Apple might allow certain iPhone users replace Siri as their default assistant
Apple could give some iPhone users the ability to replace Siri as default virtual assistant.
Many iPhone users are not fond of Siri. Even though Apple created the virtual personal assistant when it launched Siri with the iPhone 4s in 2011, Apple soon lost the lead to Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Luckily, if you have an iPhone that runs Apple Intelligence, if you ask Siri a question it can't answer, the virtual assistant will ask if you want ChatGPT to answer or if you would prefer to search the web.
Even if you don't have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, you can still ask Google to help if Siri can't answer a query to your satisfaction. For example, let's say that you want to know the release date of the first iPhone. Ask Siri the question, and she responds with a trio of excerpts from websites, although all you wanted was a date. So you can tap the "Search Google" chip, and it will show the release date of June 29, 2007.
If you don't mind reducing your use of Siri to setting alarms and timers, in the App Store, you can install the Google Assistant app. This way, you can ask Google Assistant your more complex queries. These days, you can use ChatGPT or Gemini as your assistant, although they also won't be able to set timers or alarms. You can find both AI apps in the App Store (ChatGPT,Gemini). According to a new report from Bloomberg, the EU might force Apple to allow iPhone users to select their own default assistant, which could include ChatGPT and Gemini as possible options.
Sometimes you need to use Google or another app instead of Siri to get a decent answer. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Since Apple's actions would be in response to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) legislation, only those iPhone users in EU countries would have this option. But as we pointed out above, one doesn't have to make an alternative assistant a default choice in order to use it. Personally, when it comes to information I need to satisfy my own curiosity or to win a bet, I find the Large Language Models like the aforementioned ChatGPT and Gemini to provide better responses than Siri.
Thanks to the DMA, in iOS 18.2, Apple added a Default Apps page (Settings > Apps) that allows iPhone users to select their default apps for the following:
- Messaging
- Calling
- Call Filtering
- Browser App
- Passwords & Codes
- Contactless App
- Keyboards
Eventually, iPhone users in the EU may also see a listing for them to choose a default virtual assistant.
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Things that are NOT allowed: