Originally, Siri was shown off as being capable of even digging through texts, emails, and photos to find very specific information. While that still remains a pipe dream, the new App Intents will allow Siri to at least carry out simpler operations like the following:
- Commenting on a post
- Finding, editing, and sending a particular image
- Adding something to your shopping cart
- Logging in to an app
A far cry from what was originally promised a year ago, this is still a massive improvement over the Siri of today, in my opinion. Apple plans to market these new features heavily come next year, but there are some security concerns that are forcing the company to take its time.
The company doesn’t want to risk Siri’s newfound powers leading to tangible harm being done to one of its users. For example, if Siri provides inaccurate information from a health app, or carries out the wrong command in a banking app, Apple may be sued. Because of this, the company may actually play it too safe, and not allow App Intents to interface with sensitive apps.
Currently, a lot of Siri’s queries are handed off to ChatGPT for Apple users. Samsung — Apple’s largest smartphone rival in the States — took a somewhat similar approach. The Galaxy S25 phones, and other Samsung phones using Galaxy AI, make use of Google’s flagship AI model: Gemini.
Gemini has improved drastically in recent months, and the AI experience on the Pixel 9 and Galaxy phones is much better than that on the iPhone 16. Thus, it is absolutely crucial that App Intents be improved, and a broader Siri overhaul follow shortly after.
