Against Apple’s wishes, nuclear Siri option could arrive in iOS 26

Among all the big and small iOS 26 features expected next week, there’s one rumored change that we’re unlikely to hear about from Apple: the ability to replace Siri. That’s because this ‘nuclear option’ is being mandated against Apple’s will, and will be limited in reach—at least for now. Replacing Siri might soon be an option for certain iOS 26 users Recently, in a broad piece covering the state of AI at Apple, we received word on a big change in the works. Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett write at Bloomberg: To meet expected European Union regulations, the company is now working on changing its operating systems so that, for the first time, users can switch from Siri as their default voice assistant to third-party options, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. This won’t be the first time EU users get access to a new iOS option the rest of the world lacks. In iOS 18.4, for example, Apple enabled setting a default navigation app for your iPhone. This means Google Maps ... Read full article.