Report: Apple Testing Revamped Siri With Apps Like Uber and YouTube

[MacRumors]

Apple is testing a revamped version of Siri with select third-party apps, including Uber, AllTrails, Threads, Temu, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, and a few games, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple also continues to test the new Siri with its own apps, he said. Apple's own example was an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps.

When it first announced the new-and-improved Siri at WWDC 2024, Apple said it would have better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls, with these features to be powered by Apple Intelligence and an upgraded App Intents system. The features will be available across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and Apple Intelligence has expanded to the Apple Vision Pro too.

In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new App Intents system will let you take action within apps entirely with Siri voice commands:

Here's what the new App Intents will mean: With nothing but your voice, you'll be able to tell Siri to find a specific photo, edit it and send it off. Or comment on an Instagram post. Or scroll a shopping app and add something to your cart. Or log in to a service without touching the screen. Essentially, Siri could operate your apps like you would — with precision, inside their own interfaces.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that his company was making "good progress" on a more personalized Siri, after it delayed the features earlier this year. He reiterated that the features are on track to launch next year, but he did not provide a more specific timeframe.

Gurman said the new Siri is on track to launch in the U.S. in spring 2026. If so, it will likely be released as part of iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4 next March or April. He said the new Siri won't be available universally on day one, so it might take time to roll out to some countries, just like Apple Intelligence overall.

Apple is considering limiting or disabling some new Siri abilities in banking and health apps, to ensure that Siri does not make the type of critical mistakes that have sometimes occurred during internal testing, according to Gurman.

If it works well, Gurman believes the revamped Siri would finally deliver the voice-powered reality that Apple envisioned nearly a decade and a half ago.

​

Article Link: Report: Apple Testing Revamped Siri With Apps Like Uber and YouTube

 

[hasanahmad]

If news was that Apple was delaying this feature, there would be 20 comments but because it’s in testing phase the trolls have no content

 

[BelgianChoklit]

So does this mean it's going to be like the Siri of old where at every WWDC we get one new thing Siri can do? WWDC 2026: Siri now understands "many" commands with Pocket Casts. WWDC 2027: Siri can now understand messages and "many" interactions with Signal...

 

[goonie4life9]

Wow, the tiny startup that could, Apple, is once again pushing the bleeding edge of where the puck will be, not where the puck is. You can be sure that if Apple is working on this feature, it will be the best, not the first, and a game-changing feature that takes things to a whole new level. Stay tuned, because Apple can't wait to see the incredible things customers are able to do with the ALL NEW, PERSONALIZED Siri. Apple thinks you're gonna love it!

 

[hasanahmad]

So does this mean it's going to be like the Siri of old where at every WWDC we get one new thing Siri can do? WWDC 2026: Siri now understands "many" commands with Pocket Casts. WWDC 2027: Siri can now understand messages and "many" interactions with Signal...

It means during app review process Apple will scan the app for what actions user does and add that to Siri

 

[ifxf]

With Apple’s current implementation, you are always at the mercy of what Apple or an app developers support with Siri. This is always a small subset of the app’s functionality.

 

[hasanahmad]

With Apple’s current implementation, you are always at the mercy of what Apple or an app developers support with Siri. This is always a small subset of the app’s functionality.

This feature is app agnostic

 

[211]

I’m glad Apple is finally taking Siri “siriously” after many years of neglect. It’s a shame, they could have been the leader in this, but now last in the race. Siri can’t even work properly with ChatGPT.

There have been improvements since Siri first came out, but very minor. I do wonder how big the Siri team is and what they do all day for years until now

 

[jz0309]

Gurman said the new Siri is on track to launch in the U.S. in spring 2026. If so, it will likely be released as part of iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4 next March or April.

Gurman says spring 2026 - that goes from eo Mar til eo Jun.
Did Gurman say 26.4 or is that MRs guess?

In either case, it's not what Apple has been saying thus far, it's a "leaker"'s timeline ...

 

[turbineseaplane]

This approach feels like it would be good news... if it were like 2013.

 

[bluecoast]

Let’s see. A pragmatic useful Siri - finally - could be great if it’s a deep and wide implementation.

Not so good if it’s a narrow one that only has access to a small subset of apps and their functionally. I guess it will depend on third party apps using app intents.

But combined with ChatGPT for general knowledge and creative work, it could be a winning combination

 

[turbineseaplane]

I guess it will depend on third party apps using app intents.

..and there we have the likely issue

 

[klasma]

This feature is app agnostic

App intents are app-specific, not app-agnostic. The previous commenter is correct insofar that only what an app exposes as app intents will be usable by Siri. This is opposed to how current AI is in principle able to understand the complete UI displayed on a screen, and to perform any operation possible in the UI, without any specific support by apps.

 

[bmark]

Apple testing anything with Siri is always an epic failure!

 

[klasma]

Gurman says spring 2026 - that goes from eo Mar til eo Jun.
Did Gurman say 26.4 or is that MRs guess?

Gurman wrote: “The company’s Siri team is aiming to bring the revamped voice assistant to market as part of an iOS 26.4 software update, according to people with knowledge of the matter. […] Apple’s “.4” updates — known as “E” on the company’s internal software development schedule — are typically released in March.”

Non-paywalled article mirror: https://archive.ph/GEThj

 

[Andres Cantu]

There’s the key phrase: “if it works well.”

I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[jz0309]

Gurman wrote: “The company’s Siri team is aiming to bring the revamped voice assistant to market as part of an iOS 26.4 software update, according to people with knowledge of the matter. […] Apple’s “.4” updates — known as “E” on the company’s internal software development schedule — are typically released in March.”

Non-paywalled article mirror: https://archive.ph/GEThj

the article you link is from Jun 12 ... don't know if he said the same thing today, not paying for his reports

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

People joke, but so far the launch of Amazon’s Alexa+, which is significantly more lacks about security and privacy, still has basically been a disaster.
According to the New York Times…
“The bad news is that despite its new capabilities, Alexa+ is too buggy and unreliable for me to recommend. In my testing, it not only lagged behind ChatGPT’s voice mode and other A.I. voice assistants I’ve tried, but was noticeably worse than the original Alexa at some basic tasks.
In testing, Alexa+ ignored alarm cancellation requests, hallucinated shopping recommendations, and delivered incorrect information.”

Alexa Got an A.I. Brain Transplant. How Smart Is It Now?

It took Amazon several years to overcome technical hurdles as it remade its voice assistant with new artificial intelligence technology.

www.nytimes.com

The people just going “hehehe Siri bad lol Tim Crook hehehe” are doing a lot of ignoring of important issues.
If it can’t do any of the new stuff without breaking simple tasks like timers and weather, it shouldn’t be released.
If data grabbing, no regards to privacy and security Amazon can’t do it in 2025, obviously Apple can’t.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

And it seems that 9to5Mac have come to a similar conclusion…

Amazon’s rocky Alexa+ launch might justify Apple’s slow pace with next-gen Siri - 9to5Mac

Amazon has finally started rolling out Alexa+, its oft-delayed overhaul of the Alexa voice assistant built on large language model...

9to5mac.com

 

[McWetty]

“Siri, play ‘99 Problems’ by JayZ”
“Sending $99 to Jane”

I’ll assume that’s why they’re going to limit it.

 

[klasma]

the article you link is from Jun 12 ... don't know if he said the same thing today, not paying for his reports

The part of the present MacRumors article that you quoted in your question links to a MacRumors article from June about an earlier Gurman newsletter:

Gurman said the new Siri is on track to launch in the U.S. in spring 2026.

The present newsletter is here: https://archive.ph/84nOw

 

[ZipZilla]

I have been very critical of Apple and the horrible state of Siri. That said, I want them to be successful and get it right and at least pull even with Android.

 

[CocktailHour]

Apple is testing a revamped version of Siri with select third-party apps, including Uber, AllTrails, Threads, Temu, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, and a few games, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple also continues to test the new Siri with its own apps, he said. Apple's own example was an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps.

When it first announced the new-and-improved Siri at WWDC 2024, Apple said it would have better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls, with these features to be powered by Apple Intelligence and an upgraded App Intents system. The features will be available across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and Apple Intelligence has expanded to the Apple Vision Pro too.

In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new App Intents system will let you take action within apps entirely with Siri voice commands:Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that his company was making "good progress" on a more personalized Siri, after it delayed the features earlier this year. He reiterated that the features are on track to launch next year, but he did not provide a more specific timeframe.

Gurman said the new Siri is on track to launch in the U.S. in spring 2026. If so, it will likely be released as part of iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4 next March or April. He said the new Siri won't be available universally on day one, so it might take time to roll out to some countries, just like Apple Intelligence overall.

Apple is considering limiting or disabling some new Siri abilities in banking and health apps, to ensure that Siri does not make the type of critical mistakes that have sometimes occurred during internal testing, according to Gurman.

If it works well, Gurman believes the revamped Siri would finally deliver the voice-powered reality that Apple envisioned nearly a decade and a half ago.

​

Article Link: Report: Apple Testing Revamped Siri With Apps Like Uber and YouTube

This is basic, so I'm glad they're finally focusing on that. I gave up using Siri long ago, cuz it was not dependable. I either had to wait too long for it to respond ("why didn't I just search? Faster and easier.) or it just wasn't giving me anything useful. So, very late, but a positive development. I'll use Siri if it works quickly & consistently.

 

[jz0309]

The part of the present MacRumors article that you quoted in your question links to a MacRumors article from June about an earlier Gurman newsletter:


The present newsletter is here: https://archive.ph/84nOw

Thanks, interesting how MR disects these reports ...

 

[klasma]

Thanks, interesting how MR disects these reports ...

I find that reading the originals gives better context. There tends to be significant loss in the “translation”. Nevertheless it’s good that MacRumors is tracking this stuff.