Instead of Siri:Apple plans to give EU citizens option to switch voice assistant
The Digital Markets Act makes it possible: Apple is working on making Siri replaceable in the EU – as we already know it from mail clients and browsers.
Siri has been an important part of iOS since 2011, but users have been complaining about the lack of functions for years.
(Image: Koshiro K / Shutterstock)
In the future, Apple will create a way to determine the iPhone voice assistant system itself. The new function does not come from the company itself, but is a reaction to regulation by the European Commission and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). As reported by the financial news agency Bloomberg, the Group wants to pre-empt “expected regulation” by the EU. For the first time, it will be possible to switch off Siri as the default voice assistant and choose a third-party provider instead, according to informed sources.
Many switchers away from Siri?
It is conceivable, for example, that ChatGPT's voice mode, Google's voice mode integrated in Gemini or voice assistants from Anthropic (Claude) or Meta (Meta AI) could take over. It remains unclear exactly which systems will be supported. However, as Apple has to publish and open the interfaces, there should be a wide range of options – as we know from browsers and mail clients, for example. Apple had opened up more and more areas in the course of the DMA to avoid fines from the EU or to adapt to the requirements. Other areas, such as navigation or messaging, can now also be selected.
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If Siri does not improve fundamentally – Apple recently had to postpone important new features – there could be many changes here. Apple's usual “playbook”, where it initially lags but then beats everyone with its billion users, will not work in the field of AI, a long-standing Apple manager told Bloomberg, who wished to remain anonymous.
Approaching LLM-based systems
To catch up, Apple is currently working on a completely redesigned Siri. Instead of a hybrid version of the “old” Siri and an LLM-based system, the company now wants to rely entirely on LLM technology, as the competition does. Internally, the technology is simply called “LLM Siri”. However, Apple fears that the system is not accurate enough. There are therefore said to be “thousands of analysts” – including in Spain, Ireland, and Texas – who are supposed to evaluate the output of Apple Intelligence, for example in summaries. iPhones are also supposed to deliver more data in the form of synthetic material.
Most recently, it was said that missing Siri features such as the user's personal context or interaction with apps and things on the screen could appear by the fall. However, Apple itself has given itself up to a year.
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