iOS 27 beta 3 unlocks Siri Expressive Voices and AI features across iPhone, Apple Watch

iOS 27 beta 3 just landed -- Siri Expressive Voices, Live Recognition, Apple Intelligence at Home and more

Here are all the newest features coming with the third iOS 27 beta update It's been just shy of a month since the first iOS 27 developer beta was released, and we're already on the third version of the software. It seems Apple is blasting out updates, fixing issues with the software and unlocking those new capabilities that weren't quite ready for release. Considering iOS 27 beta 2 was only released two weeks ago, the third beta update doesn't come with enormous changes. But those of you that have access to the developer beta will still notice some things have changed, and formerly-locked off Siri AI features are now readily available. Here's what's changed in iOS 27 beta 3 iOS 27 developer beta 3: Siri Expressive Voices The main change in iOS 27 beta 3 is that Apple has finally unlocked Siri's expressive voice feature on compatible iPhones. Those of you with an iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max, which all have 12GB of RAM, will be able to customize and alter the tone and emotional range of Siri AI's voice. Previously this was all grayed out in Siri's settings, and the only option available was Siri's gender. Now, though, you can make your AI assistant more attuned to you, rather than offering one of the same flat, pre-set voices as everywhere else. However the update between beta 2 and 3 means Siri needs to be redownloaded, which resets the AI to its default settings. Please bear that in mind before you update. Apple Intelligence in Home Apple Intelligence in Home is also available with this new update, but what the iOS 27 beta 3 release notes don't tell you is that these features all require a 2TB iCloud+ plan -- which costs $10 a month. Previously this was the tier that unlocked unlimited HomeKit Secure Video cameras, so it makes sense that the new AI features would be locked down behind the same paywall. The accessibility settings now feature a "Live Recognition" section, for managing how this particular feature works. Recognition uses on-device AI to detect and describe things with the camera app, letting you ask questions about what it can see. That's a fantastic feature for those with vision impairments, and this menu lets you adjust how this works -- including an option that lets you ask questions via speech or text. Shortcuts and AirPods Transparency The Shortcuts app, which added the ability to describe what function you wanted to set up in iOS 27 beta 1, now has the option to choose whether you want to do that or if you'd rather set the whole thing up manually. If you own AirPods, there's a helpful new features in iOS 27 beta 3. The Adaptive menu in the AirPods app features a slider that lets you customize how much transparency you get vs noise cancelation. Actually helpful pop-ups A few informative pop-ups have been added to beta 3, for those of you that aren't diving through the release notes to see what's changed. Apple Maps now tells you that route preferences have moved, and points you to their new home. Apple Intelligence also warns you when you're about to send data to Google's cloud servers, in case you're the kind of person that wants to keep all their AI processing firmly on device. Other smaller features include a redesigned low-battery indicator, a subtly different wallpaper animation, an updated Reminders icon with Liquid Glass to-do list bullets, and the ability to see cellular network details in the Control Center without disconnecting from Wi-Fi first. Naturally, the update also comes with a bunch of smaller bug fixes as well. Keep it locked to Tom's Guide for all the latest iOS 27 news and tips. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok. Finally, you can visit our dedicated Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub for expert help on getting the best products for less.

Here's What's New With iOS 27 Beta 3

You can also use Siri AI on watchOS 27, and Siri is showing the first signs of pulling data from third-party apps. Apple is actively beta testing iOS 27, trialing new features like Siri AI, new AI image editing features, and upgraded parental controls. Developers and testers can get an early look at these features and more by installing the beta on their devices. And while this beta looks a lot like the iOS 27 Apple advertised at WWDC, it changes massively with each subsequent update. Case in point, Apple dropped the third beta for iOS 27, introducing a number of new features and changes for the OS. Here's what's new: You can now customize Siri's voice in iOS 27 There's a lot new with Siri this year. Apple finally overhauled the assistant with Apple Intelligence, which promises to be much more useful than the Siri of old. Among those changes, however, was something particularly useful for those of us who love customizing our devices: Apple now lets you customize Siri's voice. This wasn't available with the first two betas, but now, beta testers can give it a try -- assuming they have a supported iPhone. Even though Siri AI is available on iPhone 15 Pro and newer, this customization feature only works with iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. If you have one of these devices, and you're running the third iOS 27 beta, you'll now be able to adjust both the assistant's pace and "expressivity." Siri AI arrives on watchOS 27 If you're running the watchOS 27 beta, good news: Apple finally added Siri AI support as part of this third beta round. That includes the new Siri app, so you can pick up conversations from your other devices on your watch. Again, this all assumes you have a compatible Apple Watch: Apple cut support for all Apple Watches older than the Series 9 -- including the first-gen Ultra and the second-gen SE. You should also exercise caution before installing watchOS betas: Unlike iOS betas, which you can downgrade from (even if there's some pain), Apple does not let you uninstall a watchOS beta. That means if you run into issues or otherwise regret your adventure, you'll need to ride out the wave until Apple releases watchOS 27 in full. Siri AI can now pull from third-party apps As 9to5Mac highlights, Siri AI can now tap into third-party apps on your iPhone to return results. At the moment, testers have only found one function that works here: pulling battery information from electric car apps. But it's a real development and a small demonstration of how Siri AI could be a capable assistant on iOS. This was something writer Khamosh Pathak was missing when testing out Siri AI on the second iOS 27 beta. While Siri AI seems great at pulling information from your Apple apps, it hasn't thus far been able to tap into your non-Apple apps. Hopefully the list of available functions and apps continues to grow so Siri AI can be even more useful. You can control your AirPods' Adaptive mode Apple's "Adaptive" mode blends Active Noise Cancellation with its Transparency mode. It "adapts" to changes in your environment, pumping in sound when things are quiet and blocking sounds as it gets too noisy. In my experience, it works well, especially when you want to be able to hear what's going on around you without letting particularly loud sounds hurt your ears. But it's not easy to customize: You traditionally need to dive through the settings to find Adaptive mode's controls if you'd prefer it to be more or less sensitive to noise. iOS 27 beta 3 changes that. Now, as part of iOS 27's improved AirPods settings menu, you can simply control Adaptive mode through a volume slider. It's far more intuitive and present than before, and hopefully makes it to iOS 27's official release. Apple added a new Lock Screen animation to iOS 27 When you update to iOS 27 beta 3, you'll notice something new when swiping down to your Lock Screen: The subject of your wallpaper will slowly appear before the full wallpaper pops into view. I'm not 100% sure this is something Apple intended to appear in beta 3, but if it is, it is a bold choice. iOS 27 now warns you before you send data to Google's servers Apple isn't operating its new AI features alone. In addition to tapping into ChatGPT for some services, the company is also utilizing Google servers for certain AI processes. With the third iOS 27 beta, you'll now receive a pop-up before your iPhone sends your data to Google. You can either choose to send the data one time, allow iOS to send your data whenever it needs to, or block access entirely. Apple is adamant that any data sent to Google servers still maintains the same Private Cloud Compute protections as the data that runs through its own servers.