Apple opens third-party assistant APIs to iOS and macOS developers

AI · 5 min read

At WWDC 2026 Apple unveiled a set of system-level assistant APIs that let developers register assistant capabilities and context handlers for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The platform exposes a permissions-first model so users can pick a default assistant and control which apps share conversational context with it.

Developers can declare intent schemas, provide response renderers, and opt into guided UI templates for multi-modal replies. Apple emphasized privacy controls, including on-device inference options and per-app data scoping to limit cross-app leakage of conversational context.

The update targets both productivity and accessibility use cases, with sample code for email triage, calendar management, and reading modes. Apple also updated App Store guidelines to clarify assistant integration rules and introduced a new review track for assistant-powered experiences.