Apple opens up Siri to developers, brings her to the Mac
Apple on Monday announced major updates to its Siri digital voice assistant. Not only is Siri coming to the Mac, but Apple is also introducing a software development kit (SDK) for Siri, so developers will have greater access than ever to bring its voice-control abilities to apps.
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple senior VP Craig Federighi announced Siri will be part of the upcoming version of macOS (formerly OS X), expected to be available in the fall. Siri will have its own icon in the dock and interact with several native apps, including Apple Music and Maps.
At the same time, Apple is opening up Siri to iOS developers with iOS 10, also expected in the fall. That will let developers build upon Siri to use its intelligent voice control within apps.
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Federighi showed how Siri will work with WeChat, letting a user speak a message like, "WeChat Nancy saying I'll be five minutes late." Other apps that will be among the first with Siri integrations include Slack, Uber, WhatsApp, Lyft, MapMyRun, Runtastic and SquareCash.
In addition, Apple says it's bringing deep learning to Siri. That will enable Siri to interpret your data and interactions and suggest actions. As an example, if someone messages you asking where you are, Siri can suggest sharing a map.
Apple first debuted Siri in the fall of 2011 with the iPhone 4S, following a 2010 acquisition of the company that built the technology. With Siri, Apple was an early leader in the race to build the best voice assistant, but in recent years Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana and the Google Assistant have arguably eclipsed Apple's tech with key third-party integrations or a sophisticated AI.
Siri, however, is certainly the most well-known digital assistant, and Apple has slowly added features and more hardware support, such as in the latest Apple TV.
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Pete Pachal was Mashable’s Tech Editor and had been at the company from 2011 to 2019. He covered the technology industry, from self-driving cars to self-destructing smartphones.Pete has covered consumer technology in print and online for more than a decade. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Pete first uploaded himself into technology journalism at Sound & Vision magazine in 1999. Pete also served as Technology Editor at Syfy, creating the channel's technology site, DVICE (now Blastr), out of some rusty HTML code and a decompiled coat hanger. He then moved on to PCMag, where he served as the site's News Director.Pete has been featured on Fox News, the Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and CBC.Pete holds degrees in journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax and engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His favorite Doctor Who monsters are the Cybermen.
