iOS 27 brings the long-promised Siri AI, but the part that matters most is what happens outside Apple’s apps. If Siri AI is really going to get legs, it needs third-party developer support. I had hoped Apple might use MCP as the bridge between Siri and third-party apps, which could have brought a lot of support along quickly. That’s not the route Apple chose. Given the security and sandboxing constraints of Apple’s operating systems, I’m not even sure it could have worked.

Instead, Apple’s plumbing for Siri AI is App Intents. Developers describe their app’s content and actions in a form Siri, Spotlight, and Shortcuts can understand. The first wave of updates is here, and it gives us a much better idea of what third-party Siri support will look like.

Things 3.24

Things 3.24 lets you speak more naturally when creating a to-do. You can also continue the conversation to add a note, schedule the task, move it to a project, or correct something Siri misunderstood.

The update also adds Spotlight indexing, which gives Siri a way to find to-dos and projects already in your database. This is much closer to talking with a task manager than dictating into one.

OmniFocus 4.9

OmniFocus 4.9 goes deeper. Siri treats OmniFocus actions as reminders, projects as lists, and folders as groups. It can create and edit actions, set due dates, add flags and repeat schedules, and work with notes and image attachments.

The visual piece is especially interesting. The Omni Group says you can point Visual Intelligence at a handwritten list and move those items into OmniFocus. Siri can also use Spotlight’s index to answer questions about your remaining and recently completed tasks.

Fantastical 4.2

Fantastical 4.2 connects Siri AI to Fantastical calendars. You can ask about your schedule, create an event, or move an existing event through a follow-up request. Those conversations also appear in the new Siri app.

Calendar work is exactly the sort of thing a voice assistant should handle quickly and reliably.

Fantastical is a MacSparky sponsor.

Dark Noise 3.6

Dark Noise 3.6 is a nice demonstration of Siri’s on-screen awareness. You can ask Siri to play a particular sound or one of your favorites without building a shortcut first. While looking at a sound in the app, you can say “Play this” or “Favorite this,” and Siri knows what “this” means.

Ulysses 41

Ulysses 41 adds on-screen awareness, Ask Siri, and Write with Siri. On the Mac, there is also a toolbar button for calling up Siri’s writing features while you work. If you would rather keep Siri out of your writing app, Ulysses lets you switch the feature off on the Mac.

The Ulysses implementation is less about commanding the app and more about giving Siri useful context while you write.

The Real Siri AI Test

Siri AI is still a beta. It requires supported hardware, language, and region settings, and the first wave of app support is uneven. The operating system also needs time to index an app’s actions and content, so a newly installed integration may not work immediately.

It’s nice to see apps showing up in multiple categories. If this is to get momentum, I think Apple needs to do everything in its power to really push the gas down on third party support. That means further available actions, code support, and they should continue to promote Siri AI-enabled apps.