Apple Inc. will release the first beta of Siri 2.0 on 23 February, bundled with iOS 26.4 for developers. The update is the biggest rework of Siri in years and hints at a move from simple voice commands to a task-oriented assistant that could change everyday iPhone use in the UAE and the wider region.
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Key upgrades in Siri 2.0
Siri 2.0 is being billed as a “smart agent” rather than just a voice responder. Early reports show it will handle multi-step requests across apps — for example, find a file, pull out key details, and share them without you switching apps manually. This is the feature set Apple teased at recent developer briefings and now looks closer to public testing.
A notable addition is on-screen awareness. Siri will be able to see what’s on your iPhone screen (with permission) and use that context to act. That should cut down the back-and-forth you usually do when asking the assistant to work with open apps or documents. Bloomberg reporting also says Apple plans careful privacy controls around this capability.
Siri’s role in Apple’s software
Under the hood, Siri 2.0 leans on Apple’s next-generation models and the “Apple Intelligence” stack introduced in recent iOS releases. The goal: let Siri reason about intent rather than only execute isolated commands. Developers will get deeper hooks so third-party apps can expand Siri’s skills. Expect a phased rollout of features, some arriving in later iOS updates.
Industry reporting also suggests Apple may allow third-party voice assistants to operate inside environments like CarPlay. That would be a notable policy shift, letting rivals’ assistants coexist with Siri under controlled conditions. Early reports advise drivers will still need to open third-party apps to use their assistants.
Previous Versions and New Siri 2.0
Siri’s first decade focused on simple tasks — alarms, calls, quick lookups. Improvements were steady but incremental. The mid-2020s updates added some intelligence, yet the assistant still struggled with complex, app-spanning tasks.
Siri 2.0 is pitched as a real step change. It mixes screen context, personal data (with consent), and multi-step workflows to behave more like a digital aide than a command tool. That’s the practical difference users will notice when the beta is in hand.
Rollout timeline and availability
The developer beta on Feb 23 begins the testing phase — not the final experience. Expect bugs, feature flags, and staggered rollouts. Public beta access should follow within weeks, with a full consumer release likely by late March or April if testing goes smoothly. That timeline mirrors how Apple has handled large iOS updates recently.
For United Arab Emirates users, Siri 2.0 could reshape daily workflows — from hands-free email triage to smarter travel and calendar help. But language support and regional optimisation often lag initial launches, so expect local rollouts to follow general availability. If you rely on Siri for work, hold off on installing early betas on primary devices.
