iOS 15 to Limit Siri Functionality With Third-Party Apps

[MacRumors]

Starting with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8, Apple will cut back on integration between Siri and third-party apps, drastically reducing the type and number of commands users will be able to invoke through the virtual assistant for third-party apps.

On a developer support page, Apple says that a number of SiriKit intents and commands will no longer be supported with the public release of all of its upcoming operating systems this fall. Apple lists a total of 22 SiriKit commands that will no longer be supported, with the most notable one being that users will no longer be able to book a ride, such as with Uber.

Alongside removing support for ride-booking apps to integrate with Siri, Apple is also cutting back on Siri's ability to integrate with to-do apps. With the new changes, users of popular to-do and note apps, such as Things 3 or Todoist, will no longer be able to create a new task list, delete a task, or amend a note by simply asking Siri. The ability to create new tasks, however, will remain.

Additional changes include the deprecation of SiriKit intents that allow users to make bill payments with third-party apps, search for bills, or transfer money between two accounts within a specific app. Apple is also cutting back on several CarPlay intents, removing the ability for users to use Siri to set an audio source in a car, adjust climate, seat, or defroster settings.

Ahead of when these changes go into effect, Apple advises that developers update their apps to remove any marketing material, such as graphics or instructional material, that informs users of the ability to use Siri to conduct certain tasks. Apple further notes that developers will not need to remove the soon to be deprecated SiriKit APIs from their apps code but will receive warnings when attempting to compile their apps with Xcode.

Make plans to update any promotional activities that highlight the functionality provided by these APIs in your app. Please note that the symbols will remain in the SDK, so you don't need to remove the API calls from your app. However, you'll receive compile-time warnings alerting you to the deprecation going forward.

Apple is rather quiet on why it's deciding to suddenly limit Siri's integration with third-party apps, especially as the company is in the midst of growing concerns around anti-competitive conduct. Several developers, companies, and governments are investigating Apple regarding alleged actions that stifle competition from third-party developers, and at the same time, further promote first-party apps and services.

The latest round of changes to SiriKit may spark additional concerns, as some large developers will no longer be offered features that are available to first-party apps made by Apple.

Alternatively, the latest move by Apple may be part of its plan to consolidate users and developers into using Shortcuts. Shortcuts allow users to create a custom phrase that triggers a specific task for a third-party app. Developers can expose a specific task, such as sending a message through Instagram to Shortcuts, allowing users to create a specific phrase that triggers the task when invoked through Siri.

With the new updates, if a user attempts to make a command not supported for third-party apps, Siri will respond by saying that the command cannot be completed. iOS 15, alongside iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8, are all set to be released this fall and are currently in beta testing with developers and public beta testers.

Article Link: iOS 15 to Limit Siri Functionality With Third-Party Apps

 

[DaveKensington]

Anyone else remember when Apple announced they were “opening up Siri”

 

[Reason077]

This is strange. Why would Apple deliberately want to limit Siri's functionality in this way? Unless they've decided that SiriKit is too limiting and there's a better, deeper integration planned in future updates to Siri. But still, why not just deprecate SiriKit interactions rather than blocking them completely?

On the other hand, perhaps this is just a clean up of intents that Apple's metrics showed weren't being widely used anyway. Who's ever used Siri to book an Uber?

 

[5097842]

A more simple (and accurate) headline would be “Siri has limited functionality”.

 

[contacos]

It’s like Apple bought Siri (which they did), the whole remaining team left and now (for years) Apple did not really have the people to actually do anything besides giving it a little redesign. That’s my only explanation for years of neglect and suckage (is that a English word?)

 

[Abazigal]

This is strange. Why would Apple deliberately want to limit Siri's functionality in this way? Unless they've decided that SiriKit is too limiting and there's a better, deeper integration planned in future updates to Siri. But still, why not just deprecate SiriKit interactions rather than blocking them completely?

On the other hand, perhaps this is just a clean up of intents that Apple's metrics showed weren't being widely used anyway.

Hmm, maybe Apple finds that too few people are actually using those features via Siri to be worth supporting?

 

[Saladin12]

Can't wait for the EU and co to bring the anti-competitive lawsuits. *grabs popcorn*

 

[Quu]

So now Siri is getting dumber when we all want it to be smarter and be able to do more things like Alexa and Google Home. Wonderful.

 

[bLackjackj]

A more simple (and accurate) headline would be “Siri has limited functionality”.

STILL "has limited functionality"

 

[bLackjackj]

So now Siri is getting dumber when we all want it to be smarter and be able to do more things like Alexa and Google Home. Wonderful.

Siri has always been dumber. More secure, but dumber. Not me,..quite happy with Alexa thanks.

 

[Shirasaki]

I just recently enabled it to give it a go. Guess time to permanently turn it off (at least voice command wise) again. Wish there’s MDM to disable Siri using profile.
I believe Siri will never gain multilingual support and context awareness then, particularly for Asian languages.

 

[alba_83]

From an API perspective I can only assume they felt these aren't required now we'll have Shortcuts across the board. Something like 'Set Defroster Settings in Car' .. that's mighty specific to some cars. The ride intents seemed generic enough. Never used the bill payment intents, honestly didn't know that was a thing.

 

[bLackjackj]

Can't wait for the EU and co to bring the anti-competitive lawsuits. *grabs popcorn*

For what? The whole world knows that Siri literally is the worst. No great loss for the small amount of users.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

It’s like Apple bought Siri (which they did), the whole remaining team left and now (for years) Apple did not really have the people to actually do anything besides giving it a little redesign. That’s my only explanation for years of neglect and suckage (is that a English word?)

I would say, the main "problem" in this case is privacy.

 

[utwarreng]

It’s like Apple bought Siri (which they did), the whole remaining team left and now (for years) Apple did not really have the people to actually do anything besides giving it a little redesign. That’s my only explanation for years of neglect and suckage (is that a English word?)

Apple's entire Siri venture has been puzzling from the jump. They bought it, crippled the features it already had for years, and now here we are a decade later and it's still far and away the least useful of all voice assistants. What a colossal disappointment it has been.

 

[KanosWRX]

Just another reason it would be great if we could use a different assistant on our phones! Open up Apple! Stop hiding behind your privacy statement all the time!!! Give us what we want

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

Since Alexa and Google can essentially spy on you. Which is how it becomes a better assistant. By learning from that person. And Apple doesn’t allow that with Siri. I never thought Siri would ever amount to anything significant anyhow. Outside of basic commands.

 

[rorschach]

I think the Shortcuts explanation is honestly the correct one, IMO. It’s a lot more flexible from a user perspective. At some cost of some ease of use, though.

 

[Kkspire]

This is strange. Why would Apple deliberately want to limit Siri's functionality in this way? Unless they've decided that SiriKit is too limiting and there's a better, deeper integration planned in future updates to Siri. But still, why not just deprecate SiriKit interactions rather than blocking them completely?

On the other hand, perhaps this is just a clean up of intents that Apple's metrics showed weren't being widely used anyway. Who's ever used Siri to book an Uber?

Is be willing to bet no one uses those shortcuts and it’s a pain to keep them working versus actual things that need to be done. How many people are asking Siri to get an Uber versus using the phone and selecting their car and location. I mean…

 

[fwmireault]

Wow this is such a bad move. Siri is already far more limited than other voice assistants. I like to use Siri to add items on my Things 3 lists, and I will no longer be able to do it this fall.

 

[raindogg]

Siri is good for two thing, setting the clock or checking the weather. Other than that it’s completely useless. For me anyway, I asked her to play The Rolling Stones and she played Romancing the Stone.

 

[robvalentine]

I guess if you can’t make a voice assistant work, then claim privacy.
Android is looking more and more appealing.

 

[raindogg]

Siri is good for two thing, setting the clock or checking the weather. Other than that it’s completely useless. For me anyway, I asked her to play The Rolling Stones and she played Romancing the Stone.

With that said, I don’t use any virtual assistant. They are all creepy.

 

[andrewxgx]

wild guess, maybe almost nobody acutally used this?

 

[orbital~debris]

I like Siri and find it useful.

Siri isn't perfect and there is room for improvement. But a lot of the takes on Siri are based on rapid assessments or buying into prevailing negative hype instead of independent thought.

It's also nice to know that interactions aren't subject to the same level of privacy invasion as they would be if I were using Alexa or Google.

That said, this does seem like a situation where more clarity from Apple would help. It feels like perhaps it's in anticipation of some new functionality that's being worked on, but isn't ready to be disclosed yet.