Apple might allow users to replace Siri with another virtual assistant on iPhone, iPad and Mac, according to a new report.
While Apple’s smarter Siri will not arrive until at least next year, Apple users in the European Union might get something even better in the near future.
EU might force Apple to open up iOS in a big way
Siri‘s shortcomings are legendary, and the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT only reinforced the feeling that Apple’s smart assistant can’t compete. And while Apple showcased a big Siri upgrade at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the project hit serious snags. Apple admitted last March that the promised Siri overhaul would not arrive as soon as expected.
To make matters worse, Apple does not currently allow replacing Siri as the default assistant on the iPhone or other devices. While you can download several digital assistants from the App Store, none of them can replace Siri. Google already allows users to replace Gemini as the default digital assistant app on their devices.
However, EU legislation has forced Apple to open its ecosystem in recent years. European iPhone users can change default apps in a snap, switching to a different web browser or mapping service. And in some instances, like switching the iPhone’s default translation app, those changes also apply to U.S. iPhone users.
Apple might let users replace Siri on iPhone, Mac and iPad
In a deep dive into Apple’s AI missteps, Bloomberg indicates Apple might be preparing to let users replace Siri.
“To meet expected European Union regulations, the company is now working on changing its operating systems so that, for the first time, users can switch from Siri as their default voice assistant to third-party options,” Mark Gurman wrote Sunday, citing “a person with knowledge of the matter.”
That could mean that Apple users sick of Siri could switch to services from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Alphabet. The iOS change supposedly would extend to iPadOS and macOS.
U.S. iPhone users probably shouldn’t get too psyched about the possibility of replacing Siri with something more useful, however. Apple typically does the bare minimum to adhere to EU regulations, and it likely would do the same when it comes to supporting for third-party digital assistants.
So, don’t expect Apple to replicate Google’s functionality and let everyone entirely replace Siri with another voice assistant. And this change might not make its way to devices outside the European Union.
Apple’s AI team scrambles to build next-gen Siri
Following the blunder with AI-powered Siri — which caused a big shakeup inside Apple — the company’s AI offices in Zurich, Switzerland, are creating a new architecture for the digital assistant. The company will build the next-gen Siri on a large language model-based engine, making it smarter, more conversational and better at understanding information.
As part of a major internal reorganization in March, Mike Rockwell, who led development of the Vision Pro headset, now oversees the development of next-gen Siri. He supposedly reports directly to Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering.
