Apple is opening Siri to third-party apps as part of a major overhaul designed to make its voice assistant more capable of completing tasks across the iPhone.
Apple is opening up Siri to third-party apps as it continues its efforts to transform the voice assistant with artificial intelligence.
The move will allow developers to connect their apps to Siri, potentially enabling users to complete more complex tasks simply by speaking to their iPhone.
Apple has faced sustained criticism over Siri in recent years, particularly as rivals including Google have introduced increasingly sophisticated AI features.
Critics have argued that Apple was slow to embrace artificial intelligence, leaving Siri less capable than competing assistants.
The company began addressing those concerns with the launch of Siri AI alongside iOS 27 in September.
The updated assistant can understand a user’s personal context through information stored on their device and use AI to provide relevant information and perform actions.
However, many of the new capabilities were initially restricted to Apple’s own apps.
That is now changing, with developers being given access to the technology.
The update could allow users to ask Siri to change the destination of a taxi through the app they used to book it, for example.
Apple also highlighted more advanced possibilities, such as asking whether a particular pair of shoes is on sale and comparing them with similar products available elsewhere.
The system relies on “app intents”, a framework Apple introduced in 2022 that allows applications to tell the operating system about specific actions they can perform.
The technology is designed to work without users needing to understand how the underlying system operates.
Someone could simply ask Siri for an update on a takeaway order, for example, and receive the relevant information from the app.
The new capabilities are available to developers through an early version of iOS 27.3.
Apple said the feature will not become publicly available for “a few months”, with developers able to submit compatible apps in spring.
The technology relies on Apple Intelligence, meaning it requires compatible hardware and is limited to languages supported by Apple’s AI system.
It will also not initially be available in Europe, where Apple remains in discussions with regulators over how its AI and other technologies should comply with EU rules.
Apple said it is “working constructively” to find a way forward.
Apple opens up Siri to third-party apps as voice assistant revamp continues
