Apple celebrates 50 years of technological innovation
Apple is celebrating 50 years since Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded the company by reinventing personal computing and mobile technology.
What Siri is getting is: big overhaul.
During the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on Monday, June 8, Apple announced the launch of Siri AI, an enhanced Siri that relies on Apple Intelligence, including an all-new independent Siri app.
The new and improved Siri can work across multiple apps, identify information and photos on the screen, and provide users with more detailed AI chatbot conversations.
Want to learn more about new Siri features? Here’s what you need to know.
Siri can now work with multiple apps
Siri AI can work across multiple apps to provide a more comprehensive virtual assistant experience.
For example, if a user wants to know when the next concert will be, they can ask Siri for the date and time. In the same conversation thread, users can ask Siri how to buy tickets or set a reminder for when tickets go on sale.
Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of Siri engineering, said in a presentation that Siri provides users with “current world knowledge” while placing events on users’ calendars and setting reminder notifications.
advanced writing tools
Siri AI also offers more integrated writing tools, allowing users to “write” using speech-to-text translation.
When you use Siri to draft an email or text message, Siri AI can read previous communications with the recipient to craft the appropriate tone, Sebastien Marineau-Mes, Apple’s vice president of software engineering, said in a presentation. Do you typically use short, concise language when emailing your boss? Siri AI can sense this trend and craft a similar message.
Siri AI will also provide writing suggestions for text messages, emails, and other written works in “most” third-party apps, Marinomes said.
Read what’s on the screen in the camera’s viewfinder
The new Siri can analyze information on your screen.
Another example Rockwell gave was asking Siri where an Instagram photo was taken. In the Instagram app, users can launch Siri to ask where a photo on their screen was taken. Additionally, users can use the Find My app to ask Siri if there are any friends nearby and create a road trip that includes stops at photo locations and friends’ homes along the way.
Additionally, when using the camera app, users can launch Siri and click the shutter button to get more information about what’s on the screen. For example, if you point your iPhone’s camera at a plate of food, Siri can tell you the nutritional content of that food. This is, of course, based on what Siri thinks about the food.
Siri’s look and voice has been expanded
As part of the overhaul, users can now converse with Siri through a more traditional AI chatbot. Justin Titi, Apple’s director of iOS system experience, said during a presentation that on the iPhone, users can swipe down on the Siri popup when speaking to Siri to see a full transcript of the chatbot’s conversation.
You can also further customize Siri’s voice, including pacing and expressiveness. A new update will make Siri sound less robotic and more conversational.
How will Siri change on iPad and Mac?
Siri AI is integrated into the Spotlight app, which acts as a system-wide search bar on iPad and Mac. When you enable Siri AI, users can type questions in the Spotlight search bar and have Siri answer them.
For the first time, Siri AI on iPad and Mac also supports Visual Intelligence, Apple’s AI-powered camera and onscreen feature. For example, on Mac, users can use a new keyboard shortcut to select part of the screen and ask Siri a question. For example, if a user sees an image of their favorite dessert while browsing on their Mac, they can create a selection box around the image and ask Siri for a suggested recipe.
What does the new Siri app do?
The new Siri app acts as an archive of past conversations users have had with the virtual assistant. Photos captured while using Siri are also saved in the app for future review.
What devices is Siri AI available on?
Siri AI is available on devices that support iOS 27, including:
- iPhone 16 and later models
- iPhone15 pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPad mini
- iPad models M1 and later
- Mac with M1 or later
- apple vision pro
- Apple Watch Series 10 or later
- Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later
- Apple Watch SE3
When will Siri AI be available?
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said at WWDC that Siri AI will be available to users later this year.
Greta Cross is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Story ideas? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
