iOS 27.2 adds new Messages feature that’s already a favorite
Every major streaming service has its own profiles feature, letting users on the same account keep their viewing history and recommendations separate. Apple TV has long offered such a feature in tvOS, but now with iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2 it’s coming to iPhone and iPad too.
When you launch the TV app in iOS 27.2, you’ll be greeted by a new profile selection screen. You can easily disable it if you don’t want to see if again. But if you ever share your iPhone with kids, the new profiles feature should come in handy.
Read more: iOS 27.2 gives Apple TV a new profiles feature on iPhone
Dual Capture is one of FaceTime’s best new features in years. Added in iOS 27, on compatible iPhones it lets you keep your front and rear cameras both active at the same time while on a FaceTime call.
iOS 27.2 brings a key upgrade to Dual Capture: it’s now available for Group FaceTime calls.
To use the feature, just hit the flip camera button like usual, and by default on iPhone 17 and newer you’ll stream both camera feeds simultaneously.
Read more: iOS 27.2 makes FaceTime’s best new feature even better
Timed with its new Home products push, Apple adds a pair of new Home app features in iOS 27.2 for compatible smart locks.
‘Lock After Closing’ is a new automation setting that lets you choose how long after a door is closed that it should lock automatically. Previously you could only set a duration based on the time since a door was unlocked, not closed.
‘Door Left Open’ tackles a related, but distinct problem: a door being left open too long. With compatible locks, you can configure the Home app to automatically notify you if a door has been left open for a certain period of time.
Read more: iOS 27.2 has three new changes just added this week
Apple Podcasts keeps getting better, with AI-powered automatic chapters and transcripts some of my favorite features. And in iOS 27.2, Apple has a welcome change to the Up Next queue on the Home tab.
Up Next is now being split into two separate queues: New Episodes and Continue Playing.
New Episodes contains only the latest episodes from shows you follow, while Continue Playing is a hub for all the episodes you’ve previously started but haven’t yet finished.
Apple’s Games app has a couple smaller upgrades for its Home tab in iOS 27.2 as well.
The Home tab now shows you recently downloaded games that you haven’t yet played. Previously, you would only see games with some play activity. And Apple says achievement progress and leaderboard scores have been updated in the Home tab to be easier to track.
Which new iOS 27.2 features are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.
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Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.
