Apple's Siri Chatbot in iOS 27: Everything We Know

[Allen_Wentz]

What if someone (perhaps tens of millions of people) don’t want to be talking to their iPhone to get things done.

Easy. Then they simply do not use that tool.

 

[kalsta]

Onscreen awareness will let Siri see what's on your screen and complete actions involving whatever you're looking at. If someone texts you an address, for example, you can tell Siri to add it to their contact card. Or if you're looking at a photo and want to send it to someone, you can ask Siri to do it for you.

Just tell us none of that will be going through Google’s Gemini servers. 😧

 

[NetMage]

E ven my iPad is now 90% keyboard filled with a small 1 inch strip of data, the typing area obscured by the KB.

It sounds like you need vision assitance, but even without that, a Magic keyboard would leave all of the screen available for data.

 

[klasma]

What if someone (perhaps tens of millions of people) don’t want to be talking to their iPhone to get things done.

I'm sure they'll be able to chat with Siri by keyboard instead.

 

[Terrinb]

Am I the only one on MR that believes Grok is way better and more accurate than Wikipedia, Gemini or Chat GBT?

Yes.

 

[HouseLannister]

It sounds like the Siri chatbot will be able to do everything that current chatbots can do, and more.

Good one! I needed a laugh.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Being grandparent age, with failing eyesight, iOS has become quite difficult recently, my phone mostly now sits in DND mode unused and left on the bedside table upstairs. E ven my iPad is now 90% keyboard filled with a small 1 inch strip of data, the typing area obscured by the KB.

That hardest part, when the ipad now replaces my correctly words with others of it's own, and that next word I think you want to type often adds offensive stuff.

Their asssitance tools like zoom for older vision and cognitive ability is clearly lacking behind what younger people have in terms of stability and bug fxes, especially in dark mode with the LG effects removed. I welcome them providing the changes for the larger majority of people who want them, I hope they continue to provide workable options for the older cohort too.

I do hope they can provide the option of a small amount of on-device voice recognition for those who want to just set times, and control lighting. Without AI making things too difficult.

But even with that, I do fast see my switch to a dumb "oldies" phone fast aproaching now.

Appologies if this desire offends for options offends anyone, it's not intentionally aimed to take anything from you.

I see the issues you describe entirely differently. IMO devices should/will make accessibility better, not worse. Instead of a "switch to a dumb "oldies" phone fast aproaching" it makes more sense to instead embrace the smartest new devices and their rapidly-improving capabilities for speech to computing. Take advantage of the coming wide usage of LLMs.

 

[neilw]

I will be satisfied if, when dictating texts in CarPlay, Siri can simply read back times correctly and say "five fifty" rather than "five hundred fifty". Anything beyond that is gravy.

 

[BGrifter]

Best reason to stay on iOS 18.7.3 yet.

 

[lepetitnicolas]

When I’m scared that very soon AI will take our jobs, take over the world and become our masters I just ask some questions to Siri and then I feel safe again :

Hey Siri, show me the files Eric sent me last week.
Sorry I cannot find Erika in your lights.

Hey Siri, find the email where Eric mentioned ice skating.
Here are the closest ice-cream store I found on Maps....

Hey Siri, find the books that Eric recommended to me.
Ok... just tell me where to book the flight to ?

Hey Siri, where's the recipe that Eric sent me?
Here is what I found for "Sylvester Stallone" on Wikipedia

Hey Siri what's my passport number?
Those are the closest 3 ports from you.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Apple seems to be packing so much AI into 26.4 and then the fullblown chatbot June release, that it seems likely that no matter how carefully they incorporate these changes, real-world users will find a lot of it doesn't work right, making it feel like what it could reasonably be seen as: a big, long-lasting public beta.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

No, WP [Wikipedia] certainly isn't an LLM but like Gemini and Chat GPT, it has bias and sometimes gives downright false answers to Yes/No questions.

I'm not sure what you're describing. Wikipedia doesn't currently have a chatbot interface, though they're considering one for possible future release. Chatbots can of course use Wikipedia as a source, and there are tools to have a chatbot use Wikipedia as its only source, but these don't work entirely well at restricting themselves to just Wikipedia. How are you asking Wikipedia yes/no questions?

 

[johnsawyercjs]

What if someone (perhaps tens of millions of people) don’t want to be talking to their iPhone to get things done.

When the guy whose job it will be to force people to talk to their iPhones comes knocking at your door, don't answer.

 

[sully54]

I would love a customizable Siri activation that I can change from device to device so that I don't have my iPhone Siri responding when Im playing music on my HomePod and want that Siri to respond instead.

 

[NetMage]

You can do the rest. And before you try and argue semantics over “leaching” - the dude is where he is thanks largely to government contracts paid for by the taxpayer.

I’m sure you work for free because you aren’t leaching off your employer, are you?

Most of the government contracts are with SpaceX, and most of his money is from Tesla. And, those SpaceX contracts have saved the government hundreds of millions of dollars, but you can keep ignoring the truth.

 

[Digital Dude]

Being grandparent age, with failing eyesight, iOS has become quite difficult recently, my phone mostly now sits in DND mode unused and left on the bedside table upstairs. E ven my iPad is now 90% keyboard filled with a small 1 inch strip of data, the typing area obscured by the KB.

That hardest part, when the ipad now replaces my correctly words with others of it's own, and that next word I think you want to type often adds offensive stuff.

Their asssitance tools like zoom for older vision and cognitive ability is clearly lacking behind what younger people have in terms of stability and bug fxes, especially in dark mode with the LG effects removed. I welcome them providing the changes for the larger majority of people who want them, I hope they continue to provide workable options for the older cohort too.

I do hope they can provide the option of a small amount of on-device voice recognition for those who want to just set times, and control lighting. Without AI making things too difficult.

But even with that, I do fast see my switch to a dumb "oldies" phone fast aproaching now.

Appologies if this desire offends for options offends anyone, it's not intentionally aimed to take anything from you.

No need for apologies, we all end up there at some point. My former speed demon nature has been replaced by a more methodical approach, backed by experience and a bit of wisdom. I rely on voice features more than I used to, partly for the same reason. Even so, there’s solace in knowing that only a handful of us make it this far, having dodged most of life’s bullets and still being around to talk about it. 🤝

 

[cbsnbiker]

I will be turning this off, if there is an on/off button.

I don't use Siri anyway.

 

[ikramerica]

While I look forward to a useful assistant, it is shocking to watch old tv shows and see that it was common for people to have the addresses and phone numbers of LOTS of people memorized. It’s not just Hollywood magic, as my parents would agree that they used to know these things and having phones have made them stupider.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Hopefully it'll be better than this (a very low bar)

 

[Yr Blues]

Who's liable when it sets up an erroneous appointment that causes some kind of damage?

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

"Right now, ‌Siri‌ can answer basic questions and complete simple tasks"

....can it though?

*right now* it can. In ten minutes time, not so much.

 

[Macaholic868]

Based on the current Siri chatbot rumors, Siri will be able to do all of that and more with the upcoming upgrade, and it will work like competing chatbots.

Apple was supposed to release everything that’s now being touted as supposedly coming in iOS 26.4 nearly a year ago.

Let’s stop with these delusions of grandeur. Apple has not earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Siri improvements or AI.

Let’s see if the Siri that was touted in the Summer of 2024 at WWDC and advertised on TV later in 2024 will actually make its debut in the spring or summer of 2026 and if said features not only debut, but actually work as they were advertised back in 2024.

If they actually do finally deliver on smarter Siri, all that proves is that they finally did what they claimed they’d do a year and a half after they said they’d do it.

Since these are all pie-in-the-sky rumors and Apple has neither announced nor touted nor advertised any of this, let’s wait to see what they actually do announce at WWDC as coming this year and then let’s wait to see if they actually deliver it on time.

Then, and only then, will it be appropriate to speculate on Apple’s grandiose plans for AI.

 

[JaydenA]

It sounds like you need vision assitance, but even without that, a Magic keyboard would leave all of the screen available for data.

I do have that indeed, and it assists with the problem while I am at home.

The problem extends far more than this, so this was just a simple and fairly easy example of the most obvious of many bugs with accessabilty, that many people, thankfully, will never realise.

All I can do, is respectfully keep up the gentle suggesting that Apple do continue to provide options where possible and to maybe consider if there is capability within their plans to ensure they try to address a few difficulties well reported.

Not directed at you; Again, I appologise if my views offend people, it is never my intention.

 

[cbsnbiker]

While I look forward to a useful assistant, it is shocking to watch old tv shows and see that it was common for people to have the addresses and phone numbers of LOTS of people memorized. It’s not just Hollywood magic, as my parents would agree that they used to know these things and having phones have made them stupider.

Yes. To this day, I can still remember addresses and phone numbers from half a century ago (granted, I was young at the time), yet I have no clue what the telephone numbers or addresses are of most of the people whom I call or visit today. That is because I do not need to do so today, because the iPhone or GPS looks it up for me from its database, and the iPhone or GPS guides me where I want to go, whereas memorizing that info back then saved me from having to look it up in a telephone book or on a map.

"What is a telephone book?" It was a thick book that AT&T (back when it was a landline monopoly, before the corporation was broken up, and it was not the same corporate entity that currently has that name) published and distributed usually for free (sort of), with lists of names, addresses, and telephone numbers of most persons and most businesses.

"What is a map?" It was a large folded piece of paper, which showed schematics of roads and highways. It could help guide one to the general area of one's destination. We used to carry them in our vehicles to help guide us to our destinations. If driving cross country, I might have one for each state through which I planned to travel, plus possibly also for major cities or even neighborhoods.

 

[zenmacx]

Apple was supposed to release everything that’s now being touted as supposedly coming in iOS 26.4 nearly a year ago.

Let’s stop with these delusions of grandeur. Apple has not earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Siri improvements or AI.

Let’s see if the Siri that was touted in the Summer of 2024 at WWDC and advertised on TV later in 2024 will actually make its debut in the spring or summer of 2026 and if said features not only debut, but actually work as they were advertised back in 2024.

If they actually do finally deliver on smarter Siri, all that proves is that they finally did what they claimed they’d do a year and a half after they said they’d do it.

Since these are all pie-in-the-sky rumors and Apple has neither announced nor touted nor advertised any of this, let’s wait to see what they actually do announce at WWDC as coming this year and then let’s wait to see if they actually deliver it on time.

Then, and only then, will it be appropriate to speculate on Apple’s grandiose plans for AI.

So very true.

Apple, the master of delays and broken promises still hasn’t fulfilled their misleading promise to provide full functionality on my iPhone 16 Pro Max “built for Apple Intelligence”.

With their vast resources they’ve struggled for years simply trying to deliver modest performance from Siri.

Now, decades behind the competition Apple has a monumental task ahead. Even buying their way in via Google, there’s so much to be done.

How ironic Apple caves in, throwing up their hands in defeat and reaches out to their arch rival to bail them out.

Based on past history, it’s likely to take Apple years to catch up, if that’s even possible. What a debacle this has turned out to be.