Report reveals that Siri will never be the same once iOS 18 is released
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Siri, as we know her, is never going to be the same once iOS 18 starts rolling out in September. And this Monday Apple will preview the changes it is making to its Virtual Digital Assistant and we are there for it. Hey, it’s not like Siri doesn’t work but she’s like the friend you knew in school who had the intelligence to be anything she wanted to be but never lived up to her potential.
AppleInsider was able to discover everything that Siri will be able to do starting in iOS 18. According to the report, the native apps that will get the new Siri features include:
- Books
- Calendar
- Camera
- Contacts
- Files
- Freeform
- Generative Playground (internal)
- Keynote
- Magnifier
- News
- Notes
- Photos
- Reminders
- Safari
- Stocks
- System Settings
- Voice Memos
Inside these apps, Siri will be able to help you toggle switches and you’ll be able to make changes to an app using your voice instead of using your fingers. For example, in the Camera app Siri will be able to toggle on video recording, open up a specific photography mode including photo, portrait, video, slow motion, set a timer, and flip from the back camera array to the front-facing camera.
Inside the Mail app, Siri will not only be able to place your email into categories like Commerce, News, Promotions, Social, Transactions, and Other, but she will also compose an email, un-send an email, reply to all recipients of an email, create smart replies to emails, summarize emails and more. The Smart Replies will be written by Apple’s on-device Large Language Model (LLM) although more complex responses will be handled by cloud-based servers.
The Notes app is also benefiting greatly from Siri’s AI infusion and it will store audio recordings, transcriptions of said recordings, and even better yet, a summarization of the recording. Apple is also adding Math Notes which will allow the user to add complex math equations and graphs to a note.
With the Photos app, you’ll be able to ask Siri to show you photos of certain individuals, pets, places, landmarks, and more. You can also request that Siri rotate a photo, rename an album, make copies, move photos to albums, hide photos with certain people, places, and things from a specific time, add filters to photos, and more.
“Inside these apps, Siri will be able to help you toggle switches and you’ll be able to make changes to an app using your voice instead of using your fingers.”
With Safari, the new AI-powered Siri will deliver summaries of the content on the screen, create and open tabs, and possibly feature “Web Eraser” which will remove text, images, and even ad banners on a website. Remembering which content you selected to erase on other sites, Safari would remove them from other webpages as well. Complaints from media organizations might force Apple to remove this feature before iOS 18 is released.
It would be great if Apple used the new AI-laden Siri to pick stocks that are 100% certain to move higher, but alas, Siri will be limited to helping you create your watchlist and she will show you the latest business news. Other interesting non-AI upgrades include one that will allow users to add a note in Apple Maps to specific locations. For example, you could write a note to remind yourself not to order a specific entree at a certain restaurant because you got food poisoning the last time you ordered it. The notes would only appear for the person who wrote them.
Another upgrade not related to AI has to do with a new calculator app for iOS that will, for the first time, work on the iPad. Called Project GreyParrot, it will include a sidebar showing the history of the current calculations and an improved method to convert unit measurements.
The festivities start Monday, June 10th, starting at 10 am PDT/1 pm EDT. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for Apple to make some changes to Siri for years. Monday should be a very exciting day.
Questions & Answers
Q.Which Apple native applications will benefit from the new Siri features once iOS 18 is rolled out?
Which Apple native applications will benefit from the new Siri features once iOS 18 is rolled out?
Siri's new features will be integrated into native apps including Books, Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Files, Freeform, Keynote, Mail, Magnifier, News, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Safari, Stocks, and System Settings.
Q.What new capabilities will Siri offer within the Mail app with the iOS 18 update?
What new capabilities will Siri offer within the Mail app with the iOS 18 update?
Within the Mail app, Siri will categorise emails, compose new emails, un-send emails, reply to all recipients, and create smart replies. It will also be able to summarise emails for the user.
Q.Will all of Siri's new smart responses be processed on the device itself?
Will all of Siri's new smart responses be processed on the device itself?
No, while smart replies will be generated by Apple's on-device Large Language Model, more complex responses will be handled by cloud-based servers. This indicates a hybrid processing approach for Siri.
Q.Aside from AI-powered Siri upgrades, what other new features will be introduced in iOS 18?
Aside from AI-powered Siri upgrades, what other new features will be introduced in iOS 18?
Non-AI upgrades include the ability to add private notes to specific locations in Apple Maps. Additionally, a new calculator app for iPad, Project GreyParrot, will feature calculation history and improved unit conversion.
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