Apple has released the beta of iOS 27, and the community is rubbing its hands together. Amid the shine of the new adjustable liquid glass and redesigned icons, features we've been begging for for years are sneaking in: we will finally be able to separate the volume from the ringer and alarm. Extra-large widgets that take up the entire screen and a resizable lock screen clock are also arriving. It all sounds like a revolution, but it smells more like a catch-up. 🤔
Copy and paste from Android with a fresh coat of paint 🎨
Let's analyze the technical changes. The full-screen widgets are identical to those on Android, which have been on the home screen since 2012. The liquid glass transparency control is a graphical effect that, on devices like the iPhone 12 or 13, translates into stutters and more battery drain. The independent volumes were an artificial shortcoming: Apple could have implemented it in iOS 10, but saved it to sell as a big novelty. The resizable clock solves a problem they themselves created by fixing its size. In short, the beta is a historic patch that arrives a decade late.
The beta testers: working for free so Tim Cook can launch the iPhone 18 💸
The best part is that the beta is released so fans can act as free quality control. While they report bugs with religious devotion, Apple rubs its hands together: the liquid glass will slow down their old iPhones enough to make them think about buying the new model. And hey, if you get excited about the resizable clock, remember that on Android you could move it with a finger while Apple was still selling cases with a hole for the home button. Innovation, they call it.