Apple Opens Siri AI to All Developers in iOS 27.3 Beta, With Live Rewind for Apple Watch

Apple on November 3, 2026 opened Siri AI to all developers through a Developer Preview in the iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3 betas, so any app can bring its content and actions into the assistant with App Intents. The same day, the watchOS 27.3 beta put Live Rewind and Siri Recap, two opt-in Apple Watch features that listen to conversations, into developer testing.

Siri AI, Apple's rebuilt assistant, reached the iPhone with iOS 27 in September 2026 and anchors new hardware such as the HomeView smart display. Outside apps could so far use only a smaller set of its features (9to5Mac via The Verge), so the preview widens how Apple's consumer AI products reach other companies' software. The same betas carry Apple Intelligence for mainland China, without Siri AI.

What did Apple open to developers in iOS 27.3?

Apple's Siri AI Developer Preview, announced on November 3, 2026, lets any app expose its own content and custom actions to Siri AI through App Intents, the framework apps use to describe what they can do to the system. Siri AI can then apply personal context, onscreen awareness and natural language to those actions, from checking a delivery to placing an order, Apple said in its developer announcement.

Until now Siri AI mainly handled app functions in system defined categories that Apple calls schema domains; the preview adds custom actions and information, according to Apple's developer documentation, and Siri AI can now surface any entity in the Spotlight semantic index, not only those that fit an existing schema. For complex requests, developers can write skills that teach Siri AI to combine several actions into one experience.

People do not have to name the app while it is in the foreground, while one of its Live Activities is running or when they continue a conversation about it in the Siri app, the documentation says. Apple's example is a ride share user who later says "Hey Siri, change my ride pickup to a new address." Developers need no new entitlement or separate program, and Xcode gets a Siri Integration Advisor that suggests improvements to App Intents code.

Apple is adding the same capabilities to its own apps, from Calendar to Weather; in Mail, for example, Siri AI can unsubscribe from mailing lists, MacRumors reports.

When can people use Siri AI in third party apps?

Not yet: Apple said on November 3, 2026 that the preview gives developers early access "before first shipping to customers in a few months," and that App Store submission opens in the spring. Until then the integrations run only in development builds and for internal TestFlight testers, not for external testers or App Store versions, according to Apple's documentation.

The API may still change. Apple has not yet published the terms and usage policies for experiences built on Siri AI and says it will follow up with them. That pending policy comes one day after Apple's November 2 earnings call, where chief financial officer Kevan Parekh said the company sees AI "opportunities across third-party apps and partnerships as well as first-party opportunities" (TechCrunch). Parekh did not say what those opportunities are.

Reach is limited too. Siri AI works in six languages, including English, French and Japanese, and is currently unavailable in the European Union in iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, where Apple says it is working with the EU on a path forward.

What do Live Rewind and Siri Recap do on Apple Watch?

Live Rewind shows a text transcript of the last 15 seconds of a conversation when the wearer double-presses the Digital Crown, while Siri Recap listens in the background and writes a title and key points for conversations the wearer takes part in. Both reached the watchOS 27.3 developer beta on November 3, 2026, are opt-in and work in English only, according to MacRumors and The Next Web.

Apple unveiled these Audio Intelligence features with the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 in September (TechCrunch). They need one of those watches paired with an iPhone 16 or later that has Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, MacRumors reports. Siri Recap pauses during phone and FaceTime calls, music and earbud use, ZDNET reports.

How does Apple say it protects the people being recorded?

Apple says raw audio from the watch microphone is handled within dedicated hardware, is not saved as a file and is not accessible to the operating system, apps or Apple, according to its Audio Intelligence privacy overview as quoted by The Verge. That hardware is a Secure Exclave, an isolated compartment on the watch's S11 chip (MacRumors).

Neither feature identifies or labels speakers, and the Live Rewind chime plays even in silent mode, MacRumors reports. Apple says Siri Recap is designed to leave out government issued identifiers, financial and authentication data and certain personal identifiers (TechCrunch). TechCrunch reports that recaps are deleted from Private Cloud Compute, Apple's server system for AI requests, right after they are made.

Lawyers in several US states have warned that the features could run afoul of eavesdropping laws that require every party to a conversation to consent to recording, The Next Web reports.

What we don't know yet

• The terms and usage policies for Siri AI integrations, including whether they involve fees or revenue sharing for developers.
• The exact customer launch date for third party Siri AI actions, beyond Apple's "in a few months."
• Whether and when Siri AI, and with it Live Rewind and Siri Recap, will be available in the European Union.
• How courts or regulators in states with all party consent laws will treat Siri Recap.