⚡ 20SEP2026: iOS27 Indie Apps I Use
A rundown of the apps I use everyday that have added iOS 27 features this week.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
As has become tradition whenever there is a major new iOS release, this week I am going to be sharing some of my favorite apps that have updated to make the most of the newly released iOS 27. This is not an exhaustive list of my favorite apps. Instead, it's going to focus just on indie apps that I use regularly and that have put in the work to make use of the new APIs. I'm also including at the bottom some iOS 27-friendly indie apps that I haven't gotten to try much or at all, but that seem like they may be worth checking out.
The vast majority of the apps integrating iOS 27 are taking advantage of the new Siri AI capabilities. Siri AI can now see what you are seeing on your screen and take action on that information. It also has access to all the apps on your device that have enabled it so that you can ask Siri to take actions for you within those apps. It really is a massive level-up and a huge improvement over the Siri that we have known for the last few decades. While I'm excited about the new capabilities, Siri still does feel like it is pretty far behind the state of the art for agentic assistance. I'm hopeful that with this new foundation in place, Apple will be able to continue to iterate and catch up over the next year or two.
I'm sponsoring this week's issue to share that I just released Capture v1.5 this last week. Capture is a macOS app for quickly capturing thoughts/links/reminders/nefarious schemes to your text-based database of choice (I use Obsidian and Outerline). Hit Opt + C anywhere on your Mac, write your note and it's added to your inbox or appended to your Daily Note.
Version 1.5 now lets you craft your own template, formatted however you like. Want a very specific time and date stamp followed by your note, with the source in italics underneath? No problem. Prefer just your note, added as a simple bullet point? You got it.
On to the good stuff!
Spark - Spark is my go-to email app these days. I honestly only use a fraction of its capabilities, but it does a great job of letting me manage the half dozen or so email accounts I use every day. They added support for Siri AI throughout the app on iOS, in addition to recently opening up their Mac app for use with your agents of choice via their MCP connection.
Stuff - I've been using Stuff off and on as my to-do app of choice over the last year or so, and it's been awesome watching the steady improvement that Austin, Stuff's developer, has been investing into the app. Apparently, I'm not the only one to notice how great it is, because Apple wound up featuring the app in one of its promo videos during the most recent iPhone announcement! Stuff was updated last week to make it totally effortless to get your to-dos into Stuff and organize them through integration with Siri AI. Stuff also added a command-line interface for the Mac version so your local agents can help you stay on top of your to-do list. For example, I transcribe all my calls with Granola on my Mac, then I have Claude Code run an automation every few hours that combs my Granola transcripts for commitments and action items I have and adds them to Stuff, with the appropriate due date and category for the client.
Bevel - Bevel has been an awesome addition to my health-tracking and training regimen over the last year. They technically did an update to "support" iOS 27, but I don't see any major updates or any obvious new iOS 27-enabled capabilities. So I'm including the app here mostly to bully them into adding Siri AI support. (If you're looking to try out another indie health stats app, check out Reps. The developer is super proactive and constantly looking to improve the app.)
Albo - Albo is what I use for turning cool ideas on Instagram into real-world activities. In short, just share a screenshot or link to a social media post, and Albo will extract that recipe, that movie title, or the address of that coffee shop and save them to categorized lists that you can reference later when you need them. With their iOS 27 update, you can now use Siri AI to search your saves, like "Ask Albo what was that one-pot spaghetti recipe I saved from Reddit last week?" and it will pull it up.
Fantastical - I have been trying for months to find a replacement for Fantastical, not because I don't like it, but because I've just been using it for years and would like to try something different. However, I just haven't found anything to replace all the features I've come to rely on. Fantastical, like others, has integrated Siri AI throughout the app, making it even easier to schedule and manage your calendar. When will somebody give this great app some real competition?
Flighty - If you travel at all by plane, this app continues to be essential, especially now that they have added weekly subscriptions rather than requiring a costly annual subscription. While many airlines' apps have gotten major improvements to try to copy some of Flighty's functionality, it still remains ahead of the pack and often gives me more detailed information about my flight status than even the native airline apps. With iOS 27, you can now ask Siri what gate you'll be arriving at or whether your flight is delayed, and Flighty will get you the information you need without having to open the app.
Carrot / Mercury - Yep, I have two weather apps on here. If I'm truthful, I have probably close to a dozen weather apps on my phone at present, but these two are the ones I use the most. While the snarky murder robot persona of Carrot has gotten kind of old for me, I still have not found anything that provides the depth of information with as many different sources to choose from and as much customization of how it is presented as Carrot. Despite its goofy persona, it is an incredibly powerful weather app that I really have come to rely on. Separately, Mercury has just beautiful charts that I love to use for widgets on my iPad and iPhone. It is much simpler, but still very excellent. Both apps have brought great integration with Siri AI. Carrot has taken a distinct route in that it is using Apple Intelligence to help you build hyper-personalized weather dashboards in the app and even get scheduling information for the best times to do your favorite outdoor activities. Mercury, on the other hand, is integrating with Siri to let you ask about upcoming or past trips and get relevant weather details. They've also added some beautiful extra-large weather widgets that I'm betting will stun on the iPhone duo later this Fall.
Dark Noise - I can't tell you how many different scenarios I've found myself in where this ambient noise app has come in handy. Everything from needing to drown out background noise at a coffee shop to helping me sleep better at night, I keep Dark Noise in my Control Center so it's always just one button press away. Now with iOS 27, it integrates with Siri AI so that I can ask for just the right ambient noise that I like without having to lift a finger.
Zenitizer - Zenitizer is simple and delightful, just like a meditation app should be. I should be using it more than I do, but whenever I get some time to sit, I reach for Zenitizer. With its iOS 27 update, Manuehl (the developer) introduced a really pleasant UI update with more subtle Liquid Glass touches and added integration with Siri AI so you can just ask Siri to start your favorite meditation timer template with your favorite bells at any time.
Tapestry - When I want to take a break from the algorithm but still want to get caught up on cool things happening on the web, I fire up Iconfactory's Tapestry app. Tapestry aggregates my Mastodon, Bluesky, RSS, YouTube, podcast feeds, and more into an algorithm-free chronological timeline. Now, with version 2.0 dropping tomorrow, September 21st, you can post and reply within the app without having to switch over to the more addictive social media interfaces. On a side note, I'm sponsoring the app this month—so if you check it out, you might randomly see yours truly slide by in the timeline literally begging you to subscribe 😅
Sequel - Sequel is the media tracker that I keep coming back to. While I primarily use it to keep track of the movies and TV shows that I am watching or want to watch, it can also be used to keep track of your gaming library or backlog, what books you own versus want to read, and so on. Now with iOS 27, it's gotten even easier to both search and add to your libraries. You can now ask more ambiguous searches like "show me all the Ben Stiller movies from the '90s" and get a full list. You can also use visual intelligence to take a picture of your bookshelf, and Sequel will recognize all the books and give you the option to add whichever ones you want to your library.
That's it for this week, may you get +1 wifi bar everywhere you go.