Apple Opens Siri AI to Third-Party Apps with iOS 27.3 Update
Apple’s iOS 27.3 Developer Preview lets Siri AI act across third-party apps, using personal context, natural-language prompts and on-screen awareness. New “app skills” can chain tasks, such as changing a ride pickup without switching apps or repeating context.
Apple announced in November 2026 that Siri AI can now perform actions across third-party apps, marking a significant expansion of the voice assistant’s reach beyond Apple’s own software ecosystem.
The change arrives as part of iOS 27.3, rolling out Tuesday as a Developer Preview. Developers can now integrate Siri AI’s capabilities into “all apps,” enabling the assistant to draw on a user’s personal context, process natural language prompts, and use on-screen awareness to complete requests.
The update also introduces an “app skills” feature, which lets third-party developers bundle several tasks into a single action. Apple notes that users will not need to name an app in their request when it is open in the foreground, active as a Live Activity, or already part of an ongoing Siri AI conversation about that app.
Apple illustrated the feature with a ride-share example: a user could request a ride, monitor its progress through a Live Activity, then say “Hey Siri, change my ride pickup to a new address” — all without manually switching between apps or restating context.
Apple is also extending Siri AI’s expanded capabilities to its own first-party apps, including Calendar, Files, Finder, Journal, Mail, Maps, Messages, Music, Notes, Photos, Preview, Reminders, Safari, Shortcuts, and Weather. The company says users will be able to do things like locate a coffee shop they visited the previous week or archive files that have not been opened in over a year. Users can ask Siri AI directly what it is capable of within each app.
Apple had previously made a more limited set of Siri AI features available to third-party developers. The iOS 27.3 update broadens that access considerably, which could allow developers to build more deeply integrated voice-driven experiences into their apps.