5 Things You Probably Didn't Know Siri Could Do On Your iPhone

Siri has been something of a hidden gem on the iPhone for years now. No, that's not because users don't realize the iconic virtual assistant exists. It's safe to say all iPhone users have a general sense of how to get at least some value out of Siri. However, Siri also boasts plenty of hidden features that the average user might not know about. This is in part due to the fact that new versions of iOS expand on the features that Apple Intelligence and, consequently, Siri can offer. This trend has continued with the release of iOS 27 Beta 3 and Siri AI. The latest release once again adds to the power of Siri by, as you might have guessed, leveraging AI to make Apple's voice assistant arguably more powerful than ever.

It may be too soon to determine just how "revolutionary" these new developments are. That said, some are already claiming that this latest version of Siri is the most impressive yet. Rather than making a few minor upgrades, it appears Apple is striving to ensure Siri stays as relevant as ever in the AI age.

Just be aware that, as of this writing, Siri AI is primarily available through a waitlist. That means you might not be able to access all these new features right away. Nevertheless, it's worth being aware of them now, so you can be prepared to experiment with them as soon as you have access.

Before exploring some of the more novel new features that Siri AI offers, it's important to understand that this update doesn't just provide users with neat tricks that make Siri appear more helpful. Siri can now serve its main purpose — answering questions and responding to prompts — more effectively by accessing your specific information and content across your apps. This major upgrade allows the assistant to personalize its responses and handle tasks that a user might have otherwise had to complete manually.

For example, maybe you want to add photos from a recent family trip to a shared album. Maybe you even want to limit those photos to ones featuring certain family members. You can now prompt Siri to find these photos and add them to the album instead of having to do so yourself. Although you may have to experiment to determine how well Siri performs such tasks in practice vs. at an Apple keynote event, the basic idea is that Siri uses the information it has about you from other apps to determine what exactly you're asking for. In this specific scenario, that upgrade could help Siri know exactly what photos you're talking about when you ask it to add pictures to a shared album.

As discussed, the new Siri has the ability to access other apps and pull information from them. Another feature resulting from this enhanced ability involves Siri being able to provide information about electric vehicles by accessing the relevant EV apps.

This is a feature that Apple is likely to improve upon. As of now, it's inconsistent. For example, developers have found that this feature seems to work when using the third-party Tesla app Tessie, but not with the official Tesla app.

Regardless, when functioning properly, this new feature can let users easily learn about the battery status of their EVs simply by asking Siri a question. As Apple continues to roll out new updates, this new capability should theoretically become more reliable. Currently, Apple doesn't provide a specific list of the apps it works with. Nevertheless, the feature earns a spot on this list due to the way it highlights one of Apple's new strategies with Siri: Using data from other sources to offer a more personalized user experience.

In the past, Siri didn't have any "awareness" of what a user was looking at on their screen. As such, if a user wanted information about what they were looking at, they would have to describe it thoroughly to Siri. That's no longer the case. Now that Siri can recognize what's on a user's screen, it can answer questions about the content more effectively.

For example, maybe you're looking at a picture of a beautiful beach. You might want to know where that beach is. You can now ask Siri to identify it for you. Along with telling you more about what you're looking at, Siri can also tell you how to get there, and even find the addresses of people you know who may live in the area (assuming that information is available through other apps). True, some of these features are already available to at least some degree via other AI assistants, like Gemini. Regardless, because Siri is a built-in component of an iPhone, being able to access these features on Siri may be more seamless and efficient than using a separate app to do so.

Suppose a friend recommended a movie or show you need to watch a while ago, but you've forgotten the name, and that recommendation is now buried in your messages. Or you're contacting a hotel you plan on staying at and need the booking confirmation number, which is unfortunately in an old email that's far back in your inbox.

These are just two examples of situations in which you'd typically have to dig through your messages or emails to find the information you're seeking. While this might only take a few minutes, it can still be frustrating and cumbersome to have to frequently check your emails, messages, and other such sources for details you want to call up.

Siri AI is fixing this. This is yet another innovation iPhone users will soon enjoy thanks to Siri's new ability to access and search through user apps. Soon, if you want this type of information, Siri will be able to retrieve it for you. All you have to do is ask.

Siri's updated access to your apps means that, as long as developers support Siri AI, the voice assistant will be able to perform tasks within those other apps. This can take a variety of forms. For example, rather than simply asking Siri to help you write an email that you'd have to manually paste into your email drafts, now you may be able to direct Siri to draft an email in your actual email app. Similarly, Siri can add important reminders to your calendar, make adjustments to your photo albums, and send messages, among other new and expanded capabilities.

These developments indicate that Apple understands how Siri's alternatives have gotten more impressive lately, offering improved service and features. Rather than pivoting in a completely new direction, Apple is applying emerging tech to transform Siri into something more valuable than ever. Of course, only by experimenting with these features yourself can you determine whether you think the company has achieved its ambitious goal.