The latest in a slew of leaks related to Apple’s expected iOS 9 announcement next week has revealed that the iPhone maker has been developing a predictive personal assistant app. Codenamed “Proactive,” it leverages Siri’s voice search and digital assistant functionality combined with information from Contacts, Calendar, Passbook and third-party apps to create a service similar to Google Now found on Android smartphones.

Sources familiar with Apple’s plans told 9to5Mac that Proactive will surface relevant and timely information based on a user’s data – such as calendar events, travel plans, and more – and patterns it learns from a user’s smartphone usage habits.

Apple has been making incremental improvements to iOS’s Spotlight and Safari search results by incorporating functionality from a host of small app developers it has acquired over time. Most relevant to Proactive’s development was Apple’s acquisition of Cue, a personal assistant app, in 2013.

The Wikipedia search results available within Spotlight as of iOS 8 are apparently an early feature of Proactive.

According to 9to5Mac’s sources, Proactive will also integrate with Maps to display highly personalized points of interest via an augmented reality interface and surface search results from apps via a third-party Siri API codenamed “Breadcrumbs.”

Proactive is slated to become a new layer with iOS, ultimately replacing Spotlight search.

Proactive will feature a dedicated Search Bar and, in addition to existing Spotlight features such as the ability to search for names, launch apps or find music, the new app will serve up news stories as search results.

The screen real estate under the search bar will be populated with content and relevant information pulled from iOS apps, contacts and Maps, similar to Cards in Google Now.

The report notes that while Apple has been working on these new features for quite some time, sources cautioned that it is likely that not all of the features will be announced at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference, scheduled to kick off on Monday, June 8.

There is also some speculation around whether Proactive will be the name under which all the above features are rolled up, or if Apple will rather market them as improvements to the individual Calendar, Contacts, Passbook, Mail and Maps apps.

Apple has reportedly committed to focusing on stability and optimization with the release of iOS 9, rather than a slew of new features. This likely has something to do with the controversial launch of iOS 8 and could see Apple holding back on some features that may or may not be 100 percent ready.

Screenshot: SiliconANGLE via apple.com