References to Siri for Apple TV Found in iOS 7.1 Code

Amid persistant rumors that Apple is developing a revamped Apple TV set-top box, new code appearing in iOS 7.1 indicates that the company is indeed working on building in support for Siri voice input on the Apple TV, as highlighted by 9to5Mac. The references are included in both iOS 7.1 and iOS 7.1.1, but not in earlier releases such as iOS 7.0.6.

siri_apple_tv_assistant

The file is a supporting property-list resource for Assistant (Apple's internal name for Siri), containing information about the feature. The UIDeviceFamily array declares what platforms are compatible with the feature.

As shown by Apple’s documentation, '1' and '2' represent the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad families. The '3' represents the Apple TV family.

References to a new Apple TV model were previously found in iOS 7 builds, and today's information suggests that voice input and feedback are likely to be included on the new device.

Apple's launch plans for a new Apple TV box remain unclear, with rumors of a late 2013 launch giving way to reports centering around an introduction in March or April of this year. Those rumors were then quashed by The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, leaving uncertainty about Apple's television plans. A recent product roadmap prediction from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated that the new Apple TV could arrive around September or October of this year.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)

Top Rated Comments

Sky Blue Avatar
131 months ago
Siri, play the latest episode of the Walking Dead.

"Sorry, I can find a show called Wrouton Ted. Would you like me to search the internet?"
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
akm3 Avatar
131 months ago
Siri has always worked perfectly for me. I have a success rate of about 80%. I'm not saying that you've done this, but usually when people complain about Siri, it's because they've set it to a different dialect/accent than their own, like Americans setting it to Australian, simply because they think the Siri voice is cool in Australian. I use Siri on a day to day basis, and the service is amazing, and almost never mishears me.

I like Siri too but a success rate of 80% is not 'perfectly'
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cdavis11 Avatar
131 months ago
Siri has always worked perfectly for me. I have a success rate of about 80%.

Those two things are mutually exclusive.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
unplugme71 Avatar
131 months ago
I highly doubt there would be a microphone on the Apple TV. Most people store it in an entertainment cabinet behind a glass door.

I'm going to take a guess that it will be part of the 'Remote' app on the iPhone/iPad and maybe for the rumored 'iwatch'.

This will enable all 1st-3rd gen aTV's to work with it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Four oF NINE Avatar
131 months ago
Yelling at my television.Can't wait.

People have been yelling at their televisions for decades
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iKane Avatar
131 months ago
I hate Siri and turn it off. It's so much slower to use than just performing the task myself as manually I get it right every single time. The only use case for Siri is probably driving.

Eh? It's much quicker to use Siri to set an alarm at night, or a timer while I'm cooking with messy hands. While I'm getting ready in the morning I often ask what the temperature is, seeing as Apple decided to take that out of the notification centre (I know it sometimes says the current temperature but not always). I've learnt to just enunciate properly and it understands me fine. I've even used Siri to tell me how many episodes of Star Trek: Voyager there are, what calories are in some foods, frankly loads of really useful things.

I don't understand the point of turning it off either unless you're always holding down the home button for fun.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
macbook pro purple february

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices on Apple's M3 MacBook Pro for Members

Thursday April 25, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...