Siri percolated throughout all of Apple’s platforms in 2015. It started with iPhone in 2011, iPad in 2012, debuted on Apple Watch in early 2015 and Apple TV with the new model a few months ago. It’s quickly becoming a premier feature on these platforms, with live-as-you-speak transcription and radically new features like ‘Remind me about this’ contextual tasks when inside apps. Except for one platform of course. Mac OS X has been ignored and left abandoned with regards to true voice searching and Siri. It’s 2016, and I want Apple to bring Siri to the Mac.
Especially with Apple Watch, it’s just become natural for me to ask for stuff with my voice. For little things like timers or messages, I like to speak. Siri voice recognition has got significantly better for me in the last year, I have come to rely on it. And not having it available when I’m working on my Mac is a huge pain.
There is the potential for Apple to make Siri on Mac even more powerful than a straight iOS port too. You could create more complicated actions for Siri to execute, in a world with multiple apps. ‘Open apple.com and a text editor side by side’ would be a cool command to quickly set up a workspace desktop, for example. Opportunities to integrate with the Mac features of Spotlight also exist, such as finding files using natural language queries as introduced with OS X El Capitan.
The Mac may also be a nice testbed for third-party app integrations with Siri, given the more flexible environment. I’m not hoping or expecting for this more advanced stuff. Simply reproducing the Siri from my iPhone on my MacBook would satisfy me.
In terms of user interface, it seems like a simple problem. Just like the iPad, present a full screen overlay with the Siri conversation in the middle of the screen. 9to5Mac reported Apple was developing Siri for Mac in this manner for early internal versions of OS X Mavericks, but obviously it didn’t get released. On iOS, Siri is activated with a long press of the Home Button. The Mac doesn’t have an obvious primary button, but it could implement an activation by a long-press of the fn key or similar. Apple could even expose an app wrapper for it, so avid users could drag a Siri icon into their dock.
When thinking about why Apple hasn’t done something, it’s worth considering their motivations for intentionally not doing so. It is possible that talking to your computer is a weird concept to grasp. It’s true that talking to a phone is a lot more natural as the microphone is close to your face. Even on Watch, it’s easier with a quick raise of the arm.
Moreover, the Mac microphone is potentially further away from your mouth when you speak. Unless you use a headset, it will be more difficult for Siri to be able to hear you which could impact performance and recognition. However, Apple has opted to include a Dictation feature across the system. Press the fn key twice in any text box and it will dutifully transcribe your speech into text. The accuracy is pretty good too. I believe newer Macs include directed miss for better input too, to further combat this issue.
Initially, you could argue that Siri was a hallmark feature of the iPhone and that Apple wanted to keep it exclusive to encourage people to buy iPhones. This line of thinking would be somewhat reasonable in late 2011 but now its pervasive everywhere on the iOS side. It doesn’t feel exclusive anymore. In fact it feels like a necessity, a voice assistant is practically a core feature of modern operating systems these days. And OS X is worse by not having it.
At least from my perspective, the reason Siri on the Mac hasn’t happened is because Apple hasn’t gotten around to finishing it for a public release. There have been other priorities for engineering resources to tackle. Siri is one of the few big features (Control Center is another, but even that is more recent) that the Mac still misses out in comparison to its iOS/tvOS/watchOS siblings. Perhaps 2016 is the year Apple will find the development resources to bring Siri to OS X, as the platform seems to have reached a level of system stability and feature maturity.
What do you think? Are you itching to see Siri on the Mac? Let us know in the comments below.
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No
Brilliant screen dump!
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Yes. The Mac should have had Siri or something similar long ago. I cannot believe with today’s technology no one has a built in personal assistant for the ‘Personal Computer’. Think of all the possibilities. A hands free home computer. Come on Apple. Do it and do it right.
We have had iterations of the personal assistant for computers. Look at Dragon Assistant. Dragon has had their name in the game for a long time. Cortana for Windows is basically SIRI, and works pretty darn well. Still amazed they beat Apple to it. Even Kinect on Xbox was a big step in that direction. Amazon Echo same, something Apple probably should have done before them since they already had SIRI built.
I’m not amazed that Microsoft beat Apple to something on the desktop, just as I’m not surprised that Apple beats Microsoft to most things on mobile. They are both focusing most of their resources on their most important business.
I think that’s basically the answer to most questions around the idea of “why hasn’t Apple done this on the Mac yet?” Their resources aren’t infinite, and the iPhone is way more important to their business. The pace of development for iOS is naturally going to outstrip OS X. If the Mac loses some market share, they can shrug it off. If iOS loses market share, the stock price would plummet.
Similarly, Microsoft’s latest uninspiring phones are evidence that they’ve stopped devoting a lot of resources to mobile development. In fact, they seem to be devoting more resources to their apps for iOS and Android (which is probably smart, rather than pouring money into the Windows Phone sinkhole forever, where even an extremely good year would only see their market share go up to about 5%, even less than Apple’s share of the PC market).
Apple should take note that I am logging into windows 10 on my Mac more often these days because the Xbox One streams cable TV to my computer, and Cortana allows me to have Siri-like functions on my computer. I find myself logging into osX less and less because of this.
I would love Siri on the Mac. I have been playing around with Cortana on Windows 10 and it’s been really useful, plus I use Siri on my devices daily so Siri on the mac would be very helpful imho.
I got a Mic to use for when I got Windows 10 installed on my Desktop Windows PC. Since I upgraded to Windows 10, that was back when it first got released. I can count the number of times I’ve used it on one hand! It just seems faster to do what I need to with a Keyboard and mouse then trusting Cortana and have it do something I didn’t want wasting time.
Siri is useful on my AppleTV where I don’t have a keyboard and mouse to get around. It works pretty good on the iPhone, especially hands free while driving. On a Mac though, would it actually be useful which Cortana really hasn’t been for me, or just so you can say it has Siri also and never really use it?
Is it that high a priority if you have an iPhone next to you? I do agree that it’s nice to use the bigger screen if you’re at your computer, but I typically use Siri for small things like setting a reminder or alarm, or asking simple questions. Not bringing up apps. Probably a nice-to-have in my book, but there are more important things I’d like to see first – like wireless drivers that work in all instances . Or a SMARTER Siri on the iPhone.
True, but think bigger that what Siri on the iphone can do. Think of the processing power of your Mac and what a Siri type assistant could do. For example there are so many tasks that you do sitting in front of the computer that you could literally ask the computer to do and have it respond while you do some other activities.
Also think of the multitasking that could be done while you are working on the computer.
Huge possibilities.
I often take my MacBook around places in my house where my phone isn’t. I have an Apple Watch, sure, but I want to use my MacBook. Even when I’m at my desk, my phone is on a dock. I can do Hey Siri, but then I still have to pick my phone up off the dock to see the results. It makes the most sense to be on the device I’m using. I also think its worth remembering that there are MacBook owners without iPhones.
Would be a killer feature for a HTPC built on Mac Mini too I think
I was really hoping that they would bring touch ID to the new magic mouse. :( It would be so useful.
I would like that. Back in 2007 I had a Toshiba with a fingerprint reader, worked well and I loved it. Surprised that haven’t seen it more used.
http://www.cnet.com/products/toshiba-satellite-p105/specs/ | Still works today believe it or not.
Can’t believe you forgot to mention HomeKit. I can say: Hey Siri, turn the lights on/off. Then my Phillips Hue responds to that. If I could do that on a Mac, that would be quite great actually.
I can’t believe Apple hasn’t created their own version of a Homekit App, and puts that 100% on 3rd party’s. Let alone left it out of the new AppleTV where it could have been useful.
Yes, of course, the Mac should have Siri but more importantly, the Mac should have the News app, either kill widgets or improve them, and fix mail.app already, etc. Oh, and about that thunderbolt monitor…
I’m a Mac user first, iOS user second.
By the way, this sentence is being dictated on the Mac. We don’t have Siri, but we do have dictation and it works quite well.
YESSSSS. I’ve been wanting this for years! Siri and HomeKit neeeeeeed to come to the Mac. Especially now that Apple has been pushing the “use whichever device is closest to you” philosophy with Continuity, I’ve been missing Siri and HomeKit on my Mac more and more. It’s just becoming an odd omission at this point.
OS X also needs its own News app, but I’m fairly certain that will come along later-but-soon-enough, like Photos did after it was overhauled in iOS. But anyway. Yes, Siri on the Mac!
I’d definitely like to see the News app on the Mac, along with Continuity support. I’ve mentioned that already on Apple’s feedback page.
Yes! Definitely agree. I always send feedback and generally have a positive experience with it. I do think they pay attention to that stuff.
Isn’t quality of sound capture the main issue?
I don’t know. I use Dictation all the time, sometimes even when there is a TV on or other noise in the background, and it works well for me every time. Certainly just as well as Siri and Dictation on my iPhone. I don’t know why it would make a difference if Siri used that captured text.
You’re correct here… I have the Amazon Echo and the best thing about it is it’s microphones (I think it has 8 of them?). I can have music playing (with singing in it) and Echo can still tell my voice apart from the music. You also don’t need to speak to it in that sort of I’m speaking in a way that voice recognition can best recognize me way. You don’t have to yell at it. The fact that it’s all hands free is what makes it so great. I can walk into my apartment carrying tons of stuff and just ask it to turn on the lights.
Apple could make use of the Siri remote, it hears my voice perfectly well. On the other hand I haven’t had a problem with any modern Mac picking up my voice.
Even if they didn’t bring the full SIRI capabilities to OSX, all the component parts already exist – the voice recognition (and read back) is excellent, spotlight can answer or direct answers to relevant apps, all Apple need to do is to bring it together. One hinderance may be the interoperability and security between apps under OSX, but thats got to be an easy problem to solve in the longer term.
Where things would get interesting is if SIRI could compartmentalise and automate tasks, and if we could script application automation with “SIRI” (i.e. SIRI, open all files in this folder, get some data from them, do something smart and give me the answer) or even allow scripting with a new modern language (like SWIFT, although its not a scripting language, would be great as one) and get SIRI to run these actions on a spoken command away from the work you’re doing in the foreground. Now that would be awesome.
What would be horrible is for SIRI to be the same on OSX as it is in iOS – surely no-one wants SIRI to take over the whole screen and force us to mono-task on its interactions. That would be a step in the wrong direction.
If they do, I don’t think the interface would need to take up the entire screen once prompted. Surely a notification type interface would suffice unless asking for something specific, like the weather tomorrow, which could then integrate with spotlight?
Great points.
While it would certainly be cool, I really can’t think of a situation where it would be faster to use Siri than a mouse and keyboard – EXCEPT for the functions that Siri on my phone already handles. Asking for directions to “1234 Main St. in mytown USA”, or “remind me to take out the trash at six o’clock” would be convenient, but it’s just as convenient to just do it on my phone which is almost always with me anyway. If I want to know the weather, I click on my Wunderground favorite. Siri would bring up a bunch of mostly useless generalized data, or a list of sites that report weather. Not helpful. What might be more useful, is some of the “always on” functionality linked with HomeKit, as has been mentioned. Being able to ask Siri to turn on the lights in the dark would be nice, but it’s all about the *back end*, and what it can do that will matter. Siri will truly be useful when it can monitor worldwide news and wake me up in the middle of the night when there’s a disaster near the home of one of my relatives or friends, or automatically verbally remind me that my car is due for an oil change because it has been talking to the car.
absolutely. a must have. I suspect this is a no-brainer for Apple. Wait.
I think one of the issues is multi-device. If I’m sitting at my Mac wearing my Apple Watch with my iPhone sitting on the desk next to me and I say “Hey Siri, do X” which device responds? Not only do the devices need to communicate with each other to decide who picks it up, but there needs to be UI to make it totally clear.
Personally I think what they’re waiting on is a solution to make Siri locally processed. With Apple’s push on privacy, they’d like nothing more than to say “the new Siri doesn’t send anything to the cloud”, drawing a stark contrast between Siri and Google. In order for this to work they would need a dedicated coprocessor and that’s probably going to show up in an iOS device first.
I personally find Siri to be a waste of space on iOS, but to each there own. (Don’t even get me started on how awful Cortana is, shudder. Seriously, a Bing search for “What time is it?”, really?)
BTW, something similar (but by no means as functional) has already been around for a very long time on the Mac: PlainTalk. It was introduced in System 7.1 (1993) and still exists today (see Speakable Items and Dictation & Speech). I think the novelty would wear off quickly. Can you imagine a busy office with everyone yakking at Siri or Cortana? Yikes. What about crosstalk?
As a workaround, couldn’t you use your iPhone and Siri to schedule appointments, set reminders, etc. and have them sync back to your Mac?
Well, busy offices used to have everyone talking on the phone at the same time – much less so these days, now that people do more texting and email and IM etc. If you walked into an office in the 1990s or even the early 2000s, it was much noisier than today. But you’re right, it would be jarring nowadays, when people have come to expect lower noise levels. It’s like when someone dares to have a phone conversation on the bus, and everyone stares daggers at them, like: “why can’t you text like a normal person?”. And most people are actually too self-conscious to use Siri in public, e.g. on a bus. The last time I saw someone doing it, everyone was looking at them like: “who is this nutter?”.
Rather Apple spend time on Dictation and Siri on Apple TV then thr Mac. Even with Bluetooth keyboard support the Apple TV would great,y be odor from Dictation and more Siri features.
One implementation that nobody here has mentioned is using handoff to use Siri on OS X. Talk to your iPhone or Apple Watch and you get a SIri microphone on your Mac.
This certainly would help disabled people – and it could also help older people.
My dad uses windows…he is always asking me where things are on the computer etc — he forgets where he saves things and isnt sure how to use the search… but if he had a mac with siri, he could ask him/her for help.
for me – i’m just lazy…lol… but i would just love to be able to set reminders, make appointments, check the weather, make calls – just by saying “hey siri”… i would have it set to only work at home — sometimes i dont want to have to find my phone and mess around with that at home if i am already at my PC…
Even better would be – “hey siri – where’s my phone?”… “you’re phone is within 100m of your current location, would you like me to sound an alert?”… “yes”
Most people seem to forget that not everyone has multiple apple devices. If you own only a Mac then a full functioning assistant that can not only tell you things but do practical tasks would be useful. Especially while you are doing either other tasks on the computer or elsewhere.
It’s true…not everyone has multiple devices — it would be nice to have more siri features on a mac for better dictation and control…
Can you imagine listening to music on your mac and being able to say “siri – play next song”…
Or “siri – do i have any new emails?”
How about letting Siri be on the computer, and do the voice processing in your house, rather than sending it to Apple? Microsoft had this capability 12 years ago with VoiceCommand, and it didn’t give me “Sorry, I don’t have internet connection now, I can’t dial that number that is in your contacts.”
Not that I don’t trust Cook and company. I don’t trust his successors ad infinitum.
Having a microphone in my house connected 24/7 to … where is the other end connected again?
Personally I’m happy it’s not on the MacBooks, I’m not a true Apple fan just a fan of their awesome MacBook Pro’s.
what do they mean by “I believe newer Macs include directed miss for better input too”? what is directed miss?
but they have splken command that work almost the same way with siri and plus you can create your own costom command