Apple finally lets app makers test a smarter Siri, years late

Apple has started letting app developers try a smarter Siri inside their apps. As of Tuesday, they can test it in early versions of iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3. Apple expects to begin accepting App Store apps that use the new features next spring, nearly three years after it first announced plans for deeper app support.

What changed

Until now, Siri could handle simple jobs and not much else. Apple calls the new version Siri AI. In a post to developers, Apple said the early preview lets an app work directly with Siri AI. Developers can see how people might use their apps by voice. Nothing here reaches regular users yet, because the apps must be built, reviewed and approved first.

Why Siri needed help

Siri dates to 2011 and gained limited outside app access in 2016. In 2024 it became the front door to Apple Intelligence, Apple's set of AI features. Several advertised Siri abilities were delayed, and Apple was sued in 2025 over claims of misleading marketing. Siri got a makeover in June.

Roberto Gutierrez, a developer and author of a book on on-device AI, put it bluntly. Before this year, he said, "Siri was a timer with a voice." He called the new version the first that understands context and can chain actions across apps.

Who it affects

Siri can only use what an app chooses to share through a tool called App Intents. That is a list of the things an app lets Siri do. Gutierrez said an app that does not share its main actions will be invisible to the new Siri. The older tool, SiriKit, is on its way out. Some limits for users and developers:

• Siri AI is not available in the EU on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch while Apple works through European rules.
• Rollout in mainland China depends on regulatory requirements.
• Traditional Chinese support is expected by the end of 2026.
• Web apps are locked out of Apple's AI tools for now, Gutierrez said.

Apple said last month it is working constructively with the EU, but it did not promise any changes.

What happens next

Developers will spend the coming months testing, and the first App Store apps built for the new Siri could arrive next spring. Gutierrez also noted that Apple has not published side-by-side comparisons of its AI models against rival ones, so developers must run their own tests. In his own test on an iPhone, Apple's built-in model ran about three times faster than the fastest open alternative and used far less memory.