Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
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TL;DR
- A new leak reveals most (if not all) of the new AI-powered Siri features we’re expecting at WWDC 2024.
- Siri is getting more powerful and better at performing complex tasks through natural language.
- It is not clear whether all these features will launch at the same time or if it will be a phased rollout.
We’ve heard a lot of rumors about Apple’s alleged plans to supercharge its digital assistant Siri at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Over today Apple Insider, we have the most complex leak yet. The leak comes from “people familiar with Apple’s AI initiative” and includes just about everything Siri will be able to do in more than a dozen first-party iPhone apps.
The whole leak is worth watching, especially if you’re an iPhone user. But we’ll give you a general overview of Apple’s goals with the “new” Siri and share some highlights that we think will most impact the daily lives of iPhone users.
What Apple wants from the “new” Siri
The overall goal of Siri seems to be to make it more powerful and better able to understand voice commands that are given in natural language. According to the leak, Apple allegedly trained Siri to do this by having Apple technicians deliver commands that are purposefully obtuse. For example, instead of asking something like, “Hey Siri, show me pictures of my cat,” it tests vague commands like, “I want to start a blog” or “I’m feeling nostalgic right now.” These aren’t specific commands that Siri they instruct her to do one specific thing, but instead commands that Siri will first have to interpret and then decide how best to provide what she thinks the user might want/need.
The benefit of this is obvious, which is training Siri to be better for users who don’t know (or don’t want to use) the correct syntax needed to execute a command. For example, a user who says, “Hey Siri, I want coffee,” may or may not turn on the smart coffee maker, while saying, “Hey Siri, turn on the coffee maker,” probably will. The former is a natural statement, while the latter is a direct command. Apple wants to reduce this locked down syntax, making Siri much easier to use.
The Apple Insider however, the leak doesn’t mention how it works. For example, are these Siri features powered by “Ajax,” which is Apple’s internal Large Language Model (LLM)? Or are they based on ChatGPT since Apple has reportedly partnered with OpenAI for some of its AI-based systems? It could be a bit of both, but we’re not sure yet.
Siri’s new features: A list of the most important things
As previously mentioned, the entire leak is exhaustive, covering no fewer than 18 first-party iPhone apps and how Siri will be able to work with each of them. Here are a few that we find really interesting:
- Camera: Siri will be able to control the camera using voice commands. You’ll be able to turn video recording on or off, open the camera in a certain mode (photo, portrait, video, etc.) and then start the shutter timer and switch to the front or back camera. In theory, this could allow you to set up your iPhone for a group photo, walk away, and then use voice commands to take a photo remotely.
- Post: The Mail app is undergoing a complete overhaul. It will apparently be able to automatically classify emails using machine learning, something Gmail users are probably already familiar with. In addition, Siri will also be able to perform detailed functions using voice commands only. This includes things like composing an email, sending it, scheduling it, marking the email as spam, and setting reminders to read the email later. It will also be able to summarize emails and create “smart replies”, a feature no doubt the same as Android’s Smart Reply and Gmail’s Help Me Write.
- Photos: Apple is likely to introduce a lot of photo editing features based on generative artificial intelligence. Pixel users will likely recognize many of these, as so far we’ve only heard about features you can already do on the Pixel with Magic Editor and Google Photos, such as move/remove an object from a photo and fill in the blanks with generative AI, find specific photos with specific people /animals and use generative AI filters.
- Safari: Apple’s web browser will use Siri to summarize web pages, something Google has already brought to Android through Gemini. Safari will also be able to create new tab groups or open a new Private tab using voice commands.
- Voice Notes: With Voice Memos, you’ll be able to use Siri completely hands-free. For example, you can ask Siri to create a new voice recording and then start speaking. You can then stop the recording, save it under a specific name, and then even move it to a specific folder—all without lifting a finger on your iPhone.
When will these be launched?
According to serial Apple leaker Mark Gurman, at least some Siri features won’t actually make it to WWDC. Apple will almost certainly announce a few of these, but not all of them will be available in 2024. Gurman predicts it will be 2025 before most of these features arrive via software update.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Apple won’t introduce at least a few at or around WWDC. However, it’s probably best not to expect iOS 18 to come with all the features in this Siri leak, as it’s much more likely to disappear in the coming months.