Siri AI steals the show as the iOS 27 public beta lands

Apple released the first public betas of its iOS 27 operating system, featuring Siri AI and improved Apple Intelligence tools, which have received highly positive feedback for delivering advanced contextual understanding and faster performance. The update includes new capabilities such as Siri's ability to search across apps, hold ongoing conversations, and take actions, though Siri AI is not yet available in Europe due to regulatory issues.

Apple has released the first public betas of its “27” series of operating systems https://beta.apple.com/ , and feedback so far https://x.com/JoannaStern/status/2076771694740406579?s=20 suggests they’re already very stable builds, even at this early end of the release cycle. For most intrepid public beta testers, the big attractions here are Siri AI https://www.computerworld.com/article/4184484/siri-ai-is-all-apple-it-just-needed-google-to-get-there.html and the heavily improved Apple Intelligence tools – though Siri AI is not yet available in Europe https://www.applemust.com/apples-siri-ai-stand-off-with-europe-just-escalated/ due to regulatory problems there. Overnight social media commentary has been highly positive, with Siri widely seen as delivering on what we always thought it should be rather than the limited product it became. Once installed, the new operating system is fast and better performing on the iPhone, though there are some limitations anyone considering the beta should consider first: Siri AI is the big reward here. Joanna Stern called https://x.com/JoannaStern/status/2076771694740406579?s=20 it “significantly better.” It will provide you with much better responses than its predecessor, and its contextual understanding is sophisticated and advanced. That’s because Siri can search across your messages, emails, photos and more to help you find what you’re looking for and has some understanding of where you are and what you are doing to help it make even more accurate decisions. It is faster than it’s ever been with a dedicated app which includes logs of your interactions and a new glowing design when activated. The assistant can now hold an ongoing conversation with you, understands what’s on screen, and take some actions in apps. One way that might be useful is if you are looking at a recipe online, you can ask Siri to write up a shopping list for the recipe ingredients and paste it in a Note. Siri has become much more knowledgeable than in the past thanks to its expanded and updated world knowledge database. Apple Intelligence has been beefed up, too, with keyboard tools much improved on the last version. Siri can even reflect your personal tone and style based on the person you’re communicating with when sending a Mail or Messages post. The Camera app now has a new Siri mode; it can do things like identify objects and people, or import event details from a leaflet. You can easily search or ask questions about what’s around you, and there are useful new actions you can take, such as getting nutritional insights about a plate of food. Image Playground wasn’t terribly impressive when it first appeared, and a lot of people did little with it. It seems much better now, capable of generating photo-realistic images in virtually any style from natural language prompts or editing existing images. It’s a useful step up. Another impressive feature is Spatial Reframing. This lets you shift the composition of a photo after you’ve taken it, using AI to create accurate renditions of what is outside the frame. A new Extend tool lets you expand images, which is useful for adjusting aspect ratios or creating Lock Screen wallpapers. If you use an Apple Watch, you’ll be impressed, as the contextual AI extends to that device. So, you can have context-savvy conversations with your watch and ask it to do tasks on your behalf. It makes it feel like a bona fide computer on your wrist and bodes well for other future wearable products from the company https://www.applemust.com/apple-watch-is-already-the-worlds-dominant-wearable-ai-device/ . There are lots of other interesting features in the beta. Call Context can automatically surface the information you need, like a confirmation code or reservation number, when calling up a business. And a new Notify Me feature in Safari lets you know when a web page changes, so you can watch for stock availability or ticket sales. If you’re interested in installing the new OSes, Apple’s Beta Software Program https://beta.apple.com/ website should be your first port of call. You’ll need to sign in to access the betas using your Apple Account. Once you’ve done that, open Settings and go to Software Update; there you can select Beta Updates and choose the 27 series Public beta. Tap Update Now and the installation will begin. You can follow me on social media Join me on BlueSky, LinkedIn, Mastodon, and subscribe to The Core.