With iOS 27, I’m actually using Siri again
TechCrunch Ivan Mehta ● Covered by 2 sources
Opinion — commentary, not a factual news event.
iOS 27 makes Siri useful again for real tasks, not just timers. That’s Apple’s biggest win here, because people had mostly given up on it.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Ivan Mehta — read the original for the full story.
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For years, Siri was the assistant people kept around for timers and alarms, not much else. iOS 27 changes that. On the main device and a developer beta before it, the new version became something worth going back to for messy requests, on-screen context, and odd little tasks that used to send people straight to ChatGPT or Gemini.
Apple spent more than two years teasing an advanced Siri after introducing Apple Intelligence, and after multiple delays, it finally looks like the product matches the pitch. This version is built on Google’s Gemini models, not the older setup with extended knowledge and a rough ChatGPT integration. It also gets a new logo and a smoother transition animation, which feels appropriately modest for a feature that is doing the heavy lifting here.
The big change is that Siri can actually handle more than one step at a time. It can pull together sports facts, answer questions about lineups and scores, find small features in iOS 27 and add them to a note, draft a message, send it, and even use context from files, messages, and email to help with things like a delivery return. The on-screen awareness is often the most useful part. Ask about a World Cup lineup, and it can answer who the oldest player is. Point it at a startup website, and it can surface funding information and competitors. The Camera app now feeds it what’s in the viewfinder, too, so it can guess a drink, read a sign, or suggest brewing methods for a coffee bag.
There are other Apple Intelligence touches scattered through the system. Shortcuts can now be created from plain-language prompts, Safari can watch pages for changes, Photos gets new reframe and extend tools, and the eraser is better at leaving fewer weird artifacts. Apple also added smarter message suggestions, automatic password changes, clipboard improvements, transparent controls for Liquid Glass, intelligent network switching, and more child-safety tools. But this update’s real story is simpler: Siri finally feels useful enough that people may stop reaching for another AI app first.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Apple’s best AI move here isn’t flashy model bragging; it’s making the phone less annoying to use. That is a much harder sell than a demo, and a much better one. The broader pattern is clear: consumers don’t need another chatbot mascot, they need the assistant on the device to stop being embarrassing.
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