Siri App Allows Users to switch between chatbots

Marcus Mendes writes today for 9to5 Mac about how, in iOS 27, the all-new Siri app enables users to switch between Siri AI and ChatGPT on the fly. Tapping on “Ask” in the text input field prompts the user to select which chatbot they wish to interact with.

“That [action] brings up a pop-up that lets them choose between Siri and ChatGPT,” Mendes wrote. “Apple could potentially add support for other chatbots in the future, though only those two options are currently available.”

There are caveats to this feature, however. According to Mendes, “conversation context does not transfer when switching chatbot providers,” which means Siri has no knowledge of messages with ChatGPT and vice-versa. In addition, quitting and reopening the Siri app defaults to Siri—naturally—as the system’s preferred AI provider, although ChatGPT remains an option to, again, switch to if users so choose.

Following the WWDC keynote earlier this month, I was speaking with someone at Apple and mentioned how the Siri app is cool from an accessibility standpoint because it’s self-contained. As it stands today, I bounce back and forth between the bespoke ChatGPT and Gemini apps on my devices—which is fine, but nonetheless requires a bit of cognitive recalibration as the interfaces obviously differ, etc. To Mendes’ point, that Apple allows users to switch on the fly—even if conversations don’t—is a de-facto accessibility feature insofar as I needn’t have to bounce between apps any longer. Think of it as akin to changing models in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. You stay in the app, but you’re switching contexts or underlying intelligence. In the Siri app’s case, that Apple can (will?) integrate more partner models in its canonical app means reduced cognitive load, as well as tapping/swiping. Better even would be the ability to import/export conversations with ChatGPT, Gemini, et al, into the Siri app via some API.

There are reasons to use bespoke apps, but they don’t discredit the point made here.

For my usage, I’ve been using ChatGPT more often over Gemini in recent weeks. In that case, I would much rather boot the ChatGPT app from my iPhone’s Home Screen, for example, and replace it with Siri since I can access ChatGPT just as easily from there.