Siri’s Next Act: A Standalone App for the iOS 27 AI Reboot
Concept Image of a Siri app in iOS 27 [iDrop News / AI]
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By now you’re probably well aware that Siri is well overdue for a major overhaul. Even if you haven’t been paying attention to news and rumors from the Apple world, anyone who has tried more than one voice assistant in the past two years has likely come to realize that Siri is woefully behind the times compared to even Google Assistant and Alexa, much less Gemini, ChatGPT, and Amazon’s new Alexa+.
It’s been nearly two years since Apple first showed off a more personalized Siri at its 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and after publicly missing its expected iOS 18.4 debut — and having to admit that it was going to take a little more time to get it right — Apple still doesn’t have anything ready to ship. Reliable reports said we’d see it that version arrive in iOS 26.4, and Apple called in some big guns to help, but it’s still not quite ready for prime time.
To be clear, Apple has been relatively quiet about its recent progress. The company knew better that to explicitly promise we’d see “Siri 2.0” in a specific iOS version, and while Apple still insists it’s coming this year, that’s a pretty broad timeline, and doesn’t guarantee it will even make the cut for iOS 26.
Most of the more specific information we’ve heard comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has been passing on what he’s been hearing from insiders for more than a year now. He was first to predict it wasn’t coming in iOS 18.4, long before Apple admitted it, later provided some insight into how bad things had actually gotten and how Apple had to clean house to get it back on track. He was also first to break the news that Apple was looking for partner with Google. So, while Gurman doesn’t get everything right, he seems to have his finger on the pulse of what’s going on with Apple’s Siri ambitions.
According to Gurman, Apple is much further ahead with Siri 2.0 than it was last year, and the project is nowhere closer to the borderline vaporware that it was at WWDC 2024, when it reportedly had little more than a barely functioning prototype. That makes it possible that we could still see the new Siri launch in iOS 26.5, but that may not matter, as Apple is already reportedly looking ahead to what it has in store for iOS 27 later this year.
A Siri App?
In January, Gurman reported that Apple plans to take Siri to the next level in iOS 27, turning it into a full chatbot. It’s been working on that in high gear ever since the Google Gemini deal closed, and it seems it’s still on track for a possible reveal at this year’s WWDC, which is when Apple unveils each year’s major new OS releases.
If that’s true, then getting the more personalized Siri ready for iOS 26.5 may no longer be Apple’s number one priority. After all, why waste time on a modestly improved Siri when a whole new personality is slated to emerge only three or four months later?
In a new report this week, Gurman reiterates that Apple’s plans for “Campo” — the code-name for the new Siri update — are still on track for a WWDC debut (Gurman initially referred to this as “Campos” but has since dropped the “s”).
Apple is said to be “modernizing Siri by giving it a fresh look and chatbot-like experience,” and may be releasing it as a standalone app after all. While Gurman’s January report noted that Apple was testing it internally in the form a standalone app, he was told it had no plans to offer that to consumers, preferring to go with an integrated experience like Siri works today.
However, if Apple truly wants Siri to rival ChatGPT and Gemini as a full-fledged chatbot, it’s going to need a more obvious place where users can interact with it. That makes a separate app necessary.
As part of the shift toward this approach, Apple is testing a dedicated Siri app for the iPhone, iPad and Mac later this year. It rivals outside AI tools while also giving users a central place to access their past interactions.
The app’s main interface will display prior conversations in either a list or a grid of rounded rectangles with text previews. Users can pin favorite chats, save older conversations, search across interactions and start new chats via a prominent plus button.
Mark Gurman
According to Gurman, the app’s design will resemble Apple’s Messages app, effectively using the same type of design for chatting with Siri as folks already use to text their friends. There will be a voice mode toggle and an option to upload documents and photos for analysis by the Siri AI. In other words, it’s basically going to be Apple’s take on what the ChatGPT and Gemini apps already do today.
That doesn’t mean Apple is removing the deeper Siri integration, and it’s unlikely it’s going to surrender any ground to rival voice assistants — except where it’s forced to. In fact, it’s almost certain the Siri app will be built into iOS 27, with the only real question being whether it will be possible to remove it. However, even if the app is user-removable, that will likely only take away the user-facing interface, not the deeper Siri functionality that will be baked into the operating system.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
