Make Siri great again! Apple's smart assistant gets updated, gains on-device learning, instant translation and more

by Plamen Dimitrov / Jun 05, 2017, 1:30 PM

Make Siri great again! Apple's smart assistant gets updated, gains on-device learning, instant translation and more

Apple's smart assistant is about to get a lot smarter. A bunch of important updates was just announced for Siri, which indicates that Cupertino has made some serious efforts to catch up to the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Some of the most intriguing augmentations that you can expect on Siri when iOS 11 goes live include on-device learning that will help out with recommendations. For example, Siri will learn as you browse through Safari and then will offer certain words or topics as suggestions for Apple's QuickType keyboard. These will be available when you type in Mail, Messages, and other apps. Furthermore, Siri will also offer multiple results whenever you make a query.

Another major improvement includes a Translate service which is being beta tested on the smart assistant. Voice translations will be offered from English to Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with more languages expected in the future.

There are also improvements to Siri's voice - both the male and female voices will sound more natural, adjusting things like intonation, pitch, emphasis, and tempo while speaking. The visual interface is also getting overhauled, while it was also announced that the service will be synced on all of Apple's smart devices.

Finally, Siri will also be present on Apple's new smart home speaker - the HomePod. There, it will act as a musicologist, which indicates increased contextual understatement.

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13 Comments

1. trojan_horse

Posts: 5868; Member since: May 06, 2016

"which indicates that Cupertino has made some serious efforts to catch up to the likes of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa." Nice to see PA admit that Apple is playing catch up once again... LMAO.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 1:51 PM 4

2. Bankz

Posts: 2515; Member since: Apr 08, 2016

Every dick and harry knows siri has been far behind google assistant for some time now. Hopefully siri should pose some strong competition now even if we know google will still most likely have the edge.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 1:57 PM 3

7. apple-rulz

Posts: 1940; Member since: Dec 27, 2016

Cute that you avoided Bixby. How's that Bixby voice working out for you S8 & S8+ owners?

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 2:48 PM 4

8. Zylam

Posts: 1813; Member since: Oct 20, 2010

LOL it's as successful as S-Voice.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 2:59 PM 4

10. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

@Applr-Ruiz - What's to avoid. I personally avoid all voice assistants. Siri sucked before Apple bought it. When it was an app on the app store it sucked. Google Assistant sucks too. Bixby or whatever. The biggest issue is they all have the same equal problem: 1 - none of them understand words used in certain contexts. Example, all of them still think a "lift" is only a car ride. 2 - they still struggle with accents. 3 - Its simply faster to get the info you need by other means. The only time they are helpful is, when you are in a strange town/city/state/country and maybe you are driving and you need a answer. But again, all the info can be gotten by other faster means vs speaking first, having it misinterpreted and then finally gettign an answer.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 4:30 PM 0

13. cmdacos

Posts: 3973; Member since: Nov 01, 2016

Currently Bixby gets less things wrong than Siri lol

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 8:13 PM 0

9. Behyjoon

Posts: 39; Member since: Oct 19, 2016

Catch up , the only thing they can reach is catchup

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 3:45 PM 1

3. omnitech

Posts: 1131; Member since: Sep 28, 2016

Wow IOS11 and watchos4 is pretty crappy. Finally including drag and drop. Lol watch IOS start to lag now.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 1:58 PM 5

4. kiko007

Posts: 7493; Member since: Feb 17, 2016

What a surprise, you're here, again.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 2:05 PM 6

5. SeminoleNation

Posts: 16; Member since: Dec 31, 2016

Sipping on that haterade?

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 2:12 PM 1

6. apple-rulz

Butt hurt because his mother can't afford to buy him an Apple Watch. So sad for you.

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 2:47 PM 2

11. TechieXP1969

So based on your logic, not wanting/liking something means you can't afford it? lol You're more stupid as the poster you're trying to call out

posted on Jun 05, 2017, 4:32 PM 0

12. apple-rulz

In your case, yes. You've claimed you earn in the area of $5m/year, and that is a total bullsh!t lie. You are a delusional braggart, and you need to just go away.