Apple iOS 13 Siri Enhancements for iPhone, iPad, Watch and AirPods

Apple talked a lot Monday at the annual developer conference, but did not spend much time analyzing the changes made to its Siri voice assistant.

This is surprising because Siri is ubiquitous in Apple products – from the iPhone to CarPlay via Apple TV. He is also lagging behind competitors such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in some areas, which must be a sore point for Apple because Siri has outstripped these other personal assistants for several years.

But Apple is making some notable improvements to Siri this fall, and I've had to check some of them during WWDC 2019. You'll see them this fall, when Apple launches new software, including iOS 13 for iPhone and iPad. .

Here is an overview:

If you used Google Assistant and returned to Siri, you probably noticed that Siri seems rather robotic. Indeed, Siri's voice was actually only a group of spliced ​​audio clips, so that sometimes the cadence of a word did not fit perfectly with a sentence.

Apple has announced that Siri will soon have a new voice entirely generated by software, which will allow it to give a more accurate sound. I heard it and found it sounded better, but not as much as John Legend's voice in Google Assistant. I am sure this will continue to improve in the months leading up to the launch of the new model.

At the moment, Siri only plays music from Apple services such as Apple Music and iTunes – and nothing else. This is a bad picture because Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant allow you to listen to music from any other service.

But Apple opens Siri to external services with a new SiriKit Audio tool for application developers. Soon, you will be able to say "Siri, play Pandora Rock" and she will line up for this app. It also supports audiobooks and podcasts.

Spotify has not yet announced support, but the tool is open to any application developer. It would therefore be logical for Spotify to add it to better integrate with Apple platforms.

Siri will also broadcast more than 100,000 live radio stations, without any other application being required. All you have to do is ask Siri to play the station you want, like "Hey Siri, play 99.9 The Hawk", and Siri will broadcast the station live on Apple Music. I did not spend a lot of time listening to old favorite stations – like The Hawk – but I may be better now to call them more easily.

As in the case of music, Siri can only navigate with Apple services, like Apple Maps. But that changes with the update this fall. Soon, you'll be able to say "Siri, go to 30 Rock with Waze" or "Siri, go to Yankee Stadium with Google Maps" and Siri will do it.

Siri will soon be able to read a message directly into your AirPods while walking and will use the AirPod microphones to understand if you are speaking and avoid interrupting yourself, even if you talk to someone in the face. of you rather than your phone. You can also answer immediately without having to press a button or say "Hey Siri" beforehand.

So, if your wife sends you an SMS, Siri will read the message via your AirPod and you will be able to dictate your answer.

One of my biggest problems with Apple's home speaker, the HomePod, is that it does not have multi-user support. So, if Siri can read my messages or send them, or play some of my favorite music, she does not recognize my wife as a separate person and account when she talks.

This will change this fall when HomePod will get support for multiple users, which means that Siri will respond appropriately when my wife asks what's on her schedule and when I ask what's on mine.

Apple makes the best use of its acquisition of the Shazam music identification app.

At the present time, you can ask Siri on your iPhone to identify a song. Soon, you can also ask Siri to identify the song that is played directly on your wrist. Just raise your Apple Watch and ask Siri to identify the melody. I hope Google has followed Google's footsteps by allowing you to use this feature in the background at any time. You can set Google Pixel to identify the music you play around without having to give it a command every time.

Siri Shortcuts is useful, but complicated to use.

It works with third-party applications to give you specific information about commands. For example, you can configure it with TripIt to get flight information every time you say "Hey Siri, flight status", for example. But, generally, these shortcuts are buried or complicated to configure and use. In addition, you need to download shortcuts from the App Store to get started.

In iOS 13, Apple will default to the Shortcuts app and have a set of highlighted applications and use cases, which will make it easier to set up custom routines for Siri. So, maybe you want Siri to turn off the light and close the garage door every time you leave the house. It will be much easier to install in iOS 13.

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