iOS 27.3 beta: Siri AI for all apps
The first developer beta of iOS 27.3, out now alongside iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3, carries a new Developer Preview that lets any app plug its content and actions into the company’s rebuilt, conversational Siri. Beyond Siri, iOS 27.3 is unusually busy for a point update. The redesigned Health app returns after being pulled from the iOS 27.2 betas, adding Insights and Longevity tabs and a Health Age estimate. Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 owners can test Live Rewind, which shows a transcript of the last 15 seconds of a conversation, along with Siri Recap. iPhone Duo picks up sideways Reachability, and Siri AI learns Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish and Norwegian. The public release of iOS 27.3 is expected in December.
For more involved requests, Apple is introducing “skills”, which teach Siri AI to string several actions into a single experience. Apple has opened Siri AI to every app developer. Until now, developers mostly built basic Siri integrations for things like directions, to-do lists and audiobooks. The preview goes much further. Using App Intents, apps can now tap Siri AI’s personal context, onscreen awareness and natural language understanding. A user could ask Siri to check a delivery, book a table or place an order in plain words, without opening the app. Siri AI can also now surface any entity in the Spotlight semantic index, not only those that fit an existing schema. Apple’s own apps show what this looks like. Across Calendar, Files, Mail, Messages, Safari, Photos and more, Siri AI can now unsubscribe you from mailing lists, close duplicate Safari tabs, schedule or unsend messages, and clear out files nobody has opened in over a year. Asking Siri what it can do inside an app lists the new actions. Safari gets vertical tabs and an Adaptive Dark Mode for sites without a native dark theme. Apple Intelligence also arrives in China, though without Siri AI. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Siri AI remains unavailable in the EU on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and is not available to users under 13.
Apple says these features reach customers in a few months, with App Store submissions opening in spring. Server-side Siri AI features also carry daily usage limits, and Apple says expanded access will come “for a fee in the future. Terms and usage policies are still to come.