Apple Wants You to Build Your Own Camera App in iOS 27

Apple's Camera app has stayed roughly the same for years, but that's about to change in iOS 27.

In a major shakeup, Bloomberg reports that Apple plans to let users pick which controls appear in the Camera app, right down to the flash, exposure, timer, depth of field, photo styles, and resolution.

The existing default layout and its quick-tap buttons for flash, Live Photos, and Night Mode aren't going anywhere, though. Instead, Apple is adding a separate "advanced" layout aimed at users who want more granular control over how they shoot.

The camera controls in the new layout are said to be treated as widgets that can be dragged into any order along the top of the interface. A transparent tray reportedly slides up from the bottom of the app, with widgets sorted into basic, manual, and settings categories. Photo and video modes each get their own widget configurations, too.

Apple is also adding a new Siri mode for the Camera app that brings in the Visual Intelligence features currently triggered by the Camera Control button.

It's a notable development for a stock app that Apple has historically kept locked down. It also sounds like a subtle admission that the iPhone's camera has outgrown the existing interface. Third-party apps like Halide and Kino have spent years filling the gap for users who want more manual control, and it looks like iOS 27 will finally bring some of that flexibility in-house, but without forcing it on everyone else.

Apple will preview iOS 27 at WWDC, which kicks off this year on June 8, with a general release expected in the fall, just in time for new iPhone 18 Pro models to be launched.