Are Siri's days numbered? One region is getting the option to replace it

Apple announced iOS 26 back in June with the final build of the software then arriving on compatible iPhones in September of this year. We’ve already seen the first major update to iOS 26 in iOS 26.1, which was released on 3 November, but chatter has now moved onto the next update, iOS 26.2.

The latest beta of iOS 26.2 is already live and with that, anyone on the beta program will see that there’s an upgrade to Airdrop coming, along with some improvements to the Measure app. Dive a little deeper though, and it’s possible there could be another major change coming with that software launch.

Where will you be able to replace Siri?

In a report by 9to5Mac, strings of code were spotted suggesting Apple was preparing to allow iPhone users to choose a different third party voice assistant, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini for the side button, effectively replacing Siri.

Apple subsequently published a document on its Developer Blog that details the feature, so it seems the strings of code were on the money. There is a catch though –based on that document, the feature will be restricted to users in Japan for now.

It says: “By adopting the App Intents framework and offering App Shortcuts, you let people instantly access app functionality and integrate it with system experiences like Spotlight or App Shortcuts.

“For example, a person might place an App Shortcut you provide on the Action button.

"In Japan, people might place an action on the side button of iPhone that instantly launches your voice-based conversational app. People expect the voice-based conversational functionality to be instantly available when they launch your app with the side button, so make sure to let them immediately use it by starting an audio session.”

The document published by Apple doesn’t state this change would come with iOS 26.2, so we’re currently relying on 9to5Mac for that information, and there’s no word on when or if it will be available in other countries.

For those in Japan though, poor Siri looks like it's about to get some competition.