10 Third-Party iPhone Apps That Apple Should Integrate With Siri

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One of the biggest missing features from Apple’s Siri technology is integration with third-party apps. Apple launched Siri on the iPhone 4S with Wolfram Alpha and Yelp integration, but other developers have been unable to fully integrate their apps with Siri to create a compelling, voice-controlled experience.

Apple hasn’t given a confirmation that it will eventually open up Siri to third-party apps, but that hasn’t kept several apps from offering workarounds for Siri integration. What about the apps that were meant for Siri? We’ve collected 10 apps that we want to see integrated with Siri in the near future.

1. Facebook

There’s no doubt that many people would love to have Facebook integration, and it seems like a no-brainer for Apple to eventually implement Facebook’s app with Siri. The only thing that may deter any sort of Facebook tie in with Siri is Apple’s tumultuous relationship with Zuckerberg and his social network behemoth, but we can still dream.

“Update my status.” “Write on my girlfriend’s wall.” “Play FarmVille with my grandma.” Siri and Facebook would be a dream come true.

2. Twitter

It’s odd that Twitter isn’t already working with Siri, considering Apple’s system-level integration with Twitter in iOS 5. You can tweet from many of the stock iOS apps, but you can’t tweet from Siri. What the heck, Apple?

For now, you can tweet with Siri via SMS. But it’s not the same! Apple is hopefully working on full Twitter integration with Siri right now.

3. Amazon

“I want to buy a new computer monitor.” “I’m looking for a one terabyte external hard drive.” While you can search for items on Google with Siri, integration with Amazon’s official iOS app would be warmly welcomed.

Not only would you theoretically be able to browse a quick drop-down of related products in the Siri window, but you would be able to say something like, “Buy the $89 Shure SE215 earphones.” Amazon would process the transaction and send you an email receipt like usual. Simple and effective.

4. Pandora

While you can play and control your music from the stock Music app with your voice, it would be nice for Apple to open up the same access to third-party music services, like Pandora. You could say something like, “Play my Coldplay station,” and Siri would automatically access Pandora and start playing the stream.

If similar services, like Spotify or Stitcher, also integrated with Siri, you could theoretically switch Music apps that integrate with Siri in the Settings app. Instead of the default Music app, you could have Siri always use the Pandora or Spotify app. We’ll see if Siri’s music controls change at all when iTunes Match finally gets off the ground.

5. Wikipedia

Wolfram Alpha can answer a lot of questions within Siri, but there’s some things that are best answered by the trusty Wikipedia engine. You should be able to say something like, “Tell me everything there is to know about Shakespeare,” and get a Wikipedia bio optimized for the Siri window.

It would be really cool if Siri could then read you the summary of whatever Wikipedia page you look up, but maybe that’s hoping for too much.

6. Netflix

This integration would ideally work by saying something like, “Play The Big Bang Theory,” and then having Siri respond with, “What season?” followed by “Which episode?” Then, Siri would open the Netflix app and start streaming your TV. Or you could simply say, “Play the first thing in my instant queue.”

Have you ever wondered if a movie or TV show is available for streaming in Netflix? What if you could just ask Siri? “Is Dexter available for streaming on Netflix?” (Sadly, it’s not anymore.)

7. IMDb

“What movie did Will Smith play in with Jeff Goldblum in 1996?” “Who is the lead in the upcoming Snow White movie?” Full IMDb integration with Siri would be heavenly for any movie enthusiast.

You could also use IMDb to pull up trailers for new movies, or have Siri show you IMDb facts about your favorite actors.

8. Fandango

Siri integration with Fandango would let you look up movie showtimes and order tickets by simply using your voice. “Find the nearest showings for Immortals tonight.” “Buy me tickets for the 7:30 sh0w.” Siri and Fandango would then handle the rest.

9. Yahoo Sports

You can look up sports scores with Siri in the web version of Yahoo and Google’s search engine right now, but full integration with the Yahoo Sports app would be the perfect addition to Siri for sports fans out there.

Like Wolfram Alpha’s Siri window, Yahoo’s sports information for any given team could be easily displayed in Siri. You would theoretically be able to see the season highlights and scores for a team and see upcoming info on game dates, etc. Some sort of sports news integration would also be nice.

10. CNN

“Show me the latest headlines.” “What’s the latest news in tech?” Wouldn’t it be awesome if Siri could integrate with something like CNN to offer optimized news headlines and stories?

While Siri is best at completing tasks for you, there’s still room for consumption services, like CNN. Siri could show you previews of 5-10 recent headlines, and then clicking a story could bring you into the official CNN iPhone app.

Conclusion

Apple still has several stock iOS apps that need to be integrated with Siri, like the Camera, iTunes, and App Store app. Siri is still in beta, so we shouldn’t expect everything to work, but it’s kind of surprising that Apple didn’t do a better job of integrating even its own apps with Siri for the public launch.

Why can’t you search the App Store with your voice? Why can’t you look up a song in iTunes with Siri? Apple will hopefully continue to integrate its own apps and other third-party apps with Siri in future updates.

These 10 apps are what we’d like to see integrated with Siri, but what about you? What are the apps that you think would enhance what Siri has to offer?

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