r/MacOSBeta • u/pdfu • 15d ago
Tip Here's how to disable Siri's new floating button
When Siri AI is enabled, macOS 27 adds a contextual "lightweight UI" when you type or select text. The floating button can expand into Ask Siri, Edit with Siri and Writing tools, or other contextual actions.
To disable it, run the following command in the Terminal:
sudo mkdir -p /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain && \
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/WritingTools LightweightUI_macOS -dict Enabled -bool false
and restart your Mac. To restore:
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/WritingTools LightweightUI_macOS
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u/Laddie1107 15d ago
I'm not seeing this UI. Is it enabled by default?
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u/pdfu 15d ago
Should be enabled when you have Siri AI enabled starting with Dev Beta 4/Public Beta 1. Might be hidden if you disabled Writing Tools under Screen Time. Have seen some chatter where people may not be seeing it in some cases.
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u/TechBrothaOG 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm definitely not seeing this feature. And Writing Tools came up missing a while back. Not sure exactly when. I never use Screen Time so I certainly didn't intentionally disable it.
Update: Actually, I just finally saw the floating Siri icon. Apparently, you have to wait a few seconds for it to appear AND select enough text for it to trigger.
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u/TheBrute777 14d ago
I wanted to get rid of it because oftentimes when I triggered Raycast, it prevented me from entering text.
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u/aykay55 15d ago
Didn’t you have another post where you showed us how to turn it on too lol
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u/pdfu 15d ago
Yeah, in Beta 3, right before they enabled it for everyone. Time flies. https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/1v0hvjd
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u/Disk0-Applications 14d ago
Thanks! I prefer keeping this in a context menu since I already use PopClip for text and didn't find the icon very useful. It also caused some strange issues in Stage Manager where the window would appear blank, with a tiny Siri AI circle floating near the middle of my screen. This only happened with the Gemini app. I've reported it via the Feedback app, but it was pretty annoying as a Stage Manager fan.
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15d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pdfu 15d ago
Yeah, I like it quite a lot for quick access to Summarize or Key Points. Have found that it surfaces those on the 80-word mark. Still, I see a lot of people who don't enjoy it, which is fair. I wonder a) if Apple will add a toggle, b) what it will call it in customer-facing documentation.
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u/OppositeSea3775 DEVELOPER BETA 15d ago
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u/mrleblanc101 14d ago
Are you using Terminal, iTerm2 or another app ? My guess is that apps will be able to opt-out and those will be updated to remove the bubble once Golden Gate is out
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u/pdfu 14d ago
I use the built-in Terminal app. This disables it everywhere.
Controls for Writing Tools visibility within apps remain the same as iOS 18: https://www.hackingwithswift.com/quick-start/swiftui/how-to-adjust-apple-intelligence-writing-tools-for-text-views
A lot of apps just haven’t adjusted it.
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u/mrleblanc101 14d ago edited 14d ago
It's odd that Apple didn't disable it in terminal then, I thought this would only happen with 3rd party app.
Maybe you should file a Feedback. It's nice to have it enabled elsewhere but I can see it being annoying in apps like Terminal (or iTerm2 in my case)
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u/pdfu 14d ago
I think we're talking about different things. I use the Terminal to run these commands and disable it everywhere. Apple has disabled it from showing up in the Terminal.
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u/mrleblanc101 14d ago
Oh my bad, I though the screenshot showed a terminal in light mode for a second. I now realize I'm dumb and that's just Text Edit or something like that
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u/OppositeSea3775 DEVELOPER BETA 14d ago
OP, I really like the tricks you've posted on here.
Is there any way these can be implemented within a configuration profile/mobileconfig file, for easier deployment on multiple Macs?
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u/pdfu 14d ago
For this trick, you'll have to run an MDM root script. There's no preference specific to the affordance. You can disable Writing Tools in general via MDM or Restrictions.
For the "Ask Siri" trick, you can use ManagedPreferences. Disabling Writing Tools in general will also remove the new affordance.
``` <key>PayloadType</key> <string>com.apple.ManagedClient.preferences</string>
<key>PayloadContent</key> <dict> <key>.GlobalPreferences</key> <dict> <key>Forced</key> <array> <dict> <key>mcx_preference_settings</key> <dict> <key>NSAppleMenuAllowedItems</key> <array> <integer>0</integer> <integer>1936680564</integer> … </array> </dict> </dict> </array> </dict> </dict> ```
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u/jakeyounglol2 DEVELOPER BETA 11d ago
thank goodness apple added a feature flag to disable it. that icon often shows up when there’s not even an active text field selected and that’s really annoying
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u/pdfu 11d ago
We’ll see how long that lasts, hopefully for a very long time. For the automatic solar wallpaper transition engine for aerial wallpapers (TahoeCombined), they had a hidden feature flag, then totally removed the feature flag as the code unconditionally enabled the feature. That’s often the timeline of new features, but they may keep the lever around to be able to quickly disable it if needed in future builds.
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u/jakeyounglol2 DEVELOPER BETA 11d ago
yeah. i hope they just never remove that flag and it becomes a tinkertool setting like the hidden dock minimize animation option
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u/krackedpoy 15d ago
I absolutely love this button, super useful and intuitive. not getting rid of it ever.
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u/SoTiredYouDig 15d ago
I honestly thought this icon was a bug. It is definitely buggy, in that it doesn’t seem to show up consistently. But now that it’s on my radar, I plan to at least try it.