TechCrunch: Apple WWDC 2026 — Siri rebuilt with Gemini, iOS 27 gets AI shortcuts and dictation

At WWDC 2026, Apple announced a significant overhaul of Siri, integrating Google Gemini into a redesigned assistant that now lives in its own dedicated app. The new Siri supports back-and-forth conversation, can handle multi-step requests across apps, and processes visual context. Apple’s framing throughout the keynote emphasized that data is used only to execute the request—a privacy position that aligns with the on-device processing stance Apple has taken in earlier years.

iOS 27, backward compatible to iPhone 11, adds several AI-driven features relevant to how product teams think about their iOS presence. Users can now create Shortcuts using plain language descriptions rather than visual scripting, which substantially lowers the barrier to automation for non-technical users. A new systemwide dictation experience corrects spelling, punctuation, and capitalization in real time. Spotlight, Photos, and Mail all received rebuilt search powered by natural language queries.

The App Store changes are smaller but structurally notable. Developers can now offer subscription bundles for the first time, and the store is adding personalized app recommendation notes. Neither change is large on its own, but together they reflect Apple rethinking app discovery in an environment where AI assistants increasingly mediate what users install.

The keynote also marked Tim Cook’s final WWDC as CEO before handing leadership to John Ternus in September 2026.

For product managers, the Siri update is the development to watch most closely. A conversational, context-aware Siri capable of executing tasks changes the competitive position of any product that currently serves as a default destination—directions, reminders, scheduling, shopping. If Siri handles these reliably through conversation, the bar rises for why a user would open a dedicated app at all. Teams building in categories that overlap with Siri’s expanding scope should be thinking now about what they offer that a general-purpose assistant cannot.