iOS 27's five overlooked features that help older iPhones

Testing the iOS 27 developer beta revealed several smaller changes that received little WWDC attention but can noticeably improve older iPhones. A new Save Video Frame option extracts a photo from any playing video via the three‑dot menu. The extracted images are compressed — screenshots ranged from about 6MB to 9MB while extracted frames were roughly 500KB — yet look similar and save space.

The lock screen also gets a cleaner look: a smaller clock showing date and time on one row, a bottom row of widgets, and media playback controls you can swipe away. Find My gains more flexible location sharing, letting you choose minutes, hours, or days, or set a specific end date and time.

Connectivity Assist can automatically use cellular data alongside Wi‑Fi to maintain steadier speeds; enable it in Settings > Wi‑Fi > Connectivity Assist. AirPods get custom EQ and GymKit support for AirPods Pro 3, allowing pairing with compatible cardio equipment to surface metrics like pace and heart rate.

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