HilliTech's Newsletter: WWDC & Siri AI

Siri AI is here in beta

WWDC 2026 had a focus on AI, but that's not the whole story. Plus, it seems Xbox may be on its last leg.

WWDC and Siri AI

I didn't expect to say this, but the real winner of WWDC might actually be the Apple Vision Pro. Sure, Liquid Glass has a slider, macOS has more thoughtful design decisions, and Siri AI is everywhere, but Apple Vision Pro saw significant change.

Every OS got a few features specific to the platform. Hi-res lossless audio on tvOS, Siri mode in the Camera on iPhone, window management actions in Shortcuts on iPad, yet another rethought app grid on Apple Watch, and improved touch for SideCar on macOS.

The new Apple Foundation Models powering Siri AI and Apple Intelligence came to every platform. I've spilled enough ink on how these new technologies don't have active Google tech in them, so let's not get into that today.

Overall, I think Apple's approach to the WWDC keynote was fine. I think the child safety portion of that could have been a press release or a separate video. It felt like it took up too much of the keynote itself.

Child safety

Then there's the fact that the digital surveillance of children is its own set of problems. Sure, Apple's new tools will be great for well-meaning parents, but just as there's a good side to most tech, there's also the bad. See also: AirTags.

I'm glad that Alex Cox and Niléane shared their thoughts on these child protection tools publicly. We need to be able to speak plainly about the marginalized portions of the population frankly. If you are fearful of the consequences of being different from how your parents view you, this level of access for parents could be a death sentence to that child, or at the least, that child's true identity.

Don't take it from me, a cisgender heterosexual white male. Listen to the voices of those with these experiences and believe them when they warn you.

I suppose the only bright side here is there's always a way around some of this stuff. Where there is a will, there's a way, and kids are smart. I hope parents can give their kids the love, support, and yes, distance, they need to be who they are.

The rest

The Liquid Glass changes were obvious and needed given that the hatred of the new design bled over into normal folk's conversation. While I do believe a lot of the conversation was limited to nerdy forums and the vocal minority, it's saying something when iOS adoption rates drop year-over-year.

The Liquid Glass slider is the kind of consumer choice we need in our devices. I set the slider all the way over to totally clear, because I quite like that look.

I do wish there was an ability to turn off the icon and widget edge sheen Apple added to the Home Screen. It ruins the aesthetic of some layouts and wallpapers.

The fact that the first third of the conference focused on optimizations, design changes, and speed increases across the board isn't lost on me. Instead of sharing some silly new Apple Arcade title or a trailer for Apple TV, WWDC gave developers and nerds what they wanted – a promise of stability.

That back end of the keynote was Siri AI. I've shared my thoughts on the work with Google and how I've tested the new Siri in these first few days, so go read those if you want more. Time for other topics.

The Xbox situation is a tragedy of our times

The death of Xbox is imminent given Microsoft's lack of care for the division, the poor decisions in the past decade, and the corporate greed present in every action. As far as Microsoft is concerned, it seems, there can be no video games without massive success, profits, and eternal returns from every single title.

In other words, if it isn't Fortnite in a week, it's dead weight.

If you didn't realize by now, I love a little tribalism. That isn't to say I take it all that seriously. I like buying an Xbox title for my PlayStation from time to time (when there isn't a boycott), but my primary console of choice has always been PlayStation. Nintendo was it before that, but I didn't have much choice at the time (born in 1991, baby). Of course, Nintendo is still here, just as the secondary console, like it is for many.

In these past decades of the "console wars" I enjoyed the drama of Sony and Microsoft trading blows. Which was better, Gran Turismo or Forza? Should you buy a console for Kingdom Hearts or Halo?

These are age-old questions that became moot when Xbox made what was possibly one of the dumbest decisions ever made in gaming: everything is an Xbox.

That's right, you no longer needed to buy a console from Xbox, says Xbox, the company built on making money from you buying a console from them. No, since their console was more expensive and couldn't deliver in some performance aspects versus PlayStation, let's just focus on releasing software on every platform, streaming games, and brand loyalty.

Needless to say, that didn't work out well for them.

I have no idea what's going to happen with Xbox. My guess based on gut feelings is the best thing that could happen to Xbox is if it was spun out from under Microsoft so it was free to focus on gaming, not the endless chase for increased profits.

For whatever reason Sony hasn't encountered this issue with PlayStation. Sony and Nintendo's strategy of relying on console exclusives to drive sales, as it has basically always been, still works.

The death of the console has been predicted many times before. There's this idea that we'll all eventually have to buy a Windows PC to play video games and it is inevitable.

God, I hope not.

Let's hope something is done here, because PlayStation needs the competition. The market, game developers, and gamers all benefit from that.

Beta season

I've installed the latest OS betas on every device I own except the Apple TV. I'm waiting on the HomePod software public beta for that one. But, as always, I will say don't do this unless you like dealing with the pain of bugs.

For example, this blog post might have some errors in it because Writing Tools Proofread just disappeared earlier this week and hasn't returned. Great.

Also, yesterday, my cellular hotspot became a hidden network and the iPad Pro refused to use it. So much fun.

I'm excited to see how all of this evolves over the summer beta period. Thanks for reading, and as always, you can get this newsletter in your inbox by creating an account here on my website. That account is free, and it also lets you leave comments on everything I write.

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A black cat sits next to a brown and black Maine coon mix that's laying on its back, ready to fight — Agatha and Marble are fighting over what's next on the TV