Questionable Rumor Claims Siri iCloud Integration and Contextual Learning Coming in iOS 11

iOS 9 SiriSiri is set to gain contextual learning abilities and deep integration with iMessage and iCloud in iOS 11, according to an unverified rumor shared by Israeli site The Verifier.

Citing information "received directly from the development teams based in Israel and the U.S.", the site says Siri's AI codebase will receive a major update that will enable it to learn a user's usage habits, similar to abilities claimed by Samsung for its new virtual assistant Bixby.

The upgrade is said to extend Siri's capabilities beyond its current limited command pool by stacking multiple queries and offering different actions depending on the context. For example, Siri's integration into iMessage means it will be able to offer suggestions relevant to the ongoing conversation, such as where to dine out, how to get there, and one-step Uber taxi booking.

In addition, the claim is that Siri's integration with iCloud will enable it to identify meaningful connections between the various devices associated with an Apple ID account and offer practicable actions that crisscross Mac and iOS systems.

Moreover, Apple will embed Siri deeper into the Apple TV and Apple Watch experience, with significant updates to tvOS and watchOS. Advanced Siri abilities are also said to extend to a "smart clock" feature, although no other details were given.

The Verifier does not have an established track record for accurate rumors, making it unclear how reliable the information is, while the iMessage features described above can already be found in published Apple patents. Previously the site said that group FaceTime calls will be introduced in iOS 11, but so far we've been unable to corroborate the claim.

Details of what's in store for iOS 11 have been scant in general, but it is expected to be released with new iPhones in the fall of 2017, while a preview of the new software could come at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 held in June.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...

Top Rated Comments

rudychidiac Avatar
103 months ago
Bring offline Siri for basic commands...
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
103 months ago

Apple's obsession with privacy will never allow their offering to be good as Google's
Can't disagree more with this. AI and speech recognition is in the very, very, very early stages. The war hasn't been won yet; it hasn't even begun. AI today is what the original Macintosh was to raw hardware performance.

Apple's staunch stance on privacy means they'll be going the longer and more difficult route, which I maintain will be the better approach in the long term. This is because the core recognition will evolve to recognise any speech and any language without having to reference lots of other data already collected.

Think Star Trek Next Gen/Voyager and see how crew or new visitors interact with the computer using speech; that's what I'm envisioning could still be possible with a commited AI team, whilst still maintaining an obsession for privacy. That's far from an impossible idea.

Yes, Siri does need a lot of improvement; nobody's denying that. But so do the others. With the leaps and bounds that technology makes every year, it's much too early to simply say that the only way forward in AI and speech/context recognition is data mining.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
103 months ago
I turned Siri off. Comically bad compared to Google's natural language processing engine.

Apple's obsession with privacy will never allow their offering to be good as Google's; you need collectively analyze all human speech to actually develop something that will understand all dialects, intonations, and nuances of a spoken language.
I'll take privacy any day of the week.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
moxxham Avatar
103 months ago
I use Siri frequently and it understands me 90% of the time! Works incredibly well for me. Just like everyone else though, I do wish it was much, much smarter
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazapple Avatar
103 months ago
I turned Siri off. Comically bad compared to Google's natural language processing engine.

Apple's obsession with privacy will never allow their offering to be good as Google's; you need collectively analyze all human speech to actually develop something that will understand all dialects, intonations, and nuances of a spoken language.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
103 months ago
it's been what, five years now? Thanks, but I'll keep using Google. You can continue to wait for plausibly accurate dictation engine from Apple.
For what it's worth, it is pretty accurate when I use Siri. Siri makes my life a little easier with setting alarms, timers, or dictating texts/calling people when I'm driving. That's it, though. Just a little easier.

Siri's not particularly smart. Neither is Google's solution, though; nor Amazon's, nor Microsoft's. None are anywhere close to what we've seen in science fiction. Until some serious advancements are made, I'll happily take a bit poorer recognition, iOS integration, and user privacy in the interim.

So yeah, I'll continue to wait. So will you, by the way. It's not like Google's current system rivals the Enterprise computer. :)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)