Agent-based Siri changes the way an iOS app must expose its functions: the assistant can understand a request, identify displayed content, and trigger actions within apps. To prepare for 2027, teams must structure their data using App Intents, define automations, secure sensitive operations, and test complete workflows rather than simple voice commands.
What does agent-based Siri change for a mobile app?
"Agent-based Siri" refers to an assistant capable of interpreting a goal and then initiating actions suggested by multiple apps. In September 2026, Apple presented an understanding of the personal context, an interpretation of the content displayed on the screen, and expanded application capabilities in the software versions planned for 2027.
The change goes beyond traditional voice commands. Until now, an app could offer a shortcut corthat responded to a specific phrase or action. From now on, however, the system must be able to understand what the app can do, recognize the objects it interacts with, and select the appropriate action in response to a naturally phrased request.
App Intents is Apple's framework that allows an app to expose actions, entities, and structured data to the system. An entity represents an identifiable business object, such as an order, a document, an appointment, or a product. An intent represents an action that can be performed on that object, such as edit, send, reserve, or cancel.
For a manager, the key issue is ensuring continuity in the workflow. A function buried behind several screens may remain inaccessible to the assistant if it is not described in terms of intent. The graphical user interface remains useful, but it is no longer the only point of entry to the service.
How to Develop an Agent-Based Siri App for 2027?
Preparing an app for Siri Agent involves selecting tasks that are useful, short, and well-defined enough to be launched directly from the usual interface. Since June 2026, Apple has identified App Intents as the integration point between apps, Siri AI, and Apple Intelligence. A complete redesign of the app is therefore not always necessary.
The right starting point isn't technology, but the list of users' actual requests. "Find my latest bill" is a better candidate than "open my customer portal," because the first request expresses a specific result. The work on User Research and UX Testing help identify common tasks without inventing artificial use cases.
A reasonable preparation follows this ordre:
- Identify recurring tasks that produce a clear result;
- define business entities and their unique identifiers;
- create App Intents, their parameters, and their execution results;
- assign an authentication policy to each action;
- require confirmations for sensitive or irreversible transactions;
- Test the intents on their own, then the sequences that combine several of them.
In June 2026, Apple clarified that an App Intent declares the information it needs using properties @Parameter, and then returns a result indicating success or failure. This discipline requires handling incomplete cases: recipient absent, object not found, session expired, or action prohibited.
In the projects we work on, we often find that business rules exist only on screens or in the team’s memory. Before adding intents, we need to make them explicit in the services of the application. Otherwise, Siri may call a function that is technically available but unable to handle exceptions properly.
What data and actions should you share with Siri?
An app must expose to Siri only the data necessary for a specific task, not its entire internal model. Since June 2026, Apple’s app schemas have provided standardized structures for entities and intents. Entities feed Spotlight’s semantic index, while intents accept natural language queries without fixed phrases defined by the developer.
The choice of entities has direct consequences. A booking app can display a reservation, a venue, and a date without sharing the internal notes from support. A document management tool can make a file searchable while retaining certain hor categories from the index. Less data, but higher quality.
Since June 2026, Apple has also made it possible to annotate a view or user activity with app entities. Siri can now identify the content visible on the screen and act on it. In a management app, the user could request an action on the displayed folder without having to say its name or ID.
Interactions can also be provided to the system to help Siri learn which entities are relevant and which app to direct a subsequent request to. This “sharing” does not eliminate the need for data governance. The quality of labels, identifiers, and relationships remains crucial, as with any project based on a automation that relies on reliable data.
Apple also stated in June 2026 that SyncableEntity is used to identify entities whose identifiers remain consistent across multiple devices. This consistency makes it possible to continue a task on another device. Honestly, this mechanism is only justified if the service already knows how to properly synchronize its objects across accounts, sessions, and devices.
How can I secure actions triggered by Siri?
Agent-based Siri security must be configured on a per-action basis, as an operation can be executed without going through the usual security screens. As of June 2026, Apple’s documentation states that the default policy for an App Intent may allow it to run even when the device is locked. This setting must therefore be explicitly verified.
IntentAuthenticationPolicy offers three levels documented by Apple in June 2026. The level chosen depends on the impact of the action, the sensitivity of the data, and whether the operation can be undone.
| Policy | Comportement | Possible Uses |
|---|---|---|
alwaysAllowed |
Enables execution without additional authentication, including on a locked device, according to the default behavior documented in 2026. | A low-risk action involving no confidential data or sensitive information. |
requiresAuthentication |
Requires the user to be authenticated. | Viewing or modifying account information. |
requiresLocalDeviceAuthentication |
Requires local authentication on the device. | Payment, sensitive access, or an operation with forte consequences. |
The pitfall that many non-technical teams overlook lies in the distinction between “personal device” and “personal action.” An unlocked phone sitting on a desk does not guarantee that the request comes from the account holder. For deletions, submissions, or contract changes, explicit confirmation is often still preferable.
In June 2026, Apple clarified that the entities referred to as OwnershipProvidingEntity and EntityOwnership can be used to request confirmation for destructive or sensitive actions por on shared or publicly accessible objects. Schema-based intents also receive a default authentication policy specific to the schema, which the developer can only override with a stricter policy.
From the agency’s perspective, the natural approach is to create a simple matrix linking each action to its owner, its confidentiality level, its reversibility, and its authentication. This step prevents what might seem like a convenience from becoming a loophole. The same principles of compartmentalization and control already apply to platforms handling sensitive operations.
How do you test a route traveled by an autonomous robot?
Tests for an app compatible with Agent-based Siri must cover intents, entity lookups, Spotlight indexing, screen annotations, and sequences of multiple actions. Apple introduced AppIntentsTesting in June 2026 to perform these integration tests directly on a device and observe the system’s actual behavior.
Testing a single function is no longer enough. An assistant can search for a document, identify its recipient, request approval, and then initiate the sending process. Each step can succeed on its own, but the entire process may fail due to a missing identifier, an outdated status, or an authentication request made too late.
The scenarios must also cover ambiguous situations, missing data, device lockouts, and cancellations. What happens when two contacts have the same name? The assistant should seek clarification rather than making a silent choice, especially if the action is difficult to undo.
The English beta of Siri AI began rolling out on September 14, 2026, with Apple software updates scheduled for 2027. Apple announced that support for French would be added in October 2026. For a French-language app, testing must therefore include French domain-specific vocabulary, date formats, proper nouns, and common user phrases.
What changes can we make without having to rebuild the entire application?
The effort depends less on the number of screens than on the quality of the existing business architecture. An application whose actions are already separated from the interface can add App Intents gradually. An app where each rule is embedded within the views will require a complete overhaul of its services, permissions, and identifiers.
The initial scope should remain narrow: a few common, reversible, and measurable tasks are better than a list of unreliable intents. With a limited budget, it’s better to implement a single, complete, and reliable action than to declare numerous commands that are unable to handle edge cases.
The product schedule must allocate time for entity design, automation rules, and device testing. Technical compatibility does not guarantee a user-friendly experience. It is also necessary to provide for error messages, manual recovery within the app, and traceability of the operations performed by the assistant.
Defining the scope of this type of project early on helps avoid most unpleasant surprises. An outside perspective can, in particular, help distinguish useful actions from merely impressive demonstrations, and then address authentication risks before they prevent the project from going live.
FAQ on Preparing Apps for Siri AI
Does App Intents replace the interface of an iOS app?
App Intents does not replace the interface of an iOS app. The framework exposes certain functions to Siri, Spotlight, and Apple Intelligence, while the app remains necessary for visual flows, settings, and ambiguous scenarios.
Can an older iOS app use App Intents?
An existing app can integrate App Intents without having to be completely rebuilt. However, this approach ensures that business rules, data, and automations are directly linked to screens rather than being managed by separate services.
Can Siri control what's displayed on the screen?
Siri can identify content displayed on the screen only if an app annotates its views or activities with entities, according to Apple’s guidelines published in June 2026. The assistant can then use that entity to interpret a request and trigger an automated action.
Should App Intents be optimized on a locked iPhone?
An App Intent should not work on a iPhone Locked only if the action poses a low risk. For confidential data, deletion, payment, or a significant change, explicit authentication or confirmation must be required.