Although the Phone and FaceTime apps did not receive the lion’s share of the spotlight during Apple’s announcement of iOS 27, the company introduced a set of very smart and practical improvements to them. These new features do not just show off software muscle for the sake of flair; they offer tangible solutions to facilitate communication and manage daily calls with high efficiency.
Phone App: “Call Context” feature and Artificial Intelligence
Getting the information you need while on a phone call with a company or organization has become easier and smarter in the iOS 27 update. Apple has added a new feature called “Call Context” that relies entirely on Apple Intelligence.
When you call an airline, for example, the Phone app automatically recognizes the number and checks the Mail app on your device to immediately show you the booking confirmation code or your upcoming flight details on the screen. The same applies when calling hotels or various customer service departments. The beauty of this feature is that it does not listen to what you say in the call at all; rather, it links the number you are calling to the data stored in your email.
This data is processed entirely on your device to ensure absolute privacy, and this feature requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later. It also works seamlessly even if you make the call from your iPad or Mac.
FaceTime App: Dual streaming with front and rear cameras
The big feature that will catch the eyes of FaceTime users is Dual Capture. This feature allows you to use the front and rear cameras at the same time during a video call, so the person you are talking to can see your face and watch what you are filming with the rear camera at the same moment.
Activating this feature is very simple; just press the camera switch button during the call. If you want to share what you see via the rear camera only without showing your face, you can turn off the front camera with a single touch.
Live streaming using Dual Capture is limited to iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Air models, and newer devices. But the pleasant surprise is that any device running iOS 27 can receive and view this dual stream without any hardware requirements.
Connectivity improvements and security aspects in FaceTime
In addition to Dual Capture, Apple has brought other fundamental improvements that make the FaceTime experience more reliable and secure:
- Call quality: FaceTime calls now adapt better to weak internet networks to provide higher audio and video quality than before.
- Switching between Wi-Fi and cellular networks: The ability of iPhones in iOS 27 to seamlessly transition between Wi-Fi and cellular data during a call has improved, reducing the likelihood of dropped calls.
- Live Captions: This feature now supports Traditional Chinese.
- Communication Safety: The scope of protection for children has been expanded to include blocking scenes of violence and gore in FaceTime and Messages, whereas it was previously limited only to nude content.
Official release date for iOS 27
iOS 27 is currently undergoing beta testing for developers and public beta program subscribers. It is scheduled to be officially released to all users this fall, coinciding with the announcement of the new iPhone models.
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