Apple‘s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is a hotbed for rumors about upcoming software updates, and this year, Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, has been at the center of attention. A fresh leak from Apple Insider, reportedly from sources close to Apple’s AI projects, offers the clearest look yet at Siri’s upcoming features for various iPhone apps.
The leak suggests Apple has been focusing majorly on improving Siri’s ability to understand natural language commands. Apparently, the tech giant has been training Siri with intentionally vague user requests, such as “I want to make a blog” or “I’m feeling nostalgic right now.”
The aim is to move Siri beyond needing specific syntax for tasks. Ideally, users won’t have to use precise commands like “turn on the coffee machine,” but can instead say something more natural like, “Hey Siri, I want some coffee.”
The leak also details Siri’s integration with no less than 18 built-in iPhone apps. Here are some of the most noteworthy highlights:
- Camera: Siri will be able to respond to the user’s voice commands for camera control. Users can switch between video and photo modes, start a shutter timer, and toggle between front and rear cameras using voice commands.
- Mail: For the Mail app, Apple is borrowing a page from Gmail by using machine learning to automatically classify emails. Moreover, Siri will handle tasks like composing, sending, and scheduling emails, marking emails as junk, setting reminders, summarizing emails, and creating “smart replies.”
- Photos: Apple might also introduce a suite of photo editing features powered by generative AI. The list of feature sets might be similar to those available on Pixel phones like the ability to remove unwanted objects from photos and fill in the gaps using generative AI, searching for specific photos based on people or animals in them, and applying AI-powered filters.
- Safari: Siri integration in Safari could offer webpage summaries, similar to the functionality offered by Google’s Gemini on Android. Additionally, users can expect voice commands for creating new tab groups and opening private tabs.
- Voice Memos: Siri will enable completely hands-free voice memo recording. Users can instruct Siri to create a new recording, begin speaking, stop the recording, assign a specific name, and even move it to a designated folder – all through voice commands.
Apple Insider’s report spills the beans on nearly everything Siri will bring in upgrades, so it’s worth a read if you want the full details.
Regarding the launch, Apple leak specialist Mark Gurman notes that not all these features will be available immediately. While some might be announced at WWDC, their actual release could be spread out until 2025 through software updates.
