I’m outside hiking and testing a developer beta of Siri AI, Apple’s revamped voice assistant, when fog engulfs the Golden Gate Bridge behind me. It’s beautiful, but I’m coatless, cold, and ready for something cozy. So, I pull out my iPhone and ask this new Siri where I can grab some fluffy pancakes nearby. A translucent orb at the top of the smartphone screen spins around a few times, then the voice assistant responds with a recommendation: a spot called Eats in the Inner Richmond.
This version of Siri—conversational, omnipresent, actually helpful—has been long delayed. At its annual developer conference this year, though, Apple shared how it would finally come to fruition as part of iOS 27. The voice assistant is now highly personalized based on your messages, photos, and emails. It’s also better at understanding questions and interacting with apps. Basically, it feels nothing like Siri of yore. That’s a good thing.
Since Apple plans to roll out this voice assistant to the public later this year, I was curious to see how helpful Siri AI could be as a travel guide, even in its beta form. How would it feel to spend a day as a Siri-assisted tourist? So I grabbed my iPhone and headed out to explore San Francisco.
Fresh Start
The evolution of Siri is striking, even in this nascent iteration. Whereas before Siri was a more limited, isolated experience, it’s now merged into the iPhone search bar and pops up if you swipe down in the middle of your screen. You can chat conversationally with it or swipe down on Siri’s answers to text any follow-up questions. These back-and-forths are stored in a dedicated app, so you can return to past conversations.
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