Siri AI Developer Preview: What iOS Developers Can Build Today (and What They Can’t)

On November 3, 2026, Apple launched a Siri AI developer preview, enabling developers to link their app's content and actions with Siri AI via App Intents. This preview is currently available in the iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3, and visionOS 27.3 betas. However, it comes with certain limitations. This article outlines what developers can and cannot do with the preview, including what it entails and what to expect moving forward.

Important to note before planning anything is that this feature is currently in beta, not yet available for App Store submissions, and not accessible to TestFlight testers. It also requires an Apple Intelligence-enabled device set to a supported language. Hence, it's essential to use this time for experimentation and design rather than shipping.

Through App Intents, an app can expose content and actions to Siri AI. Apple highlights three key capabilities: personal context understanding, on-screen awareness, and the ability to understand natural language requests rather than fixed commands. Additionally, the preview introduces app skills, which guide Siri through multiple actions for more complex requests.

Xcode now includes a Siri Integration Advisor that provides suggestions for improving App Intents. Developers should begin by using App Intents in an existing app. The building blocks for this process include structuring AppIntents, defining AppEntities, and creating EntityQueries. For instance, an order-tracking app's code demonstrates how to define an OrderEntity, an OrderQuery, and a CheckOrderStatusIntent.

When designing these intents, developers should consider sharing only what's necessary, exposing only a few key actions, properly modeling data, and planning for ambiguity. They should also keep behavior consistent between UI-triggered and Siri-triggered actions and handle sensitive actions like payments or account changes securely.

The preview of Siri AI integration offers developers an opportunity to make their apps more capable and accessible. As the spring submissions for App Store open, developers can look forward to shipping these features and potentially benefiting from increased user adoption.