Apple releases Siri AI to everyone through iOS 27 public beta, marking biggest assistant overhaul

Apple opens its new Siri AI to everyone with the iOS 27 public beta

Apple is opening up its biggest-ever Siri overhaul to a broader audience with the release of the iOS 27 public beta, giving everyday users the chance to try out the new AI assistant ahead of its broader launch later this fall. The public beta marks the first time Apple has made its AI-powered Siri widely available beyond developers. With some 2.5 billion active devices worldwide, even if only a fraction of users install the public beta, it will still represent the largest test of Apple's redesigned AI assistant and its answer to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and others. The Siri AI update, which was officially announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, turns Apple's aging voice assistant into a more capable, AI-powered tool that can access information on a user's device, including emails, photos, and messages, as well as respond to what's on the screen and ground its answers in world knowledge, similar to any modern-day AI chatbot. It's also more deeply integrated across the operating system. It can be accessed by saying "Hey Siri" or by pressing the side button, as before, as well as by swiping down from the Dynamic Island (the black bar at the top of the screen). Plus, it's integrated into the iPhone's built-in search engine tool, Spotlight, making it more powerful than before because it can search for answers to almost any question. For the first time, Siri has also been given its own standalone app, a user experience that people already comfortable with chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini may prefer. However, because Siri is so deeply integrated throughout the iPhone, accessing it via an app seems somewhat unnecessary. In addition to iOS 27 on iPhone, the upgraded Siri is available across all other Apple products, including iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPods, Apple TV, and Vision Pro. Under the hood, Siri AI leverages Apple Intelligence, including Apple's new Foundation Models that run on the device and use its Private Cloud Compute. Apple built its Foundation Models in collaboration with Google and its Gemini model, but these models are not just some rebranded version of Gemini. Instead, Apple's models were built specifically for its Apple Silicon using proprietary data, and distilled Google's Gemini -- a process that uses Gemini to create smaller, highly efficient models built into iOS and other Apple software. Meanwhile, Private Cloud Compute ensures that users' personal data isn't stored or accessible to Apple. In early tests of the developer version of Siri AI, the assistant was able to better handle basic tasks on the phone, like finding certain photos in your Photo Library, summarizing group texts, adding an appointment sent via text to your calendar, looking up nutritional information about what's in your camera view. It was also better at responding to questions you would normally have to search the web to answer, such as when an upcoming local event is happening, or what's happening in the news. In the developer beta, Siri sometimes threw error messages or got confused. (For instance, I once asked Siri for the latest news about Iran, and it searched my contacts for someone with that name.) However, it's easy to see Siri becoming a bigger part of your everyday digital life, especially because it doesn't require you to open an app to use it. Overall, the developer betas this year have been fairly stable, which makes the public beta much easier to recommend this time around. Of course, installing a beta should always be approached with caution; if your device must run perfectly smoothly and never experience errors, then you may want to hold off until the public launch of iOS 27, which is expected in September.

Siri AI Is Becoming Apple's Everything Tool

The latest version of Apple's smartphone software, iOS 27, is available for iPhone owners as a public beta. It's the first time Apple's long-promised revamped version of Siri is available to the general public. Showcased at the company's WWDC event in June as "Siri AI," Apple expanded on the original voice controls of the smartphone assistant, adding a chatbot-style app and further weaving it into the iPhone user experience. In my initial hands-on with a developer beta version of Siri AI, I was generally impressed by Apple's overhaul. It made the assistant feel actually helpful for navigating my phone and useful for tasks beyond voice-based interactions. Siri AI was able to help find old vacation photos, send quick texts, and pick a decent pancake spot -- all from basic prompts -- during my limited tests. It wasn't flawless, but the new Siri does feel worth giving a whirl, especially for iPhone owners who rarely, if ever, used the previous version. You might uncover a few hidden gems that become part of your daily usage. Siri now feels like part of the smartphone's infrastructure. "They've integrated it across the entire ecosystem, so you can access Siri AI no matter where you are on the device," says Nabila Popal, a senior research director who focuses on consumer devices at the International Data Corporation. "You can talk to it. You can also access it via an app. So, the accessibility of Siri AI and its integration across the operating system were really well done." You can still turn Siri off if you remain uninterested, but what Apple is offering may convince some users to rethink how they fundamentally interact with their iPhones. Below is a guide to some of the major changes to Siri AI, aimed at early adopters interested in downloading the iOS 27 public beta. You can sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program here. It's always worth backing up your device before you choose to download beta software, just in case anything goes haywire. I'll note that nothing went wrong with my iPhone 16 Pro Max when I tried the earlier developer betas. After you download the public beta, you also need to go into your settings to sign up for Apple's Siri waitlist; you'll receive a notification when you are off the waitlist and ready to take Siri for a spin. New App One of Siri AI's most immediately noticeable changes is the new chatbot-style app. The app is more of an interaction log than anything else. It's where you can keep track of past Siri chats or reignite previous threads. Sure, you can also start new chats here, but I didn't find myself doing that very often, since Siri is built into the iPhone's search functionality now. Don't want your Siri chats stored forever? Go into your phone's Settings, then find Siri AI and open up the Keep Conversations tab. Here's where you can pick between "forever," a year, or 30 days. If you change this setting to a shorter timeframe, then chats older than that will be wiped from the app. While the new Siri app will look somewhat familiar to anyone who has tried a chatbot like ChatGPT or Claude, the beta app doesn't have all the same functionality you might expect. For example, the current Siri app doesn't have a memory feature to store details about the user's preferences, which is standard among these chatbots. That means you'll have to keep reminding Siri AI that you're vegan when you ask for help finding recipes. It's worth keeping in mind that this is a fresh release from Apple, and the company is expected to iterate and add new capabilities down the line. Personal Context Even after you download the iOS 27 beta and get access to the new Siri, there's still a chance you might have to wait a bit longer for another process to complete: indexing. "Siri AI has access to the kind of context that things like ChatGPT and Claude can't easily have, because Siri is cooked into the operating system," says Josh Clark, principal at digital-design agency Big Medium and co-author of Sentient Design: Crafting Intelligent Interfaces with AI. Your iPhone essentially builds a searchable, on-device database during the indexing process. It's labeled as "Optimizing Search and Siri" in more recent iOS 27 developer betas, with a progress bar now included. It took my device a little over a week to fully index, though your experience with the public beta may differ depending on your device, storage, and the new software version. This means Siri can easily pull in data from across the device to better answer your questions. For example, on Monday morning, I asked Siri AI what I had on my plate for the week, and it gathered details from my recent text messages to highlight an upcoming order arriving from TikTok Shop. It also nudged me to grab tickets to the movie at the Castro Theater that friends had been discussing in a group chat. In addition to context from my texts, Siri also went through my calendar, marking a birthday party and tickets to a live performance as other key events. Don't want Siri to use your interactions with a specific app? In your phone's Settings, go to the Siri AI section and scroll down to App Access. Then, choose which app you want to change and toggle Learn from this App to the left. "Allow Siri to learn how you use this app to make suggestions across apps," reads a beta version of the description under this toggle. These are enabled by default if Siri AI is turned on. This revamped Siri is baked into the phone's search function. So, if you swipe down in the middle of the screen, Siri pops up with a Search or Ask bar. You can type into that blank space or tap the microphone icon to ask your question. If you hit enter, more often than not it will send the query to Siri for answers. For example, I typed "What's a good route for driving to Sacramento?" into Siri. It pulled up the Maps app with a suggested driving path pre-chosen. Not bad! If you want, you can still tap Show Results below the text bar for the more traditional web search vibe. On-Screen Awareness In addition to personal context from that indexing process, Siri can also pull details from what's currently visible on your screen. This type of on-screen awareness was available before as Siri's "Visual Intelligence," and it contributes to Siri feeling like it's actually helpful no matter what you're doing. This makes it easy to double-check something I'm seeing on social media. For example, I was scrolling on Bluesky and saw multiple posts about the singer Lorde criticizing Meta's AI smartglasses, but I hadn't seen a source for this news. So, when one of the posts was visible on my screen, I asked Siri AI, "Where did she say this?" I didn't need to provide specifics about who "she" was or what comment I was referring to; Siri pulled that info from my screen. Then, Siri confirmed that this happened at a festival in Madrid and provided links where I could read more. For Siri AI, seeing is believing. Well, at least seeing what's on your screen and what's around you. Beyond just on-screen awareness, Apple has a new Siri tab in the camera app, alongside your standard photo and video options. If you tap the circular button in the middle, Siri automatically analyzes the images and provides you with a quick paragraph of context. Tapping the message icon on the left uploads an image to Siri with the option to add a prompt for more details. Tapping the image search icon on the right browses the web for relevant links. Everything, Everywhere Siri AI is more than just Apple's smartphone assistant; it's also part of the user experience across the entire ecosystem. Siri is on iPads and Macs, with screenshot integrations on iPads and a dedicated shortcut on Macs. Even the Vision Pro has this new Siri, for the handful of readers who actually own that hardware. There are hardware requirements, though. For example, Siri AI is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and newer devices -- even if you can download iOS 27, it doesn't mean you'll automatically get the new Siri. Zoning in on the iPhone, Siri AI's features are even more widespread than I've already mentioned above. "Write with Siri" is another tool for when you're drafting notes or composing text messages. For example, when I was texting my partner about how to organize our apartment, I tapped the Siri button, told it the gist of what I wanted to communicate (more storage bins). Then it drafted a paragraph-long text message that sounded decently like how I would write and loaded it into the message box. A step up from the auto-suggestions of yore. While this high level of assistance will likely feel fresh to iPhone users, Android phone owners using Google's Gemini may already know what an adept smartphone assistant feels like on their device. "The average Apple user is still not aware of what AI features are already available on Android devices," Popal says. While snarky Android owners will likely, and rightfully, highlight some similar tasks a Pixel or Samsung phone could already complete, Siri AI remains a step-change moment for how the millions of iPhone users in the US interact with their devices. My smartphone, and maybe yours too, is a black hole of highly personal context, with thousands of photos, texts, emails, and calendar appointments, all muddling together in the morass of information. Previously, finding an old text or photo could feel like trudging through a hazy bog of chats and screenshots until finally uncovering the image. By building Siri into the iPhone's backbone and indexing my device, Apple has created an assistant that actually feels attuned to my specific needs and interactions.

Siri AI Helped Me Avoid Eating Diarrhea Lettuce

Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival. I've been hesitant to say as much over the past weeks of testing because, for 15 years, I've had Siri disabled on my iPhone. When the digital assistant debuted on the iPhone 4S, I was working at an Apple retail store in Chicago and remember seeing Siri's potential. I envisioned being like Spock from Star Trek and asking my iPhone questions, ordering it to do tasks or finding creative shortcuts to make my life easier. Year after year, basic functions worked, to a point, but Siri's full potential never materialized. Every so often, when Apple would make an improvement or add more capabilities, I'd turn Siri back on, only to be disappointed, then disable it again. Siri AI is different. It's a lot more like that computer from Star Trek, but in 2026, that's not nearly as impressive as it would have been in 2011, because other AI assistants like Gemini already have similar abilities. Siri AI's special sauce is that it has access (once you opt-in) to your iPhone's email, photos, calendars, texts, notes and more. It's also able to answer questions that you'd normally search for on the internet or ask about with another AI service. In my testing, Siri AI excels at finding info, whether it's buried in a text thread or in a food pic (it can tell me the nutritional value of a food from a photo). It's gifted at taking action on my behalf, like rescheduling an event without opening my calendar, or pulling up one of the 13,742 pictures in my Photos app (don't judge me) when I ask. And whereas the old version of Siri would show web results for a topic, the new Siri explains and offers insight. When I asked Siri whether lettuce was safe to eat, it said yes, but warned of a parasitic outbreak linked to lettuce in the US. I asked what happens if I got sick. "While I'm not a doctor," started Siri's reply, "the most common sign is frequent, watery diarrhea." So yeah, I'm not planning to buy lettuce anytime soon. These very personal touches make Siri AI shine, especially compared to its prior obtuseness. I should note that I've been using an early version of Apple's improved assistant as part of the iOS 27 beta software preview. Siri AI will be released this fall, along with iOS 27. Siri AI gets personal New Siri can do a lot, especially if what needs to be done or what you're looking for involves an Apple app. Here are a handful of my prompts and questions over the past month. How many steps have I taken today? Siri showed the step count from the Health app. Move my appointment to another day. This worked like a charm and I even messed up the day when making the prompt and Siri was able to understand and follow along. Show a photo of me in Paris. Siri found and displayed two images of a trip I took to Paris in 2024. Show a photo of me in Japan. This was a trick question because I've never been. But Siri showed a couple of photos of me at a sake bar at the Japan Center here in San Francisco and noted that it couldn't find any from Japan. This response really impressed me because of how nuanced it was. What gift should I buy my friend Mik? Siri suggested sneakers, like yellow Adidas Superstars with black stripes. Looks like Siri got the info from a combo of message threads and notes I have with Mik. I asked my friend if she'd be happy with such a gift and she said yes. Siri also recommended cat treats, but Mik doesn't have any cats. It is likely misunderstood that when Mik and I have had cat chats, they're about my cats. I feel sad. Can you show me some photos of mine to cheer me up? Siri: "I'm sorry you're feeling sad. Sometimes looking back at good memories can help." It then opened a preview of the Memories section in my Photos app. As long as it's in an Apple app, such as Messages, Photos, Calendar, Mail or Notes, Siri can find it. In fact, after opting in to use Siri AI, my phone spent a couple of days indexing all of its data, which is a bit like doing the inventory at a grocery store. Apple said that the indexing was because this was the developer beta. The more my phone indexed, the more Siri could find and do. If what you're looking for is in a third-party app, like Gmail, WhatsApp or Google Photos, Siri can't access it. At least not yet. Third-party app developers can add Siri AI support to their apps, so hopefully companies like Google, Meta and others will do that in time. Siri AI follow-up questions Perhaps one of Siri AI's best attributes is its ability to understand follow-up questions and prompts. While it doesn't hit Gemini Live-levels of conversation - where questions and answers feel like dialogue - I've had some deep and insightful back-and-forths when pushing for more from Siri. When is my dinner at Lianna's? It said Sunday night. My guess is it found an event on my calendar with her last name (I have a contact card for her, too). When I asked Siri what I should bring, it recommended that I reach out to Lianna. When I asked Siri what it would bring to a dinner party, it said wine, dessert or candles. And when I replied that Siri seemed like a romantic at heart, it said, "I don't really have feelings the way a person does. I'm just here to help you get things done." How much RAM does my phone have? For some reason, Apple doesn't share how much RAM its phones have and Siri is towing the company's line. Siri pointed me to the Settings app to find the exact model I had (not sure why it couldn't tell me) and then recommended that I search online for details about the RAM. I pushed back and asked Siri to do the search for me and it said that my iPhone 17 Pro Max has 12GB of RAM, citing Wikipedia. Why can't it just tell me how much RAM my phone has without looking online?! Siri's world knowledge Whereas Siri prioritizes local on-device searches, there are questions for which it needs to go online to find the answer. These prompts are securely sent to Apple's Private Cloud Compute for encryption before Apple's Foundation Models on world knowledge. Here are some highlights from using Siri AI search. It does far more than "old" Siri, which would just display web result links in a list. Is lettuce safe to eat? Siri said in general, yes, but warned about the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak in the US. And yes, it was hilarious hearing Siri say "explosive diarrhea." Middle-school Patrick would have been proud. At the bottom of Siri's responses is a tag icon and number which reads "Britannica +2" and when expanded shows source links to the CDC, Cleveland Clinic and Britannica.com. Why do stars twinkle? Siri explained how stars don't actually twinkle and how it's a scientific phenomenon called atmospheric scintillation, linking to articles from Space.com, CalTech, ScienceNewsToday and Almanac.com. What's the score of the England/Argentina game? Siri showed a scoreboard with the final score (the game had just ended) and said that "England lost 1 to 2 in the FIFA World Cup Semifinals today." Who is Lynn Nottage? Siri: "Lynn Nottage is an American playwright and screenwriter who is the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice." It cited Wikipedia among other sources. I asked follow-up questions about some of the plays she wrote and if there were any productions of her work currently. Siri pointed out that there were two, including one on Broadway currently, MJ the Musical. But it couldn't show me a trailer or preview and suggested I try YouTube or the play's official website, which has exclusive clips. Where's the best place to get coffee near me? It showed a preview from Apple Maps of two coffee shops nearby that were open. There's a third that had just closed a little earlier that day, but Siri didn't include it. Siri AI wants you to verify important details Every reply from an online search has a disclaimer. "By the way, always verify important details. As an AI, I may make mistakes." It's not always those exact words, but something similar. And yes, like other AI assistants and online search tools, not everything presented is right. In his preview of iOS 27, my colleague, CNET senior writer Zach McAuliffe, shares his frustrations with using Siri AI. When he asked, "What's in the news?" Siri displayed events that were from the prior month. And while the response was accompanied by that "check the facts" disclaimer, McAuliffe wondered why he'd use Siri if he had to do his own research anyway. Siri AI is everywhere Apple smartly kept access to Siri as it was before while also integrating it in new ways. Most commonly, I've been activating it by long-pressing the power button to initiate a query. You can also use a trigger word/phrase, "Siri" or "hey, Siri." Pulling down from the top of the screen also activates Siri, just as it previously brought up system search on the home screen. Navigating the Notifications shade, Control Center and Siri AI search all from the top of the phone is tricky and I still don't have it in my muscle memory. The Camera app has a new Siri mode, which is a repackaged version of Visual Intelligence. In the Photos app, you'll find an Ask Siri button if you swipe up on a photo. For photos of food, there's a Look Up Nutrition button that opens a card estimating the food's nutritional value. It doesn't show a Nutritional Facts label with calories and macros, but rates the nutritional value from very low to very high. Siri also shows up in Messages if it detects data. My pal Celso messaged me about getting a drink on Friday, and under the message was a tiny calendar icon, which, when tapped, created a calendar event based on the text. The Shortcuts app also has Siri and can be used to create a new shortcut from a prompt. I haven't explored this feature yet. Siri AI, should you try it? I can't say that I was the most hardened anti-Siri person before now, but Siri AI is helpful enough that I'm keeping it enabled on my iPhone. I think most people should try Siri AI. I'm reminded of when I was a kid and learned about using keyboard shortcuts on a computer. I wondered why everyone just didn't use them all the time. Turns out Siri AI's advantages won't ever be known, unless my fellow anti-Siri peeps give it a try. There will be folks who quit Siri years ago and will be all the more content to keep the digital assistant out of their life. McAuliffe thinks using it is more hassle than it's worth for online searches. But CNET principal writer Vanessa Hand-Orellana, who's testing Siri AI on her Apple Watch, says it's a game changer. "I won't be going back to the old version anytime soon," said Hand-Orellana. "This is the first time I've intentionally wanted to use Siri on my Apple Watch." But what does Siri AI have to say to those who might be hesitant to give it a try? "If you were frustrated by older versions misunderstanding you or lacking context, the new Siri is designed to change that," Siri replied. "Siri has been completely rebuilt to be more conversational, context-aware and capable."

iOS 27 preview: Long-awaited Siri AI is practical but plain - Engadget

Before we dig into the next-gen assistant, let's touch on what iOS 27 looks like, which is... mostly iOS 26. There are some welcome fine-tuned design features, like more granular control over system transparency and all those semi-transparent panels and UI elements. Nudge the slider all the way to the right, and iOS 27 has a heavily tinted, solid look. Apple has adjusted how iOS renders complex background images, adding darker outlines around translucent menus and brighter reflections to help differentiate between layout layers. But iOS 27 is really all about Siri. In the face of rapidly growing AI assistants, apps and services -- whether that's Gemini, ChatGPT orClaude -- Apple's Siri was left in the dust. With iOS 27, Apple Intelligence and Siri AI have caught up substantially with their rivals, although there are still fewer remarkable features than we might have hoped for. The changes start with how you interact with Siri. In addition to saying "Hey Siri" near your iPhone, or holding the side button, the assistant can now be accessed by swiping down from the Dynamic Island. While it's a tidy piece of UI design, I found the interaction a bit cramped; swiping down from the top already invokes your Control Center (right side) and notifications (left side). A third addition to the top edge makes it a little crowded. I hope muscle memory will eventually kick in. There's also a dedicated Siri app, which keeps a persistent history of your requests and interactions. Cleverly, it won't store timers and other simple tasks. I think Siri's new app is where there's plenty of room to improve: If you upload images to Siri to interact with or access, it won't show a thumbnail or even a confirmation. This meant I'd attempt to upload the same image multiple times without a result. That's an easy fix, though. Another Siri AI feature is "Expressive Voice," which lets you customize the expressiveness and pace of Siri's voice. It's only available in US English, though, with one male and one female voice option. I appreciate the fine-tuning as I find most voice assistants either too chipper or too slow. Siri AI works best when it's drawing on context, figuring out what you want and pulling it from inside your iPhone. For example, pulling up the Siri dropdown and typing in "Black Clover" will show the episode I was most recently watching on Crunchyroll. This upgraded phone search does what the likes of Claude and ChatGPT can't because Siri AI is built into your iPhone. In fact, it can take several days for Siri AI to index and optimize its search across everything on your phone once you've upgraded to iOS 27. Apple suggests keeping your phone plugged in to charge longer to speed up this often lengthy process. (You can also block apps you don't want Siri to delve into for results.) While it sometimes shines, it's still in beta. I found I had to ensure I was using the built-in Mail app, not Gmail (my main email app), for Siri to unearth delivery messages and updates. Hopefully, third-party app compatibility will improve in time. This might be a specific 'me' thing, but using the new Siri finally offers a direct and swift way to interact with timers, stopwatches and alarms without having to dabble in widgets or bounce around the clock app. iOS 27 also introduces a new XL widget size option for those looking for a full-screen info-dump, or at least a calendar widget you can actually read and interact with. For now, it's predominantly native apps, but it hasn't taken long for major app developers to release upgraded widgets ahead of the official launch for previous iOS updates. Siri AI is also good at digging up specific images, like my passport headshots or photos of my nieces. There's still plenty of room for growth though. When I asked about specific phone settings, Siri AI would immediately tap out. It wouldn't even explain why it couldn't navigate me to the settings I was asking for, or just tell me where the specific menu might be. While not a Siri AI feature, the accuracy of system-wide dictation has significantly improved at handling punctuation and formatting automatically as you speak. I found the transcription of lengthy Voice Memos between multiple people to be both far more accurate and significantly faster. Siri's multimodal capabilities are also integrated directly into the Camera app in iOS 27. There's a new Siri tab that sits between the photo and panorama camera functions. Tap the shutter button, and Siri analyzes the photo's contents. While it successfully identified a Muji-branded hexagonal pen (down to the nib size!), it failed to recognize a unique Tiki cup from Ikea. You can also expand your questions, so I was able to get help identifying a plant type or adding dates from a poster to my personal calendar. Apple is evolving its AI-powered writing tools, too. In the Mail and Messages apps, Siri can now mimic your typical communication style. If you're a "bullet points to the manager" type of sender, it will draft emails that match that tone and format, although I wish this knowledge base for personalized communication styles could be used across non-Apple apps. The new "Write with Siri" button, which expands from the Dynamic Island, is a significant improvement over previous iterations. It feels more tightly integrated, so you aren't hopping between different interfaces just to polish a draft. For power users, creating shortcuts using natural language is a game-changer. You simply type the task you want into a text box (or dictate it), and Apple Intelligence generates the shortcut for you. It's a clean way to handle automation, without needing to be a coding wizard. It's more direct and far less intimidating than the original Shortcuts app. I've got three shortcuts running, all of which took minutes to set up. Here's a suggestion to try: turning on WiFi the moment your iPhone detects you're at home. Beyond natural language input, iOS 27 makes it easy to refine and tweak shortcuts or automations without digging into the technical nuts and bolts. If you've never touched the Shortcuts app before, it might be time to try it out. The Photos app is getting more generative AI features, but Apple is directing these toward practical editing rather than hallucinatory, IP-baiting AI slop made from a few prompts. A new "Extend" tool lets you expand images to give your subject more room. At the same time, "Spatial Reframing" allows you to manually adjust a shot's angle -- a unique and welcome addition for fine-tuning composition. While these features work with any photo you have saved to your phone, you may find yourself getting turned into a chunky PS1-era character depending on the original photo's composition and resolution. Sometimes the results are elegant and subtle tweaks, although, you'll see the fingerprints of an AI edit, struggling to replicate text, for example, after a quick reframe. Apple says that image generation will eventually have daily usage limits, likely tiered by iCloud+ subscriptions. We expect the company to share specifics closer to its public launch.

The Long-Delayed New Siri Makes Its Public Debut

As my colleague Raymond Wong noted earlier today: Apple f*cking did it -- Siri AI, the long-delayed Apple AI assistant with "personal context" doesn't suck -- a huge achievement when you consider how much Apple has struggled with Siri suckage over the years. He also noted that if you choose, you can join the public beta of the still technically unreleased iOS 27 and test drive the new Siri yourself. To spell this out a bit more, no, Siri AI is not going to install itself on your phone while you're sleeping tonight. You have to jump through some hoops, including installing a beta -- meaning still in development, and possibly janky -- version of iOS 27. A developer beta came out last month for people with Apple Developer accounts, which isn't much of a barrier, but now there's a public beta, so there's no longer any barrier at all other than your own squeamishness about buggy software. How to try Siri AI on iPhones Mashable's Alex Perry has a pretty useful breakdown of which specific iPhones are compatible with this beta, but the main takeaway is this: you need an iPhone 15 Pro or later for the full Siri AI experience. And as you can see from the Apple Beta Software Program page, there are also beta updates numbered "27" for your other devices too, including your Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch. You can find out if your non-iPhone device is compatible by clicking around there. The important thing is that that's also the page where you can enroll in the beta program. Assuming you've now enrolled, open your Settings app; tap General; tap Software Updates; tap Beta Updates, and choose iOS 27 Public Beta. When you first signed up for the beta program, you were presumably steered toward backing up your device, which is optional, but I'm certainly not going to dissuade you from doing that before you install a whole new operating system. Once you've updated to iOS 27 Beta, you'll notice you still have old Siri. Now you have to join a waitlist to get Siri AI, and judging from Reddit posts during the developer beta, this part seems like it's been taking almost two weeks. To get on the waitlist go to Settings; tap Apple Intelligence & Siri; and tap Try New Siri. You'll get a push notification when your number is called. If you're in the E.U., Siri AI is not going to be available. It's also currently only available in English, according to TechCrunch. If you haven't been an avid Siri user before, how one triggers Siri may have slipped your mind -- or maybe you only know how to bring it up by accident. To refresh your memory, there are options in Settings>Apple Intelligence & Siri. You can now trigger it by saying either "Hey Siri" or just "Siri." If you're still not ready to be that person, you can choose the Press Side Button for Siri option. Siri AI also has a dedicated app that works like any AI chatbot, so you don't actually have to use your voice at all.

Apple F*cking Did It: One Month With Siri AI

The first public beta for iOS 27 is now available for download, which means if you have a supported iPhone, you can try out the new Siri AI before it officially rolls out this fall. This public beta is equivalent to the third developer beta of the new iPhone software. While there are still several more developer betas to go this summer, the early software versions have been stable enough to represent what to expect in the final release. I've been testing these developer builds of iOS 27 on an iPhone Air since the first one was released at WWDC 2026 and using Siri AI daily for just over a month. Excuse me for sounding hyperbolic, but Apple f*cking cooked. It took me maybe two weeks to learn what Siri AI could and couldn't do, but once I figured that out, I now can't imagine using my phone without the more intelligent assistant. Whenever I accidentally pick up my personal iPhone 16 Pro, which is still on iOS 26 and saddled with "Siri classic," I feel like I've been knocked back to the stone age. But first, a brief history lesson for those who have not followed the Siri drama. Back at WWDC 2024, Apple announced a massive revamp to its voice assistant, complete with "personal context," a way for Siri to surface information from across your apps. For example, instead of manually searching in your inbox for flight information, you could simply ask Siri to find it for you. Want to know what your "lunch plans" are with your mom? Siri would find that info from your chat between you and your mom. Apple also demoed how Siri could understand what's happening on your iPhone's screen, providing information about what it "sees." All of these new Siri features were supposed to launch under "Apple Intelligence," Apple's suite of homegrown AI features for its devices, including on iPad and Mac. When it came time to launch that fall, Apple Intelligence's other features, like Writing Tools and notification summaries, rolled out, but the new Siri did not. 2025 came and went without the new voice assistant. At WWDC 2025, Apple execs admitted that the new Siri was delayed because it didn't meet Apple's expectations. "It didn't converge in a way, quality-wise, that we needed it to," Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of software engineering, told The Wall Street Journal. Instead of shipping a half-baked Siri, he said that Apple decided to rearchitecture it. That ultimately ended up with Apple partnering with Google to use its Gemini models to essentially give Siri a much-needed brain transplant. Fast forward to this year's WWDC in June, where Apple spent a good chunk of its 1.5-hour keynote showing that the new Siri -- now called Siri AI -- does in fact work and is vaporware no more. Siri AI needed to stick the landing -- and it mostly does, if my first month with beta versions of it is any indication. After indexing your iPhone -- this can take a few days depending on how much data you have -- Siri AI will then be ready to dig into your Apple apps and, well, assist you. The first few days (and even weeks) were a lot of trial and error. I asked Siri AI all kinds of questions and was surprised (and not surprised) by what it could do. Without having ever told Siri AI who my girlfriend was, it was able to, with the press and hold of my iPhone's side button, tell me what kind of foods she liked based on entries in my Notes app and messages that she had sent me when we started dating. Siri AI also reminded me that she doesn't like salad. (Same as me!). The answers bubbled out of my iPhone's Dynamic Island, and, from there, I could either continue the conversation with voice or type into the "Ask Siri" bar. There's also a + button to take a photo, include an image from the Photos app, or attach a file. Interacting with Siri AI is very similar to a chatbot app like ChatGPT or Perplexity, which is to say it's very easy to understand and use. If you're familiar with those types of AI chatbot apps, you'll quickly pick up Siri AI. I asked Siri AI to find me my upcoming flight details to London for Samsung Unpacked next week. It correctly pulled up my flight details with departure and arrival times. Could I have opened my Mail app and searched for it myself? Yes, but going into my inbox is stressful. I hate scrolling through emails, especially long ones, to find something. In situations like this, Siri AI saves me a lot of time. When you ask Siri AI to do something and it does it, it feels like magic. I get so excited that it saved me a bunch of taps. But when it fails to do something, reality sinks in, and you realize that Siri AI is still a work in progress. Apple lists a whole bunch of "actions" in apps that Siri can perform, like "rotate a photo left." I asked Siri to do this for me, but instead of rotating the image, it opened the crop tool and then told me I could rotate it myself. Not quite the "just do it" attitude I was looking for. The real magic happens when you ask for multistep actions -- chaining a few tasks together. A real-life example: Find the things my dad likes, then draft an email to my mom suggesting we consider buying it for Father's Day. With one voice command, Siri looked through my iPhone, identified that I had considered "AirPods 4" as a gift, and drafted up an email. Siri AI missed the part about sending the email to my mom, but it did most of the work, which counts as impressive to me. Mostly, I found myself using Siri AI to search for things just like I do with ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity. When I needed a recipe for shrimp scampi, it found me one from Preppy Kitchen. I didn't have to go to the website and deal with obtrusive ads. When I wanted to know more about Jalen Brunson and how he led the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years, I just asked Siri AI and it gave me a summary with a brief chart on key stats, pulled from Wikipedia. When I needed help identifying an actor from a Malcolm in the Middle video clip I was looking at on my MacBook, I fired up the Camera app, tapped the new Siri mode, took a photo, and Siri AI correctly told me her name was Tania Raymonde using "Visual Intelligence." I could then continue the conversation with follow-up questions, like inquiring about her recent acting roles. One thing you should be aware of is that Siri AI's helpfulness can be limited when it shouldn't be. You would think telling Siri AI to "show me how much storage I have left on my iPhone" would open the respective screen within the Settings app and simply show me my remaining gigabytes. Alas, Siri AI could only point me to the Settings app and then tell me which menus to tap through. All "conversations" that you have with Siri AI are saved in the new Siri app. It's handy for recalling past chats. By default, the app automatically deletes conversations after 30 days, but you can change that to a year or to keep them forever. Worth noting: deleting conversations doesn't necessarily make Siri AI "dumber," but if you ask again for something you previously asked for, it could take longer since it needs to rescan your data for that info. Siri AI isn't completely bug-free, either. For example, whenever I asked it to "show me photos with me and my sisters," it would display "Here are the photos with Jenny and Angela" followed by black space where the photos should have been. I noted several crashes and misunderstandings throughout the first developer betas, but that's to be expected since it's early-release software. It should also be noted that Siri AI can make mistakes, too. While it's less likely to hallucinate information compared to other LLM-based chatbots when it's pulling information from across your Apple apps like Mail, Messages, and Notes, I have not been able to shake off the feeling that Siri AI will tell me something one day, and I'll blindly trust it only to end up screwed in some way. I've witnessed some of Siri AI's incorrect answers. A few times it thought my girlfriend was my sister when I was asking for group photos, and some of the "facts" taken from the web were from websites that I wouldn't consider reputable. Siri AI's foundation is all here. It's remarkable that Apple has been able to correct its massive fumble and somehow not miss a beat in the AI race. Of course, that's the advantage Apple has by controlling the entire stack -- both the hardware and software. Its powerful supported devices can perform many AI tasks locally and privately. In the case of Siri AI, anything that taps into personal context is on-device and never sent to the cloud. Stuff that requires "world knowledge" or information from the web does, but privately as well, thanks to Apple's Private Cloud Compute, which Apple claims never shares your personal data with any companies. Currently, Siri AI is only available in English and in the U.S. Apple has not announced plans to bring Siri AI to Europe due to restrictions from the Digital Markets Act. Siri AI's launch in China is also up in the air as a result of regulations. A month with Siri AI and I've found myself talking to it more and more every day. I no longer need to unlock my iPhone, launch an AI app, and then make a voice or text prompt. The intelligence and automation (light as they still are right now) that Siri AI now has are what Apple promised when the voice assistant launched on the iPhone 4S in 2011. There will probably never be One Big Moment where Siri AI changes everything, but if Apple can keep building on it -- for real this time -- we're all going to be tapping on our glass slabs a whole lot less and talking to Siri AI to do more and more.

Siri AI beta available now: 7 things to try

Earlier this week, Apple launched the first public beta of iOS 27. With it comes the new, smarter Siri, which is now both a standalone app, and a set of features embedded into various apps across the operating system. The new Siri truly is smarter, but the name confusion (Siri is now called Siri AI) as well as the fact that some features are baked into other Apple apps can make things overwhelming for users. Let's check out which new Siri AI features are truly worth trying out. Before we start, one caveat: Almost none of these features are available in China and Europe due to issues with regulators. While it appears that the problems in China have been resolved, Apple still doesn't have a timeline for Siri AI launch in Europe. Also, for instruction on how to install the public beta and get your hands on the new features, Mashable's published a guide. Siri, the app For the longest time (since 2011 actually, when Siri was first introduced) Apple refused to give Siri a proper body. The idea is that it's the invisible helper, the voice you interact with, but not something you want to tap and chat with. Then came the OpenAI ChatGPT era, and everything changed. It took Apple a few years, but the company relented, and with iOS 27, the company launched Siri as a standalone app. So what's the experience like? Well, think ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. You start the app, and you're welcomed by a grid of your previous convos with Siri. Start a new one, either by voice or by typing, and Siri will answer. Since this is a smarter Siri, you needn't be afraid of asking something more complex than "what's the weather like tomorrow." And it's not just general purpose queries such as "will the yellow cards in the World Cup semifinal carry over to the final" -- you can also ask personal questions, including mentioning the content from your past emails, notes, and events. Visual Intelligence This is a really useful one, because it ties to the way you use your iPhone in ways that weren't possible before. Say you're on YouTube, and a video showing a moment from a famous TV show pops up; the problem is, you just can't remember the show's name. No problem; invoke Siri by long-pressing the side button on your phone, and ask it about the content you're watching on the display right now. Pretty cool, right? You can do that in various contexts; whatever's on your screen at the moment, Siri can tell you something about it. Same goes for the stuff that's in front of you, in real life. The new Siri mode in the Camera app lets you point your lens at anything and get Siri to provide some information on what you're seeing. Image Playground This feature has been here before but it's been...well, maybe not a complete joke, but definitely a cartoon version of the real thing; that is, the only type of images it could generate were cartoon-looking ones. With Siri AI, this has changed. You can now get realistic photos such as futuristic cityscapes and beautiful landscapes, or combos such as a bear dancing on a massive block of cheese. Even better, once an image has been generated, you can tweak it with additional prompt. If you want a sign saying CHEESE above that image you've just created, tell Siri to add it and it'll show up in the next iteration. It's not the most advanced AI-based image generation out there, but it does the job and for many users, it'll be the quickest and most convenient option. Photo editing Open a photo, tap the edit button, and you'll see an option on the bottom right called Tools. Tap that, and you'll see three options. The Clean Up lets you tap or circle an unwanted object to make it disappear. That feature already existed (it might work a little better now), but the other two are new. Extend will use Siri AI to make the picture bigger. Pinch to zoom out, and the AI will analyze the photo and add more stuff at the edges to make the photo larger. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it does feel a little magical. The other new option is Reframe, which lets you change the perspective of the photo after you've taken it. Don't expect miracles here (I'd only use this on photos that desperately need it) but again, when it does work it's pretty cool. Writing with Siri Siri AI is now baked into various writing and communication tools across iOS. For example, in the Notes app, just above the keyboard, you'll see an option called "Write with Siri." Tap that, and write by using a prompt instead of actually entering text. This can be pretty powerful. Let's say you want to sum up an entire trip itinerary, or write a movie plot (without spoilers!), but you don't actually want to type all that. Well, instead, just tell Siri what you want and it'll generate the text for you. You can also highlight a chunk of text and tell Siri to generate an image that relates to it, or use it to solve math problems. Smarter Calendar and Reminders entries Siri is baked into Apple's Calendar app, too, allowing for natural language recognition. For example, you can create a new event and describe what you want to do (dinner with wife at Joe's tomorrow at 7 p.m.), and the Calendar app will automagically recognize the right people from your Contacts, and create the event at the right time. Same goes for Reminders, which is an app I feel I should use more but it just never clicked for me. Once again, describe what you need to be reminded of, and details such as location, time, and date will be picked up automatically. Shortcuts that you'll actually want to use Let's face it: Shortcuts is the best iOS feature that almost no one uses, simply because the idea of turning a chain of events/commands into a single command sounds too intimidating for a lot of people. Now, thanks to Siri AI, you can just describe the shortcut and have it created automatically. To access this feature, open Shortcuts, tap New Shortcut, and describe what you want the Shortcut to do. Want the iPhone to audibly tell you that it's been charged to 90 percent? Just type that down into the Shortcuts app, and you're done. Want to get started? Here's how to get try the Siri AI beta.

How to Join the Waitlist to Try the New Siri AI

Apple's biggest Siri upgrade ever is nearly here. In roughly two months, Apple will release iOS 27 and macOS 27, which, among other new features and changes, will ship with "Siri AI." The new AI-powered Siri is much more in line with other generative AI assistants like ChatGPT, promising to improve upon the traditional Siri experience in innumerable ways. I, for one, am excited to have an iPhone assistant that can do more than set a timer (sometimes) While most of us will have to wait until the fall to try it out, you don't actually need to wait that long: Siri AI is available to try right now as part of Apple's iOS and macOS betas -- at least, following a small waiting period. If you install the iOS 27 beta or the macOS 27 beta on your compatible iPhone or Mac, respectively, you can give the new AI-powered Siri a try months in advance. Here's how to join the waitlist. Which Apple devices can run Siri AI? While there a lot of Apple devices compatible with Apple's upcoming slate of updates, not all of them can run Siri AI. You need a device that can run Apple Intelligence to try out Siri AI. All of the Macs that are compatible with macOS 27 (Apple's M-series Macs plus the MacBook Neo) can run Siri AI, but only iPhone 15 Pro and newer can run the new assistant. Here's the official list of all devices that can run Siri AI, per Apple: * iPhone 17 Pro Max (A19 Pro) * iPhone 17 Pro (A19 Pro) * iPhone Air (A19 Pro) * iPhone 17 (A19) * iPhone 17e (A19) * iPhone 16 Pro Max (A18 Pro) * iPhone 16 Pro (A18 Pro) * iPhone 16 Plus (A18) * iPhone 16 (A18) * iPhone 16e (A18) * iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro) * iPhone 15 Pro (A17 Pro) * iPad Pro (M1 and later) * iPad Air (M1 and later) * iPad mini (A17 Pro) * Apple Vision Pro (M2 and later) * MacBook Neo (A18 Pro) * MacBook Air (M1 and later) * MacBook Pro (M1 and later) * iMac (M1 and later) * Mac mini (M1 and later) * Mac Studio (M1 Max and later) * Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) Some Siri AI features, such as the ability to control the assistant's voice, are only available on some of the above models. That includes the iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air; iPads with the M4 chip and at least 12GB of RAM; Macs with the M3 chip and at least 12GB of RAM, and the M5 Vision Pro. How to get on the Siri AI waitlist First things first: You need to be running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27 to try out Siri AI. At the moment, these OSes are in beta testing, so you'll need to install the betas to proceed. For more information, check out my explainers on installing the iOS 27 beta (which also applies to iPadOS 27) and the macOS 27 beta. Please note that there are risks in running beta software on your personal devices, so if you do decide to try them, make secure backups of all important data beforehand. Unfortunately, even if your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is now running the latest Apple betas, you'll still have to wait a bit longer to try out Siri AI. To continue testing the assistant incrementally, Apple has placed Siri AI behind a waitlist. After installing the latest beta on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you'll have to manually get on the waitlist if you want your chance to try it out. To do so, open Settings (System Settings on macOS) > Apple Intelligence & Siri. Here, choose "Try the new Siri (Beta)." That's it! You're officially on the waitlist, and all that's left to do is wait for Apple to grant you access. Unfortunately, there's really no telling how long that will take. One user on this Reddit thread claims they only had to wait for five minutes, while other reports suggest it could take days. Mashable says it can take anywhere from five to 10 days, though it suggests you can potentially speed up your wait time if you enroll your Apple Account in the Apple Developer Program. (Just make sure you choose the free option, rather than the $99 membership.) If you're on macOS, you might have luck with this hack: Back at the beginning of the beta cycle, some users were able to paste a command into Terminal to skip the waitlist entirely. I cannot confirm whether it still works, but it can't hurt to try.

How to try the Siri AI beta: Join the waitlist

Apple unveiled both Siri AI and a new generation of operating system updates at WWDC 2026 in June. Then, on Monday, Apple officially released the public betas of iOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, and visionOS 27. In addition, Apple has opened up a beta version of Siri AI that lets users try out the new AI-powered virtual assistant. Our big Guessing Game is back! Enter now for a chance to win. However, that doesn't mean the iOS 27 beta will automatically unlock access to Siri AI. On top of that, not all iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple devices will support Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. So, if you're eager to try Siri AI for yourself, here's everything you need to know about device compatibility, the public betas, and the Siri waitlist, plus the steps you'll need to follow: Step 1: Make sure your device supports Siri AI First, you need to make sure your device will support Siri AI and Apple Intelligence in the first place. iOS 27 and the other new software updates coming this fall will bring changes to Liquid Glass, new Apple Intelligence features, and general improvements. The new AI version of Siri will also work across apps to make your device more capable. (Or, that's the idea, anyway.) Remember: Some older Apple devices won't support Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. In addition, the full suite of Siri AI features, such as expressive voices, will not be available on some older devices that do support Apple Intelligence. So, make sure you have one of the following devices: * For iPhone users: iOS 27 and Siri AI will be available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 17e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the iPhone Air. Full access to all Siri AI features will only be available on the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. * For iPad users: iPadOS 27 and Siri AI will be available on iPads with an M1 chip or newer, or the iPad mini with the A17 Pro chip. Full access to all Siri AI features requires an M4 chip and a minimum of 12GB of RAM. * For Mac users: macOS 27 Golden Gate and Siri AI will be available on Macs with M1 chips and newer. Full access will be available for devices with M3 chips (or newer) and 12GB of RAM. * For Vision Pro users: Full access to all Siri AI features will be available only on the M5 Vision Pro, but all Vision Pro devices will support visionOS 27 and Siri AI. Step 2: Sign up for the Apple beta program and back up your device This step is pretty self-explanatory. If you haven't already, sign up for the Apple beta software program. As always, back up your device before downloading an operating system update or beta software. Step 3: Update your device to macOS 27 Golden Gate, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, tvOS 27, or visionOS 27 To do this, go to Settings, General, and then Software Updates. Under "Beta Updates," select "iOS 27 Public Beta" and update your device. Step 4: Join the Siri AI waitlist OK, so you've got the iOS 27 public beta up and running on your device. You're almost there. Next, go to Settings, Siri, and tap "Try the new Siri (Beta)." How long until you get approved for the Siri AI waitlist? Wait times can vary, but in general, users with access to the Apple Developer Program seem to get approved more quickly. The approval process shouldn't take more than five to 10 days.

Siri AI beta is available now: 9 things to try first (complete with suggested prompts)

Apple's biggest Siri overhaul in years is finally out in the wild - here's where to start After what felt like an eternity of delays, Apple's rebuilt, conversational Siri is now something you can actually put your hands on, provided you're brave enough to install the public beta of iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 Golden Gate and join the Siri AI waitlist. Once your device has downloaded the new Apple Foundation Models and Siri AI lights up, you're left staring at a blank conversation with no idea what it's actually good for. We've been putting it through its paces, and there's a lot more here than a chattier voice assistant. So instead of vague marketing lines, here are nine concrete things worth trying first, along with the exact prompts to get you there. 1. Ask it something it has to look up Siri AI can now reach out to the web for current answers rather than just launching a search in your browser and leaving you to do the reading. Apple's pitching this as broad world knowledge on virtually any topic, and in practice that means you can treat Siri less like a dictation tool and more like a research assistant that actually finishes the job. Try asking: "When and where can I see the next solar eclipse from New York?" Push it further with a follow-up question in the same conversation, since Apple's built Siri AI to extend almost any answer into a proper back-and-forth rather than resetting after every query. 2. Get it to dig through your own messages and emails This is the feature Apple featured heavily at launch - Siri AI's personal context understanding lets it search across your messages, emails and photos, not just the web. It's the kind of thing that doesn't sound that impressive until you actually need it, at which point it saves you the usual five minutes of scrolling back through a email thread trying to remember which friend sent you a restaurant tip. Try asking: "Find the hotel confirmation number from my last email booking." Worth noting: this same context-awareness is meant to extend into third-party apps too, as long as the developer has hooked their app into Spotlight, so don't be surprised if it starts pulling in results from outside Apple's own apps as more updates land. 3. Have it read what's on your screen Onscreen awareness means Siri can now answer questions about whatever you're currently looking at, without you having to explain the context yourself. Try asking (with a text conversation open): "What should I bring to this potluck, and can you add a recipe idea to Notes?" I'm a big fan (and user) of Pixel's Circle to Search, so I can see this being very useful. 4. Point your camera at something and just ask On iPhone, there's now a dedicated Siri mode built into the Camera app. Tap the shutter and Siri sees exactly what you see, and rather than just describing the scene back to you, it's should actually act on it, whether that's sorting out who owes what after dinner or telling you what's actually in the meal in front of you. Try asking (with the camera pointed at a group meal): "Split this bill three ways and set it up in Apple Cash." Or: "How healthy is this meal?" This, combined with the screen search, is the feature I'd most likely to get genuine daily use out. Even something as simple as taking a picture of a flower and asking Siri what type of flower it is - very useful stuff. 5. Let it write the first draft for you Siri's new Writing Tools work almost anywhere you type, and, what's more, they're built to sound like you. In Mail and Messages specifically, Siri picks up on how you usually write to a given person. Try asking (with a blank email to your manager open): "Draft a short update on the Q3 numbers, keep it to bullet points like I usually send." If the first draft isn't quite right, don't retype from scratch. Describe the change you want instead, and Siri will update the existing text rather than starting again, which is a small thing that makes a real difference once you're three edits deep. 6. Test its memory across devices The new dedicated Siri app syncs conversation history over iCloud, so a chat you start on your Mac should pick up right where you left off on your iPhone or iPad. Try asking (on your Mac): "Remind me what we talked about for my New York trip" - then open the Siri app on your iPhone later and continue the thread. 7. Use Spotlight as an answer engine On iPad and Mac, Siri AI is baked straight into Spotlight, so a quick search can now return a proper answer instead of a list of files. Try asking (via Spotlight on Mac or iPad): "Summarise the differences between iPad and iPadOS 27 storage requirements." 8. Control-click your way to an answer Also new on Mac: Siri is wired into systemwide context menus, so you can right-click an image, file or block of text and ask about it directly. Try asking: control-click a photo and select "Ask Siri," then type "Where was this taken and who's in it?" 9. If you've got a Vision Pro, just look and speak Siri AI gets a proper spatial makeover on visionOS 27, appearing as a 3D visualisation you can place anywhere, and it can be invoked just by looking at it. Try asking: look at an open app window and say "What am I looking at, and can you summarise it?" A word of warning before you dive in This is still beta software, so don't put it anywhere near a phone, iPad or Mac you can't afford to have misbehave for a few weeks. And back everything up first. Siri AI itself needs Apple Intelligence switched on, a fairly hefty model download, and a spot on the waitlist before any of the above will actually work - and if you're in the EU, some of this is landing on Mac and Vision Pro only for now, with iPhone and iPad support still pending.

Siri AI Offers Advanced Capabilities Beyond Basic Usage

Siri AI has transformed into a highly capable digital assistant, offering features that go far beyond its initial design. It is now equipped to handle a variety of tasks aimed at simplifying your daily routines. From recognizing on-screen content to managing schedules and controlling smart home devices, Siri employs advanced technologies to deliver personalized and efficient support. Whether you're organizing your day, identifying objects, or automating your home, Siri provides intuitive solutions that enhance both productivity and convenience. Its continuous evolution ensures it remains a valuable tool in an increasingly digital world. The video below from Stephen Robles gives us more details on what to expect from the new Siri ahead of its release with iOS 27. On-Screen Awareness: Interact Directly with Your Content One of Siri's most practical features is its ability to interact with content directly from your device's screen. This on-screen awareness allows you to engage with information in a seamless and efficient manner. For example: * Identify media content such as movies, TV shows, or streaming platforms from screenshots or photos. * Locate restaurants or videos mentioned in social media posts or messages. * Summarize articles or web pages, saving you time when browsing through lengthy information. This functionality streamlines how you interact with digital content, making it easier to find what you need without unnecessary effort. By reducing the steps required to access information, Siri ensures a smoother and more productive user experience. Personal Context Integration: Tailored Assistance Siri AI stands out for its ability to integrate personal context into its functionality, offering assistance that is both intelligent and relevant. By analyzing your past activities, Siri can provide recommendations and solutions that align with your preferences. For instance: * Remember past activities, such as restaurants you've visited or events you've attended, to offer personalized suggestions. * Assist with trip planning by accessing saved files, photos, or itineraries to help you organize your travel plans. This level of personalization ensures that Siri's support is not only efficient but also uniquely tailored to your individual needs, making it a more intuitive assistant in your daily life. Task Management: Simplify Your Day Managing your daily responsibilities becomes effortless with Siri's advanced task management capabilities. It offers practical tools to keep you organized and on track. Here's how Siri can help: * Plan trips by providing recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and flights based on your preferences. * Create and update lists, such as to-do lists, grocery lists, or notes, directly from content like recipes or articles. * Sync with your calendar and reminders to ensure you never miss an appointment or important event. These features are designed to enhance your productivity by simplifying the process of managing tasks, allowing you to focus on what matters most. Visual Intelligence: See the World Differently Siri's visual intelligence capabilities redefine how you interact with the world around you. By using your device's camera, Siri can provide real-time solutions to everyday challenges. For example: * Identify objects and landmarks, offering names, historical details, or contextual information. * Translate text from images, such as menus or signs, into different languages for easier communication. * Find purchase links for objects you photograph, streamlining your shopping experience. This feature bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds, offering practical and immediate assistance in a variety of situations. Home Automation: Control at Your Command Siri integrates seamlessly with smart home devices, allowing you to manage your home environment with ease. Its compatibility with a wide range of devices ensures a cohesive and efficient smart home experience. With Siri, you can: * Create automations to perform tasks like locking doors or adjusting lighting based on your schedule or preferences. * Control security systems, thermostats, and other devices using simple voice commands. This functionality allows you to maintain control over your home environment, enhancing both convenience and security. World Knowledge: Stay Informed Siri serves as a reliable source of information, providing quick answers and updates on a variety of topics. Whether you're looking for entertainment options or staying updated on current events, Siri has you covered. For example: * Access sports updates, event schedules, or trivia information to stay informed and engaged. * Get detailed movie information, including cast, crew and streaming options, for planning a movie night or exploring new films. This feature ensures you remain informed and up to date, making Siri a valuable resource for both knowledge and entertainment. Enhanced Features: Personalization and Security Siri offers a range of enhanced features designed to improve your overall experience. These additions focus on personalization and security, making sure your interactions with Siri are both tailored and safe. Key enhancements include: * Customizable voice options, allowing you to adjust Siri's tone, accent, and pace to suit your preferences. * Digital security management, such as organizing and updating passwords through the Passwords app for added convenience and protection. These features not only make Siri more adaptable to your needs but also ensure your personal data remains secure. A Versatile and Evolving Assistant Siri AI has grown into a versatile tool that enhances productivity, entertainment, and convenience in your daily life. Its ability to integrate personal context, manage tasks, and interact with both the physical and digital worlds makes it an indispensable assistant. Whether you're identifying objects, planning trips, or automating your home, Siri's advanced features ensure you have the support you need at your fingertips. As Siri continues to evolve, it proves to be far more capable than you might have imagined, solidifying its role as a reliable and intelligent companion in the modern age. Check out more relevant guides from our extensive collection on Siri AI that you might find useful. Source & Image Credit: Stephen Robles Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.