I know, I know. I am late at the Siri Sucks party. For my defense, Siri’s degree of suction has increased. Siri is never used to Trip when asked what month it is. Apple designers nailed The light effect, however.
It is not only that Siri has regularly broken down over the years. The soil of what is expected of a system as Siri increases quickly.
Meanwhile, Siri is waiting for someone to decide if the maintenance can repair the elevator while we take all the stairs to the top of the highest building in the world.
Maybe Apple will send these Apple Intelligence upgrades to Siri next year and will surprise us. But there was a change of atmosphere, and the Siri atmosphere has never been so stellar.
A vocal assistant who conquered Siri’s failures deserves another name. This may even require another supplier.
Siri is certainly more polite than when Scott Forstall demonstrated it on the iPhone 4S in October 2011. Siri was really the technology “blow” at the time. Now Siri is a “go” technology.
In the past, the calls to pronounce Siri Dead made me roll my eyes. Throw Siri and replace it with what? Carplay or AirPods without Siri? Vocal orders are essential for these experiences. But it can be true without Siri.
Drastic measurements are necessary to extinguish this particular dumpster fire. Stacking more garbage above this system with a long expired date of sale will only prolong the burn.
Damage control is possible. Start by abandoning the Siri brand. Declare SIRI complete and in maintenance mode. Add no new feature. Found the features with the highest failure rates. Call the remaining features of voice control. Do not break the word wake, but consider a less personified alternative.
The problem defined for Siri has always been vast. The addition of an AI heavy layer can only multiply the possible failure points.
Divide the Apple Intelligence brand by defining it according to what has shipped. Choose three pillars. Writing tools: automatic correction for your ideas. Summary of summaries: What you need to know. Generate: Tools as creative as you.
Apple will not do it, but it should allow AI voice assistants such as advanced Vocal mode Chatgpt, Google Gemini, Amazon’s next Alexa + and Perplexity’s voice mode to have more integration of the system. This would mean the possibility of being invoked without unlocking the device, using voice control to invoke and via satellite accessories like AirPods and Apple Watch.
It could be a better future. Get your strength, Apple, as a platform supplier and creator of high quality equipment.
Otherwise, I cannot shake the feeling that IA-STHER MATERIES will make the iPhone reproduce as an excellent camera with a nice system design and incredible silicon which is considerably behind AI capabilities at the system level.
Amazon’s Fire phone may have ended with a fire sale, but I would be ready to go to an Android phone with a deep chatgpt integration today. It is the biggest change of atmosphere for me personally.
I will end with what I wrote Before Apple has indefinitely delayed its more personal Siri:
Which of these features will arrive in the beta iOS 18.4 version? We should find out soon. But their functioning is another question.
It looks like a brand moment for Siri, and these three remaining iOS 18 features are key indicators of Apple’s ability to take advantage of AI with Siri.
These three SIRI features are AI uses that only Apple can provide – not due to Apple’s talent, but due to Apple’s position as a platform operator.
Apple must finalize these ambitious features before making major promises for Siri and Apple Intelligence with iOS 19. WWDC 2025 is less than four months.
Siri should be the best voice assistant available on the iPhone.
It is the only one with the deep integration of the device and the operating system. This is even more the reason why Apple is a strong actor in AI and not just a platform for innovative technologies.
If Siri cannot follow, a solid case will go up for Apple to support the modification of the default voice assistant and allowing competing voice assistants to hang on to iOS. Otherwise, autonomous AI devices will actually have a reason to exist.
Limited integration with temporary chatppt requests is not enough. Over time, the iPhone might seem less attractive for someone who values the best vocal assistant powered by AI more than blue Imesage bubbles.
Best Apple accessories
Follow Zac Hall on XAnd listen to Runtime with the co-host Sophia Tung on Apple podcasts And YouTube.
