Siri

Siri does more than ever. Even before you ask.

581 'Siri' stories July 2011 - July 2019

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Siri is Apple’s personal assistant technology that debuted in 2011 with the iPhone 4S. Apple purchased Siri in 2010. At the time, it was a dedicated app on the iPhone. When it became built into the iPhone, it could do basic things like play music and make phone calls.

Now, it can do things like integrate with third-party messaging apps. payments, ride-sharing service, calling app, set timers, get directions, add reminders, start TV shows on the Apple TV, make language translations, search for photos, open documents, interact with your smart home though HomeKit, and a lot more.

In iOS 12, it became integrated into more third-party apps through Shortcuts. Companies can build their own interactions for the service to work with.

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Siri Remote for Apple TV

How to stop Apple from listening to Siri recordings

How to stop Apple from potentially listening to your Siri recordings

Michael Potuck Jul 29 2019 - 9:45 am PT

A report from The Guardian last week highlighted privacy concerns about Siri recordings being listened to by its contractors. While Apple has responded by saying that only 1% of Siri activations are reviewed by humans and that Apple IDs are not associated with them, many users are asking for the ability to opt-out of Siri recordings being saved to Apple’s servers.

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Poll: Are you okay with Apple contractors listening to and grading Siri interactions?

Chance Miller Jul 27 2019 - 8:21 am PT

HomePod Siri Apple

A report yesterday from The Guardian placed Apple and Siri in the middle of privacy concerns over voice activated assistants. The report claimed that Apple contractors listen to Siri audio as part of its efforts to improve performance, and oftentimes hear sensitive conversations.

Apple defended the efforts in a statement, saying that “less than 1% of daily Siri activations” are used for grading. What do you think of this revelation?

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Privacy
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Apple responds to Guardian report about contractors hearing private conversations while ‘grading’ Siri

Michael Potuck Jul 26 2019 - 1:15 pm PT

A report today from The Guardian details claims from one of Apple’s contractors about the conversations that are heard as interactions with Siri are reviewed and analyzed. The report brings up privacy and transparency concerns and Apple has released a statement addressing the matter.

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How to change Siri’s language on iPhone

Michael Potuck Jul 25 2019 - 12:00 am PT

Want to change Siri’s language on your iPhone? Follow along for how to do it in a few simple steps and also how to make sure “Hey Siri” is set up in the new language.

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Annual ‘Voice Tech Report’ predicts Apple will launch a ‘SiriOS’ in 2020

Chance Miller Jul 20 2019 - 7:00 am PT

HomePod Siri Apple

Mangrove Capital Partners is out this week with its Voice Tech Report for 2019. This annual report covers the growing adoption of voice assistants, and makes an interesting prediction for Siri in 2020.

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HomePod owners complain Hey Siri is being activated by Apple’s new AirPods ad

Ben Lovejoy Jul 3 2019 - 6:38 am PT

Hey Siri is being activated by Apple's Bounce ad

HomePod owners are taking to Twitter to complain that the Hey Siri feature is being activated by Apple’s new AirPods commercial.

When the guy in the Bounce ad says Hey Siri at the beginning and asks it to play him something new, HomePods are being triggered…

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Apple’s former long-time Siri head says virtual assistants don’t deliver on their promise

Ben Lovejoy Jun 14 2019 - 5:51 am PT

virtual assistants don't deliver, says former Siri head

The man who was for seven years head of Apple’s Siri efforts has said that virtual assistants don’t deliver on their promise.

Bill Stasior left Apple earlier this year, leaving the Siri team without a VP at the helm …

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What is Announce Messages with Siri? How to customize the alerts

Benjamin Mayo Jun 13 2019 - 1:41 am PT

Announce Messages with Siri is a new feature for Apple headphones in iOS 13. It makes responding to messages very fast whilst you are wearing AirPods or Powerbeats Pro. Siri will read out the incoming message and transcribe your reply. This alleviates the need for you to dig your iPhone out of your pocket constantly.

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Siri on iPad concept – a Mac-like approach

After fixing volume indicator, Apple may fix another annoying iOS/iPadOS quirk

Ben Lovejoy Jun 10 2019 - 4:49 am PT

Apple finally fixed the volume indicator in iOS 13, and Apple’s SVP of software engineering has indicated that the company may fix another full-screen annoyance – at least in iPadOS …

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Having Siri, Google Assistant & other intelligent assistants female by default is sexist, says UN

Ben Lovejoy May 22 2019 - 4:49 am PT

Siri and other IAs are female by default

Apple’s decision to make Siri’s voice female by default in the US and many other countries reinforces gender bias, claims a new United Nations report. The same complaint is levelled at Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana.

The problem with this, says the report, is that it ‘reflects and reinforces’ the idea that assistants – acting in a support role – are female …

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WWDC 2019 for developers: Siri, Marzipan and AR improvements, more

Guilherme Rambo Apr 22 2019 - 7:48 am PT

WWDC for developers

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on June 3rd. Last week, we shared exclusive details about iOS 13 and macOS 10.15. Today, we are sharing details about new features and APIs for developers that should be announced at the event, according to sources familiar with the development of Apple’s new operating systems.

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Alexa now works with Apple Music on Sonos, bringing Siri-like voice control

Zac Hall Apr 17 2019 - 10:01 am PT

Sonos

Apple Music subscribers can now control music playback on Sonos speakers using voice control through Amazon Alexa. The feature works in the US and UK on the Sonos One and Sonos Beam smart speakers, joining Amazon Echo speakers, based on the Apple Music skill in the Alexa app.

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Apple poaches top Google machine learning expert as it continues to expand AI team

Chance Miller Apr 4 2019 - 2:12 pm PT

HomePod Siri Apple

Apple has poached one of Google’s top artificial intelligence engineers as it continues to build up its AI team. Apple recently hired Google’s Ian Goodfellow to join its “Special Projects Group” as a director of machine learning, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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Apple buys up Laserlike, an ex-Googler founded AI startup focused on following news topics

Peter Cao Mar 13 2019 - 12:40 pm PT

Apple recently acquired the startup Laserlike, according to a new report from The Information. The company was founded by former Google engineers and makes it easier for users to follow news in various topics.

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DirecTV Now

DirecTV Now gaining TV app support, Single Sign-On, Siri search, more

Peter Cao Mar 7 2019 - 11:05 am PT

An update to the DirecTV Now live TV app is today adding support for the TV app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Users will now be able to easily search and access shows, as well as keep track of your viewing history within the TV app.

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Apple quietly updates the quality of the British Siri voice

Benjamin Mayo Mar 5 2019 - 10:43 am PT

Seemingly through a server-side change, Apple is quietly updating some of the international Siri text-to-speech synthesizers. Last month, some readers commented that the British male voice had been upgraded and we can confirm that the British female voice has also been updated as of this week. The change can be heard on iPhone and iPad as well as the HomePod.

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How to play podcasts on HomePod with Siri

Peter Cao Feb 28 2019 - 12:01 am PT

Most people know that you can play music with HomePod by simply asking for it. However, did you know you could also request podcasts through HomePod as well? Follow along to learn how to play podcasts on HomePod with Siri.

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Epson Siri Shortcuts

Siri

Siri Shortcuts and Google Assistant learn to print and scan documents with Epson printers

Peter Cao Feb 19 2019 - 10:31 am PT

Epson is today adding support for voice assistants to its printers including Siri and Google Assistant. For iOS, users will be able to create a Siri Shortcut to quickly print and scan documents.

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Siri

Apple reportedly buys PullString, a voice assistant startup behind enterprise Alexa apps

Peter Cao Feb 15 2019 - 1:57 pm PT

Apple has today agreed to buy a San Francisco-based startup Pullstring, according to Axios. The company focuses on designing and publishing voice apps. Such an acquisition could play an important role for Apple as it continues to work on improving Siri, which many believe is far behind the acquisition.

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Apple’s Siri VP exits role as Giannandrea shifts team’s focus to ‘long-term research’

Peter Cao Feb 1 2019 - 3:25 pm PT

HomePod Siri

Siri has gotten its fair share of scrutiny over the years, with many believing it’s falling behind in the smart assistant game despite being the first major company to market with the technology. Bill Stasior, who was responsible for Siri over the last seven years, has recently left the company.

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Controlling iRobot’s Roomba vacuum with Siri, no HomeKit required

Zac Hall Jan 18 2019 - 12:02 pm PT

siri roomba

Robot vacuums remains one obvious category HomeKit should support in the future. HomeKit support would bring voice control for vacuums through Siri, app control through the Home app and Control Center, and clean up scheduling through automation — all in the same app you manage other smart home accessories.

Even without HomeKit support, you can build your own Siri control for Wi-Fi-enabled iRobot Roomba vacuums using MacStories‘ very helpful guide for connecting IFTTT (If This Then That) triggers to Apple’s Shortcuts app on iOS 12. Here’s my Siri-controlled robot vacuum experience and best practice recommendations:

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How-to
Siri

How to disable Siri when iPhone is locked

Peter Cao Jan 10 2019 - 12:01 am PT

Ever have a friend or family member take your phone and start playing pranks by asking Siri to send a message? By default, this works whether or not you’ve actually unlocked your iPhone. Follow along to learn how to disable Siri when iPhone is locked.

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Apple’s Siri team far behind Amazon’s Alexa employee hiring rates

9to5 Staff Jan 3 2019 - 9:02 am PT

New data from Thinknum shows how hiring for Amazon’s Alexa platform is currently outpacing Apple’s attempts to grow the Siri team, at a rate of nearly 5:1. As of writing, there were about 750 job openings mentioning “Alexa” from Amazon, with just under 170 from Apple with specific mention of “Siri“.

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Siri lawsuit

Voice of Siri in Hebrew suing Apple for ‘illegitimate’ use

9to5 Staff Dec 28 2018 - 8:29 am PT

An Israeli broadcaster behind the voice of Hebrew Siri is suing Apple for NIS 250,000 (approximately $67,000), claiming the company never sought permission to use her voice before the localized virtual assistant launched in 2016.

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