Overzealous Siri: supposed table reservations irritate Apple users
Siri can suggest appointments in the Apple calendar. Calling up a table reservation page currently leads to a confusing cascade of events.
A day full of unwanted appointments and supposed reservations. This is triggered by a simple browser call from restaurants on OpenTable.
(Image: Mac & i)
The table reservation site OpenTable and Siri are causing unexpected calendar entries and notifications on iPhones, iPads and Macs: If an Apple user calls up one of the restaurants listed on OpenTable in the Safari browser, an entry for a supposed reservation immediately and automatically appears in the calendar of iOS and macOS –, even if no table reservation has been made. This also happens to website visitors who do not have an OpenTable account, as reported by readers. Mac & i was able to reproduce the bug.
Siri suggests dates
The appointment suggestions for the alleged reservation come from Siri: long before Apple Intelligence, a "proactive" Siri system has been assisting the user and automatically submitting appointment entries in the calendar, for example. Although the events, which are based on a hotel booking for example, are only recorded as suggestions, they already appear in the Apple calendar and trigger further Siri suggestions.
This then leads to several prominent messages on the iPhone lock screen: Siri suggests activating Do Not Disturb mode for the appointment, for example, and gives recommendations for leaving on time. For users, these unwanted notifications are irritating and difficult to understand. The phenomenon is particularly irritating when, for example, another family member calls up an OpenTable page on a shared device – and triggers the appointment entry.
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Siri to gain more app insight with Apple Intelligence
Siri can look into apps to provide suggestions, which is activated by default. The assistance system primarily sees entries from Apple apps such as Safari and Mail, but third-party apps such as Booking also support –, so hotel bookings automatically end up in the calendar, for example. However, the bug with OpenTable underlines the shaky foundations on which such AI assistance functions stand and how much potential there is for user confusion.
Apple is currently busy putting Siri on a new AI footing: The assistance system should be able to better capture data in apps and screen content in the future, ultimately making it more powerful. Third-party apps will have to be adapted for this, and Apple will have to expand its interfaces. The context-sensitive Siri system is expected with iOS 18.4 in spring 2025. An entirely new Siri system based on voice models does not appear to be in the works until 2026.
(lbe)
