There’s no official Apple chatbot. No app called “Apple Intelligence Chat.” No standalone interface with a blinking cursor waiting for your prompts.
But hidden inside iOS 26’s Shortcuts app, there’s a new feature that gets surprisingly close. So, I gave it a shot.
For a full day, I swapped out ChatGPT and Gemini in favor of Apple’s large in-house language model, which is accessible through a new action in Shortcuts called “Use Model.”
There were no third-party hacks, no Safari redirects, just Apple’s own tools. And honestly? It was better than I expected.
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Getting It Set Up Took All of 30 Seconds
If you’ve ever used Shortcuts before, this will feel familiar. I opened the app, created a new shortcut, and added two actions: one to input text and another to run Apple’s model. That’s it.
The new action offers three options: run the query on-device, in the cloud, or via ChatGPT (Apple’s default provider when Siri punts your questions).
For my experiment, I stuck to the Apple Intelligence cloud model as much as possible, with no fallback to OpenAI.
I also enabled the “Follow Up” toggle, which lets you ask another question without starting from scratch. It’s Apple’s way of mimicking a chat thread.
I Asked It to Do the Usual Stuff
First, I asked for nearby restaurants with rooftops in downtown Los Angeles. The response was surprisingly conversational.
It’s not quite ChatGPT-level polish, but it’s close—clean suggestions, short blurbs, and even a mention of cozy seating and noise levels.
Next, I asked for ideas for a dinner recipe using leftover salmon and spinach. Again, it was not bad.
It gave me three dish suggestions, quick prep steps, and even a cheeky note: “Spinach can be wilted quickly in a hot pan—don’t overdo it.”
So far, so good.
Where It Struggled
Apple Intelligence doesn’t know as much. That’s just the reality. When I asked about WWDC 2025’s announcements, it struggled, sometimes returning generic responses or just getting things wrong.
Siri, for what it’s worth, didn’t fare much better. But Apple’s model doesn’t try to bluff. If it doesn’t know something, it says so.
That’s something I respect, especially in an age where AI chatbots love to confidently hallucinate facts.
It’s also worth noting that the experience isn’t as fluid. You don’t get a full-screen chat interface, and there’s no typing indicator or chat history.
Unless you build something more elaborate in Shortcuts, it’s just a one-off prompt and a single response.
What Stood Out Most
There’s something refreshing about how minimal it is. No upsell. No chat history nagging you. Just you, your prompt, and a fast, Apple-style reply.
Of course, it’s not ready to fully replace ChatGPT. There’s no plugin system, no document upload, and no memory.
But what you do get is a deeply private, baked-in option that already runs faster than Siri—and feels like the beginning of something bigger.
Apple is not building a chatbot in the traditional sense. They’re embedding intelligence into the OS itself.
While Shortcuts isn’t the flashiest interface, it’s flexible, and it gives power users an early glimpse at where this is going.
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Bottom Line
Would I replace ChatGPT entirely with Apple Intelligence inside Shortcuts? No. But it’s already solid for simple, everyday stuff—summarizing, brainstorming, answering common questions.
And it’s only just getting started.
If Apple ever brings this to Siri with full chat threads and memory, it’ll change everything. Until then, Shortcuts are the place to experiment.
And if you’re an Apple fan who loves to tinker, this is the closest you’ll get to building your own AI assistant on iOS.
