iOS 27 adds PKStrokeRecognizer to PencilKit, enabling on-device handwriting recognition across 29 languages, plus Bézier path conversion, stable stroke identity, selection access, and programmatic stroke slicing APIs.
• PKStrokeRecognizer runs fully on-device with no network required, letting any app search, index, or validate handwritten content without a privacy compromise
• Path conversion between PKStrokePath and Bézier paths means you can retrofit handwriting recognition onto existing custom canvas implementations — not just PKCanvasView
• Stable stroke UUIDs and programmatic erasing/substroke extraction unlock custom undo stacks, stroke-order animations, and interactive highlight features that were previously impossible
Liquid Glass is Apple's new material and visual design language introduced in iOS 27, bringing translucent, refractive glass-like surfaces to system and custom UI elements. It replaces the frosted vibrancy aesthetic with a more dynamic, depth-aware material that responds to content beneath it.
iOS 27 brings a sweeping set of SwiftUI enhancements including Liquid Glass design adoption, new toolbar visibility and overflow APIs, document architecture improvements with Observable, and resizable iPhone app support — all designed to modernize app UIs with minimal code changes.
Xcode 27 introduces a fully customizable toolbar and theme system, untitled scratch projects, coding agent integration directly in the editor, and the new Device Hub for evaluating apps across simulators and physical devices side-by-side.
In-depth guide
SwiftUI & Liquid Glass in iOS 27 →PaperKit is Apple's full-featured canvas framework — previously internal-only — now publicly available in iOS/macOS/visionOS 27. It powers the drawing and markup experience in Notes, Preview, and Freeform, giving developers access to a complete pencil, shapes, images, and text canvas with a rich data model.