iOS 27 Siri Extensions: What Shipped and the Best iPhone AI Now

iOS 27 arrived on September 14, and if you went looking for iOS 27 Siri Extensions in Settings, you probably came away confused. The rumor all spring was simple: pick Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT and Siri would route your questions to it. What actually landed is a rebuilt Siri, a new Siri app, and an Extensions list where most people still see exactly one name - ChatGPT. You have not broken anything. The feature you read about is in the code, but it is not switched on.

This guide sorts out what shipped, what did not, how to get Claude or Gemini working with Siri today anyway, and which AI assistant for iPhone is actually worth your time in late 2026. It also covers the one job none of them do, no matter which model sits behind the voice.

Quick Answer: Are iOS 27 Siri Extensions Live?

• Not for Claude or Gemini, as of late September 2026. The Extensions framework exists in iOS 27, but no Claude, Gemini or Grok extension registers with Siri on shipping devices. ChatGPT, available since iOS 18.2, remains the only third-party model most users can pick.
• What did ship is Siri AI: a rebuilt assistant with personal context, onscreen awareness, app actions, a dedicated Siri app and conversation history. It launched in beta, in English, on iPhone 15 Pro and newer.
• Workarounds exist today: say "Ask ChatGPT" or "Ask Claude" to Siri to force a handoff through app shortcuts, or map the Action button to Gemini Live.
• None of these assistants will sit through a phone call for you. They can dial, draft and summarize. The hold queue, the IVR menu and the conversation with the human on the other end are still yours, unless you use an AI agent built for calls.

What Actually Shipped in iOS 27 (and What Didn't)

The headline feature of iOS 27 is Siri AI, and it is a genuine upgrade. Apple describes an assistant that can search your Messages, Mail, Notes and Photos for personal context, understand what is on your screen, take actions across apps, and carry a request into a full conversation. There is a new Siri app that keeps conversation history synced across devices over iCloud, more expressive voices, and dictation that finally handles punctuation and formatting on its own.

A few important limits came with it:

• It is labeled beta. English only at launch, with French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish expected next month with iOS 27.1.
• It needs newer hardware. Siri AI requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, even though iOS 27 itself runs on older phones.
• It is not available in the EU or China at launch. Apple has cited Digital Markets Act requirements for the EU delay.
• You can opt out. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's September 18 guide notes a "Siri Classic" option under Screen Time's Content and Privacy Restrictions if you want the old assistant back.

What did not ship is the part the spring headlines were about. Code strings in the iOS 27 betas showed an Extensions system that would let you choose ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini as the model behind Siri, Writing Tools and other Apple Intelligence features. Apple never demoed it at WWDC in June, and it has not been switched on since. Reporting from June suggested why: the EU regulatory fight, tension with OpenAI over the terms of the original ChatGPT deal, and Apple's reluctance to put a model picker next to a Siri it had just spent two years rebuilding.

The honest read: the multi-provider version is built, and a later point release (27.1 or 27.2 is the common guess) is the earliest plausible window. Nobody outside Apple knows the date.

Siri Extensions FAQ: Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT

These are the questions people are actually typing into search this month, answered directly.

Is there a Siri Claude extension?

Not a native one yet. Claude does not appear in the provider list on shipping iOS 27. What does work is Anthropic's app shortcut: install the Claude app, then say "Ask Claude" followed by your question, and Siri hands the request to Claude. It is a handoff, not a replacement, so Siri still handles device actions like timers and messages.

Can I use Gemini as my Siri AI extension?

Not through Extensions. The practical route is the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro and newer: assign it to Gemini's live voice mode through Shortcuts, and a long press opens Gemini instead of Siri. You can also keep Siri for device control and use the Gemini app for everything else.

Why do I only see ChatGPT in Siri Extensions?

Because ChatGPT is the only provider switched on. The ChatGPT integration dates back to iOS 18.2 in 2024 and still works the same way: Siri decides when a question needs outside help and asks before sending it. Starting a request with "Ask ChatGPT" forces the handoff every time.

Does Siri AI use Google's Gemini?

Apple has said it collaborated with Google on the foundation models behind the new Siri, but that is not the same as choosing Gemini as your assistant. You cannot see or pick the underlying model, and your requests run through Apple's own on-device and Private Cloud Compute systems, not the Gemini app.

The Best AI Assistant for iPhone Right Now

With Extensions still dark, "best AI assistant for iPhone" is a question about apps and habits, not a Settings toggle. Here is a practical breakdown by what you want done.

Siri AI (built in) - The best choice for anything that touches your own data and device: "find the restaurant my sister texted me about," "send the photos from Saturday to Dad," "add this flight to my calendar." It is the only assistant with deep access to your Messages, Mail and apps, and that is the whole point of the rebuild. It is also the one to watch for privacy, which is why the EFF guide is worth ten minutes.

ChatGPT - The easiest outside model to use from Siri, because it is already wired in. Strong for brainstorming, general questions and drafting. If you want one third-party AI assistant with the least friction on iPhone today, this is it.

Claude - The pick for careful writing, long documents and nuanced reasoning. The "Ask Claude" shortcut makes it usable by voice, and the app is where longer work belongs.

Gemini - The natural pick if your life runs through Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive, and Gemini Live is a polished hands-free voice mode. The Action-button trick makes it the closest thing to replacing Siri outright.

For most people the answer is a stack, not a winner: Siri AI for the phone itself, one outside model for thinking and writing, and something else for the tasks that leave the screen.

What Siri AI and Every Extension Still Can't Do

Here is the part the Extensions debate skips. Whichever AI assistant ends up behind Siri, it lives on your screen. It can reason, search, write and take actions inside apps. What it cannot do is spend forty minutes on the phone for you.

Apple has chipped away at the edges. iOS 26 added Hold Assist, which detects hold music and alerts you when a live agent picks up, and Call Screening, which asks unknown callers who they are before your phone rings. iOS 27 adds Call Context, which surfaces relevant details like a flight confirmation while you are on a call. These are useful. But notice the shape: each one helps you make the call a little less painful. None of them makes the call.

Take a real example. You ask Siri AI, with ChatGPT or Claude behind it: "Call my internet provider and find out why my bill went up forty dollars."

• Siri can find the provider's number and dial it.
• ChatGPT or Claude can write you a sharp script and tell you which menu option usually reaches billing.
• Hold Assist can ping you when a human picks up.

And then you are the one pressing 4 for billing, repeating your account number twice, explaining the charge, and asking for the credit. The same goes for rescheduling a dentist appointment, checking an insurance claim, confirming a pharmacy refill, or cancelling a subscription that only cancels by phone.

This is not a flaw in any one model. It is a structural gap. Chat assistants do not have their own phone line, cannot hold a live conversation with a human on the other end of a real call, and cannot come back to you with "done, here is the confirmation number." That requires an AI agent built around telephony, not a smarter chatbot. We covered the wider version of this in Can Your AI Assistant Make Phone Calls?, which scores Siri, Gemini, ChatGPT and Alexa call by call.

Where Assindo Fits in Your iPhone AI Stack

Assindo is an AI agent for the phone leg of your life. You tell it what you need in plain language, in the app or by chat: "Call Dr. Patel's office and move my Thursday cleaning to next week, mornings only." Assindo places the real call, works through the phone menu, waits on hold, talks to the receptionist, and reports back with what happened and any confirmation details. It can also answer and screen your incoming calls, turning a missed call into a written summary instead of a voicemail you never listen to.

It does not compete with Siri AI or the models behind Extensions. It fills the gap they leave:

• Siri AI handles your device and personal context.
• ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini handle thinking, research and drafting.
• Assindo handles the phone calls: appointments, billing disputes, hold queues and call screening.

A practical split that works well: use Claude or ChatGPT to research your case ("what should I ask for if my bill went up after a promo ended?"), then hand the call to Assindo with that context and let it do the waiting. If hold queues are your biggest pain, our guide to AI that waits on hold for you walks through the math, and how to cancel a subscription without calling covers one of the most common use cases.

Assindo works on iPhone, Android and the web with no setup: no API keys, no server, no configuration. If you want to compare what AI assistants cost across the whole market, see how much an AI assistant costs in 2026.

What to Watch Next for Siri Extensions

Three things will decide whether iOS 27 Siri Extensions become the model picker people expected:

1. iOS 27.1 and 27.2. The October update brings more Siri AI languages. If Extensions flip on in a point release, that is where it will happen, most likely with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini first. 2. The EU. Siri AI is not available on iPhone in the EU yet. How Apple settles the Digital Markets Act questions will shape whether third-party model choice becomes a feature or a regulatory requirement. 3. Apple and OpenAI. ChatGPT's position as the only built-in option is the single biggest thing Extensions would change, and that relationship has been tense all year.

Our advice until then: do not wait on a Settings toggle. Use Siri AI for the device, keep one outside model a shortcut away, and stop doing phone calls yourself if another tool can do them.

The model behind Siri will keep changing. The forty minutes on hold will not, unless something else takes the call.