The files (apps) are in the computer (iPhone)

There's a scene in the movie Zoolander where Owen Wilson's character has an epiphany about where some critical information is located. And then he delivers this line:

"[The files] are in the computer. It's so simple."

Where Google and Microsoft's AI strategies revolve around the idea that your data lives inside of their ecosystems, Apple unveiled a mostly device-centric approach that I think more closely aligns with how people think about their "files".

Even though a younger generation of computer users – and I'm using the term "computer" loosely to include smart phones, tablets iPads, and laptop/desktop computers – don't know where their files are saved, it still matters that the files exist.

To the extent that our personal context exists in regular files on disk, Siri AI will have access to that information. Some of those files just so happen to be databases containing our most personal information, including Messages (dot app) we've sent to family and friends, or Notes (dot app) we've jotted down because we wanted to remember them, or Reminders (dot app) we've set so we don't forget to do something.

So far this is all table stakes. All of the major players are racing to build personal AI agents that operate within their walled garden ecosystems. Your mileage will vary depending on how deep you are invested in the ecosystem. What I suspect will differentiate one from another is how capable they are when the context they need is in a third party application, which brings us back to Owen Wilson.

The files are apps, and the apps are in the computer iPhone. It's so simple!

Our phones are the most important computers in our lives. Where is [insert some important piece of information] you need? It's "on your phone". Even if it's really in some third-party app that stores your information using encrypted cloud storage, the app is on your phone, and so the information is accessible from your phone.

The operating system is the super app

Every time I see a headline about the frontier AI labs internal "super app" initiatives, I always think to myself "they're mispronouncing 'operating system'". What Apple showed at WWDC26 with Siri AI, and the underlying OS-level indexing improvements, reveals to me that they are finally entering the "super app" race. But Apple's super app isn't an app at all - it's an operating system.

Will Siri AI work better if you use Messages.app instead of WhatsApp, and Mail.app instead of Gmail, and Notes.app instead of OneNote? Yes, of course. But will it also work better than the alternatives if you use a third-party notes app? Maybe!

Apple's plan to connect Siri AI to the information in third-party apps is the App Intents framework. Whether third-party app developers adopt App Intents or not will probably be determined by how good Siri AI is. If Apple can deliver a compelling personal assistant experience via their super app (iOS 27 with Siri AI), then offering support for Siri AI may become a differentiator that third-party app developers race to adopt.

Developer Betas are still early doors, but the reports are trickling in and it sounds like Siri AI might actually be good (enough).

It's shaping up to be an exciting summer and fall!