Siri AI third party apps are getting a broader route into Apple’s assistant: the iOS 27.3 Developer Preview allows developers to add Siri AI’s newer capabilities to their apps, according to Apple’s developer announcement as reported by The Verge. The change is a developer preview, so it does not mean every app has the feature today.
Participating developers can connect their apps to Siri AI functions including personal-context use, natural-language requests and onscreen awareness. In practice, that could let Siri act on information related to an app rather than merely open it or pass along a narrow voice command. Apple’s description of the system is a claim about the feature, not proof that every integration will work well once apps ship it.
How will Siri AI work with third-party apps?
Apple has added what it calls “app skills,” developer-built actions that can join several steps into one request. The company’s example involves a ride-share app: a person could order a ride, follow its Live Activity, then ask Siri to change the pickup address. That is an illustration of what an app can implement, not a promise that all ride-share services, or any particular app, will support it.
Apple’s documentation also says users will not need to name an app in some situations, including when it is open in the foreground, showing a Live Activity, or already being discussed with Siri AI. That should make follow-up commands less tedious, assuming the developer has done the integration work.
The November expansion follows the September rollout of Siri AI, which Apple said included personal context, onscreen awareness and more system-level app actions. Apple said at the time that Siri could already perform limited actions in WhatsApp and Audible. It also said integrations for drafting mail in Microsoft Outlook, finding homework in Notability and saving restaurant recommendations to Tripsy were coming.
What access can Siri AI have, and how can users limit it?
There are separate paths here, and Apple’s marketing tends to blend them together. An app can support actions through Siri. A developer can also choose to index app content so it can appear in search and be considered by Siri. And onscreen awareness can use what is visibly displayed, even when an app has not added broader Siri support, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
That developer choice remains the gatekeeper. EFF says Siri AI cannot access an app’s contents when its developer has not opted in, except for content exposed on screen through onscreen awareness.
Users who do not want Siri to surface details from a particular app in general questions can go to Settings, then Apps, select the app, open Search and disable “Show Content in Search,” EFF says. The group says that setting stops Siri from using that app’s details in general answers. It does not turn off Siri or settle every question about what Siri can do with information already visible on screen.
EFF also says Siri AI may process requests on a device or through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute, without an immediate visual cue showing which path was used. Apple says data sent to Private Cloud Compute is not stored after processing, a privacy assurance that has not been independently established in the material reviewed here.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
