When Apple unveiled the new Siri AI as part of the OS 27 updates coming this fall, it showed off a new interface, a new app, and a whole new personality for the revamped chatbot. But there’s a hidden feature Apple didn’t tell us about.
As spotted by Reddit user pdfu and posted in the macOS Beta subreddit, the latest macOS betas (developer beta 3 and public beta 1) contain a hidden “floating contextual interface” for the new Siri that can pop up while selecting text. Among the actions available to choose from are:
- Writing Tools
- Create Key Points, Summarize
- Add to Contacts, Message, Email
- Create Event
- Show in Maps
- Track Flight, Track Package
The post includes a short video demonstrating the feature in action, and it’s pretty neat. Rather than Control-click to bring up the Apple Intelligence options, a small translucent Siri icon will appear next to any selected text. Hover over it, and a set of actions will appear.
It’s unclear why Apple hasn’t enabled this feature for all users, but presumably it’s because the feature is buggy enough to remain in testing. Or perhaps it’s an internal feature for Apple employees that isn’t meant for public use.
At any rate, you can try it out if you want through Apple’s FeatureFlags tool. We’ll caution that it uses the dreaded sudo command, which gives you the temporary ability to access system-level permissions. As long as you copy and paste the command properly, there shouldn’t be any issues, but it’s worth making sure your Mac is properly backed up first, just in case
First, open the Terminal app and paste sudo mkdir -p /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain && \ to enable FeatureFlags to run on your Mac. Then paste sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/WritingTools LightweightUI_macOS -dict Enabled -bool true and reboot your Mac. This will turn on the popover menu.
If you want to turn it off, type sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/WritingTools LightweightUI_macOS -dict Enabled -bool false into Terminal and restart.
