Apple to Expand Siri to Work With More Types of Third-Party Apps

At its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, Apple is expected to expand Siri's functionality, allowing the voice assistant built into the iPhone and iPad to work with a wider variety of apps, reports Reuters.

Apple first started allowing third-party apps to interface with Siri with iOS 10, but Siri integration is limited to apps in the following categories: ride booking, messaging, photo search, payments, VoIP calling, and fitness. In iOS 11, that's expected to expand to additional categories, but it is unclear which categories will be added.

Uber Siri

Apple Inc is expected to announce plans next week to make its Siri voice assistant work with a larger variety of apps, as the technology company looks to counter the runaway success of Amazon.com Inc's competing Alexa service.

But the Cupertino, California company is likely to stick to its tested method of focusing on a small amount of features and trying to perfect them, rather than casting as wide a net as possible, according to engineers and artificial intelligence industry insiders.

Expanded third-party app access to Siri is one of the few tidbits we've heard about Apple's plans for iOS 11, which is also expected to feature new design elements and a revamped Apple Music app. Rumors suggest Apple has been working on significant improvements to Siri, so other Siri features could also be included.

Part of the reason behind bolstering Siri's capability is likely Apple's work on a Siri-based smart speaker designed to compete with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home. It's not yet clear what the speaker will be capable of, and it isn't included in today's Reuters report beyond a brief mention, but to be competitive, the speaker will need to interface with third-party apps much like iOS.

Rumors suggest there is a chance Apple plans to introduce the Siri speaker at WWDC to allow developers time to create integrations and features for the device ahead of a fall launch, but whether that will happen remains to be seen.

Apple's Siri and speaker plans will be unveiled on Monday, June 5 at 10:00 a.m., which is when the WWDC keynote event kicks off.

Related Roundups: WWDC 2024, HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

sputnikv Avatar
89 months ago
siri hasn't earned my trust to do anything other than extremely simple tasks, and even then it fails. no way im calling an uber or anything more complex, last thing i need is the resulting headache
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
89 months ago
"Hey Siri"

...

"Hey Siri"

...

"HEY SIRI"


"OK, I found this on the web for 'Syria'"
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
89 months ago
The problem is not with the number of apps Siri works with, the problem is how badly Siri works. It's an absolute, utter piece of crap. Dumbest, most hopeless product ever maintained by Apple. My heart bleeds for the fact that Samsung smartly acquired Viv, also built by the father of Siri.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcan Avatar
89 months ago
I wish they would expand Siri to work half as well as the competitors.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Defthand Avatar
89 months ago
Until Siri gets the brain transplant it badly needs—the rumored AI chip—it will continue to perform like an incompetent secretary on drugs. If I were a developer, I’d pass on implementing Siri until then. Otherwise, it will damage your app’s reputation.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
89 months ago
I wish they would expand Siri to work half as well as the competitors.
Siri needs some work, no doubt, but the suggestion that the competitors work so much better is just wrong. Google Assistant gets a ton of things wrong too, particularly with on-device tasks. Alexa is severely limited in its language capabilities and is essentially a gussied-up version of Voice Control: it doesn't actually process requests "intelligently" but matches your words with pre-set commands. All the "intelligent" assistants suck right now...hopefully Apple will announce some "siri-ous" improvements next week (sorry, couldn't resist).
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...