Siri for Mac’s Colorful Waveform Dock Icon Revealed Ahead of OS X 10.12 Unveiling

[MacRumors]

Rumors have indicated Siri integration will be one of the key features coming in OS X 10.12, and new screenshots of a Siri menu bar and Siri app icon suggest Apple is indeed working on bringing Siri to the Mac in its 2016 operating system update. The screenshots were shared with MacRumors by a source who has provided us with reliable information about Apple's software plans in the past.

In the menu bar, there's a simple Siri black and white icon that features the word "Siri" surrounded by a box, while the full dock icon is more colorful and features a colorful Siri waveform in the style of other built-in app icons. Clicking on either of the icons brings up a Siri waveform to give users a visual cue that the virtual assistant is listening for commands, much like on iOS devices when the Home button is held down.

In addition to accessing Siri through these two buttons, a hands-free "Hey Siri" activation command is also supported. "Hey Siri" is an option that's disabled by default at the current time, but it can be turned on in the Preferences menu.

Siri integration in the Mac is still in the early stages of development, but the assistant will presumably be able to answer many of the same queries and perform many of the same tasks it can on iOS devices - opening apps, conducting web searches, controlling HomeKit, sending text messages, reading emails, setting calendar events, and more.

Because work on Siri is far from complete, there's a chance these icons could be tweaked between now and when the feature is introduced as part of OS X 10.12 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The Menu Bar icon in particular looks like it could be a placeholder icon, with a finalized design, perhaps depicting a microphone or waveform, to come in the future. Apple has also been known to shelve expected features at the last minute if work is not complete and up to the company's standards.

WWDC is set to take place from June 13 to June 17, with a keynote event scheduled for Monday, June 13, which is where we'll see our first glimpse of OS X 10.12 and iOS 10.

Article Link: Siri for Mac's Colorful Waveform Dock Icon Revealed Ahead of OS X 10.12 Unveiling

 

[SuchInnovation]

If Steve Jobs was alive he'd be screaming in his grave right now.

 

[edc22]

If Steve Jobs was alive he'd be screaming in his grave right now.

why would he be in a grave if he was alive?

 

[chrismail627]

Shouldn't we have had Siri on Macs a long time ago? Well better late than never. Now we can hear Siri's terrible jokes on our Macs too!

 

[decimortis]

"Siri, open Safari."
...
"I'm having trouble locating Jafar E."

 

[Priebe109]

Now we just need an alarm app for Mac OS

 

[Andres Cantu]

So many circular icons in the dock!

 

[runmachine]

If Steve Jobs was alive he'd be screaming in his grave right now.

yeah, he'd be buried alive.......

 

[MacBH928]

Any news on new macbook pros with skylake?

 

[coolfactor]

Terrible Dock and menubar extra icon designs. What is wrong with Apple designers these days?

The iOS team got it right.... a microphone!

 

[Nick A]

This is so ridiculously late. Siri should've been implemented into OSX on 10.7 or 10.8, 4 years ago. Now they'll brand it as a killer feature.. I really don't understand Apple anymore.

 

[LordQ]

That dock icon is beautiful!

 

[Lord Jones]

There are two things that Mac OS X needs right now-- Siri integration, and a touchscreen for notebooks. Amazingly, Windows has the lead in both of these areas. And that just should not be....

 

[filmantopia]

yeah, he'd be buried alive.......

In which case, who wouldn't be screaming?

 

[Analog Kid]

They should have the processing power available on the desk to do this locally. I hope they don't feed the commands up to the network for processing.

 

[Paradoxally]

Terrible Dock and menubar extra icon designs. What is wrong with Apple designers these days?

The iOS team got it right.... a microphone!

You can change it...

 

[hydr0gen]

Do we get a Cortana Dock Icon too?

 

[autrefois]

Siri [...] will presumably be able to answer many of the same queries and perform many of the same tasks it can on iOS devices

Unfortunately, four and a half years after its introduction, Siri will also presumably not be able to answer many of the same queries or perform many of the same tasks on the Mac that it still can't do on iOS devices...

 

[coolfactor]

Shouldn't we have had Siri on Macs a long time ago? Well better late than never. Now we can hear Siri's terrible jokes on our Macs too!

I do think that Apple is late to the game with Siri on the Mac, but it's possible they were concerned more about the user experience than the technical implementation. For example, if 10 million Macs starting querying Siri, the data centres may become overloaded.

I really, really, really, really hope that Apple embeds their own dedicated "V-series" voice-processing chip into both iOS devices and Macs to lessen the dependency of over-the-air processing. Not only would that speed up the processing, it would also lower battery usage for using Siri.

 

[djbuddha]

Make Siri better that should be higher priority instead of porting it to other OS's .. Instead, let's spread less-than-mediocre across the whole line. PC makers have their bloat ware, Apple has this I guess

 

[Crosscreek]

"Apple has also been known to shelve expected features at the last minute if work is not complete and up to the company's standards.


Standards thankfully a concern ?

 

[Rogifan]

Cue all the complaints about the icon and how Steve is rolling in his grave...

Make Siri better that should be higher priority instead of porting it to other OS's .. Instead, let's spread less-than-mediocre across the whole line. PC makers have their bloat ware, Apple has this I guess

So Siri is bloatware now?

I swear Apple could announce a zero bezel phone with 5 day battery life and people here would complain about it.

 

[djbuddha]

I do think that Apple is late to the game with Siri on the Mac, but it's possible they were concerned more about the user experience than the technical implementation. For example, if 10 million Macs starting querying Siri, the data centres may become overloaded.

I really, really, really, really hope that Apple embeds their own dedicated "V-series" voice-processing chip into both iOS devices and Macs to lessen the dependency of over-the-air processing. Not only would that speed up the processing, it would also lower battery usage for using Siri.

I get what you mean, but believe me, compared to start ups with 1% of Apple's capital developing voice commanded software, it definitely was a sad attempt to make Siri better. Pathetic is more fitting tbh. I'm more frustrated using Siri and while driving especially, it's more unsafe than helpful.

 

[ninjadex]

I'm not sure I understand this UI, Siri.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

Unfortunately, four and a half years after its introduction, Siri will also presumably not be able to answer many of the same queries or perform many of the same tasks on the Mac that it still can't do on iOS devices...

I don't get why I can say "Hey Siri, turn on Wifi" (or Bluetooth), but she freaks out when I say "Hey Siri, turn on Hotspot." She even acknowledges that "I can't do that, but you can do it in Settings." (With a button to link you to settings)

Even just now, my screen was awake and I said, "Hey Siri, lock my phone." She replied with "Surprisingly, that is not within my capabilities."