Apple
- Apple really, really wants you to start using Siri more often.
- The company announced new capabilities for the voice assistant at its Glowtime event on Monday.
- Siri will still understand you if you stumble over your words and process that to act accordingly.
Apple has heard the complaints about Siri, and it's revamping the voice assistant.
The company announced a slew of new products at its Glowtime event on Monday, including the iPhone 16, as well as new capabilities coming to the voice assistant everyone loves to hate.
The redesigned Siri will have "richer language understanding," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, during the event.
For one thing, Siri will understand if you stumble over your words, so you don't need to restart what you're saying. For example, in a demo at Glowtime, it showed Siri still understanding the question when a woman asks, "Hey Siri, who was the architect behind the museum — wait no, not the museum — the Palace of Fine Arts?"
Meanwhile, you can also text Siri, besides speaking questions or commands. The voice assistant can troubleshoot various features and settings on your phone.
Another change: The voice assistant is getting "on-screen awareness" and "personal context understanding," said Federighi.
When your friend texts you about a new album, for example, Siri will know of the message on your screen, so you can say, "Play that."
Siri will also be able to do things specific to you. Federighi lists examples like "pulling up the recommendation for the TV show that your brother sent you last month" or being able to process a request to "send Erica the photos from Saturday's barbecue."
Siri has been criticized in recent years for not responding sufficiently to voice commands, misinterpreting questions, and generally being unhelpful.
The New York Times reported earlier this year that Apple executives, including Federighi, decided Siri needed an overhaul after spending a few weeks testing out OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership in June to integrate ChatGPT into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS this year.