Apple announces accessibilty updates for iOS 27 that will have you pumped about Siri
Apple might have given away a big reveal about Siri 2.0 and iOS 27.
Apple Intelligence imoroves accessibility features in iOS 27 | Image by PhoneArena
Apple's iOS accessibility features are designed to help those with impairments use an Apple iPhone and many of the handset's features without their disabilities getting in the way. Today, Apple announced new updates to its current suite of accessibility features including VoiceOver, Magnifier, Voice Control, and Accessibility Reader.
Apple Intelligence improves the iPhone's accessibility features
For those with low vision or blindness, Apple is using Apple Intelligence to improve VoiceOver and Magnifier. For example, Apple Intelligence will help both accessibility features become more useful, providing more information. In VoiceOver, you'll be able to ask what is in your iPhone's viewfinder, find out more about it, and ask follow-up questions.
Image Explorer in VoiceOver will use Apple Intelligence to get a more detailed description about a photograph from your iPhone's photo gallery, personal records, and more. If you have a bill that you can't read, you can put it in front of an iPhone camera and with Magnifier's updated use of Apple Intelligence, ask "how much is this bill for?"
The iPhone will tell you the amount of the bill and when it is due. Users can also control the Magnifier feature by asking it to turn on the flashlight or to "zoom in."
Speaking of using your voice, Voice Control with Apple Intelligence will allow you to use natural language. With Apple Maps you could say, "tap the guide about the best restaurants" or in Files you can say, "tap the orange folder." The video supplied by Apple showing this in action might tell us something important about Siri 2.0.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it sure looks like Apple just casually dropped agentic AI being built into iPhone
— Dylan (@DylanMcD8) May 19, 2026
Yes, in this video it's being used for Voice Control, but if a person can control their iPhone with natural language so can an AI agent! pic.twitter.com/S6DQOiQGsO
The video clip shows a user in Files asking to "Tap the orange folder" and speaking other requests that the iPhone handles. According to a tweet from Dylan McDonald, the video shows that Apple built agentic AI into the iPhone.
Apple might have blabbed about agentic AI for Siri in iOS 27
Which new Siri feature are you lookng forward to the most in iOS 27?
This is important because if Siri 2.0 gets agentic AI features, Siri will be able to work to reach a goal (or complete a task) on your behalf. Instead of you selecting pictures you want to send to your friend Max about your trip to Yankee Stadium, you would ask Siri to email Max the best photos from yesterday's trip to Yankee Stadium. An agentic version of Siri would go through the photos, eliminate blurry or bad pictures, and email the best shots to Max, all without human intervention following your initial request.
We could get to try Siri 2.0 in less than a month
We might get our first look at this during the WWDC 2026 Keynote on June 8. Once that ends, Apple will disseminate the first iOS 27 Beta. We are hoping that Siri 2.0 will be all ready to go at that time.
Other features include Generated Subtitles, which create transcriptions of spoken audio on videos or clips where none are available. With this feature, subtitles are automatically generated privately for uncaptioned videos on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.
An updated accessibility feature will automatically show generated subtitles on videos
Accessibility Reader is for those with low vision and dyslexia who are trying to read something complex, like a scientific journal with columns, images, and tables. Users can get a summary of the article and use built-in translation if they need to.
Most of you are lucky and don't need to use the accessibility features on your iPhone. But for those of you dealing with poor vision, blindness, dyslexia, or hearing loss, the tools that Apple provides allow them to have not only the ability to use a smartphone like so many others, it also helps them make it through each day of their lives.
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