Siri is a touchy subject, as Apple’s digital assistant has fallen behind competing AIs from companies like Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. But Apple hopes to change that by leveraging Gemini to provide Siri with improved intelligence while creating a new dedicated app for its assistant on iOS, iPadOS and macOS, a change announced at WWDC 2026.
As before, Siri can be summoned with a voice prompt or by holding down the power button on an iPhone. Apple’s Assistant will now pop out of Dynamic Island to let you know it’s listening. Users will be able to swipe from the top center of their device’s screen to launch a new search box where they can ask questions by voice or text.
For more complex tasks, Apple is creating a standalone Siri app for people looking for a more conversational, chatbot-like experience. From there, they’ll be able to see their previous queries and chats (which will sync across devices via iCloud), while the app gives Siri more space to display detailed text and multimedia cards in response to questions.
Additionally, Siri will have access to a device’s camera and be able to see what’s on its screen in order to do things like identify an object in a photo or guess how many calories are in a food. Apple says Siri can also analyze the contents of a receipt to make it easier to understand how to split the bill when dining with other people. Siri’s visual intelligence will even work on Apple Vision Pro, allowing it to estimate the size of specific products, among other things.
Apple
In macOS, Siri will also benefit from a dedicated keyboard shortcut, allowing users to more easily highlight objects and request more information from the digital assistant. Depending on what you select, Siri can perform several contextual functions, like adding events to your calendar, performing an image search, or bringing up additional background information.
Apple also created several new smart tools when writing, including the ability to generate a draft based on prompts and relevant documents. Users can even fine-tune how Siri responds based on who you’re talking to (like a boss or a friend). Alternatively, if you’re looking for feedback on your work, Siri can proofread documents and provide suggestions on how to improve it.
Siri AI and the new Siri app are expected to first arrive in the United States later this year. At the same time, the company says it is working to expand its updated intelligence capabilities to other regions in the future, including Europe and China.
