iOS 13.2 adds controls for Apple’s unpopular Siri data collection program. Now, users can opt in to “Siri and Dictation Analytics,” which translates to letting your iPhone or iPad upload all your Siri interactions so Cupertino can improve the virtual assistant’s accuracy.
Previously, Apple disabled this program because of its unpopularity. Now, it’s back — but under your control.
In iOS 13.2, Siri can announce your incoming messages and read them to you. This is the kind of feature that is so useful, and obvious, that it seems like it should have always been there. It’s called Announce Messages with Siri, and it does just that.
Here’s how to set it up and use it
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s AR glasses are about to be announced! At least according to one very reliable analyst…. we discuss. Plus: Mac OS Catalina is out, but you probably shouldn’t install it—we’ll tell you why. And Final Cut Pro just got massively faster thanks to a new update, and a long awaited iOS 13 feature finally goes live.
Our thanks to Linked In for supporting this episode. A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… head to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.
The Spotify update we’ve been waiting for since the launch of iOS 13 has landed. The latest version of the app finally adds Siri support, so you can ask the virtual assistant to play artists, tracks, and more.
It also brings a brand-new Apple TV app.
Deep Fusion support on the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max is finally available for testing if you’re an iOS developer. Apple’s latest computational photography feature adds even more detail to pictures by combining multiple images into a single shot.
Apple seeded the first iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2 betas to developers this morning after teasing the release yesterday.
Apple will roll out a software update later this year that eases some of the Siri restrictions for third-party messaging and phone apps.
Siri currently defaults to using Apple’s own apps when sending messages and making calls. But it will later default to the services that are used most frequently, based on specific contacts.
Apple put out yet another iOS 13 update this morning to fix some major bugs, just over a week after the huge update for iPads and iPhones was released to the public.
iOS 13.1.1 and iPadOS 13.1.1 address a major security issue that allowed third-party keyboard apps to have network access. The flaw could have allowed keyboards to track what you type, including usernames and passwords, and send them to a remote server. Anyone that’s running iOS 13 of iOS 13.1 should update ASAP.
You will soon be able to ask Siri to play your favorite tracks from Spotify.
The world’s biggest music streaming service just started testing Siri support in iOS 13. It comes after Apple’s latest updates introduced new SiriKit audio APIs that allow third-party access.
The newest iPhone is finally here and it’s more colorful than ever.
Following up on the success of the iPhone XR, Apple unveiled the iPhone 11 this morning that sports a new aluminum and glass body and two amazing rear cameras that could make it the most attractive iPhone to most people. It’s cheaper price tag doesn’t hurt either.
The ability to have back-and-forth conversations about users’ health problems is one of several new abilities planned for Siri in “fall 2021,” a new report claims.
Based on leaked documents, The Guardian says that Apple is planning a host of new features for its AI assistant. These will include built-in machine translation and, intriguingly, support for a new, unspecified piece of Siri hardware.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission wants answers from Apple about why it let contractors listen to private Siri recordings. The data protection watchdog is looking into whether Apple’s GDPR privacy obligations.
Should Apple be found guilty, it could be fined up to 20 million euros ($22 million) or 4% of its annual global turnover, whichever is higher.
A revamp of Apple’s program that had people monitoring Siri voice commands for quality control will soon ask users to opt-in first, and only Apple employees will be listening.
“We realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize,” the company said in a statement.
Apple has laid off the contractors whose job it was to listen to Siri recordings to improve the quality of Apple’s voice assistant.
Contractors in Ireland had their fixed term contracts “abruptly terminated” this week. This followed Apple suspending the practice last month. During each shift, employees supposedly listened to 1,000 Siri recordings.
Microsoft has snapped up the former Siri boss, who left Apple earlier in May 2019.
Bill Stasior joined Apple in 2012, taking over control of the Siri team not long after it made its debut with the iPhone 4s. In his job at Microsoft, Stasior will be corporate vice president of technology.
Apple might be ready to agree to a truce with Spotify that would allow iOS users to control the rival music streaming service with Siri.
iPhone users have been unable to use Siri and Spotify together even though you can do it with Apple Music. Reports of the negotiations come as Apple is facing more intense scrutiny for anti-trust practices, with Spotify being one of the loudest dissenting voices.
A class action lawsuit has been proposed to prevent Apple from recording Siri commands without users’ express consent. And the plaintiffs want restitution, of course.
Apple admits it made recordings of people talking to the Siri voice-control system to improve the system. As part of the process, some of these were listened to by humans.
Apple wants you to know that, at least for now, it has stopped listening to Siri queries made by users. It’s the right move to make. But it’s the unnecessary result of a backlash Apple brought upon itself.
The Siri eavesdropping controversy perfectly illustrates why Apple needs to be more transparent with users — even if that means sacrificing some ease of use.
Apple has stopped its process of listening to a certain portion of Siri recordings for “grading” purposes.
This is the result of a backlash against the privacy-oriented company, after news broke that Apple shares recordings made by Siri with third-party contractors.
Apple shares recordings made by Siri with third-party contractors, according to a recent report. The goal is to improve Siri’s responses, but the fact is, you probably didn’t know that this was happening — and almost certainly want it to stop.
Today, I will show you how to prevent these diagnostic recordings from going to Apple. The good news? You can do it using only Apple’s tools. The bad news is that you’ll have to get your hands dirty in the process.
Developers received a fresh batch of new beta builds this morning in the form of iOS 13 beta 5. Apple seeded the new software updates just under two weeks after the last set of betas came out, bringing fresh changes to mouse support on iPad, smaller quick action menus and tons of bug fixes.
It’s been widely reported that voice control systems like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri use people in their quality-improvement process, not just algorithms. But Siri and others might be accidentally overhearing to what we say more than we realize, and humans in the loop are getting an earful.
A new report warns that Apple contractors have heard “confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex.”
We already know that Apple has completely made over the Reminders app in iOS 13, adding a new, more powerful layout, and some excellent quick-entry tools so you don’t have to tap the screen like a million times just to remember to take out the trash when you get home.
But Reminders has also gotten its virtual claws deeper into the rest of iOS. Today we’ll see two great integrations that you might not have heard about yet.
Apple’s Calendar app finally comes to CarPlay in iOS 13. It might not look like much, but it makes getting to meetings and events super-simple.
Here’s how the Calendar app works — and how you’ll use its killer feature.
iOS 13 doesn’t just mean big improvements for your iPhone. Apple is making some pretty significant enhancements to CarPlay, too, including a brand-new dashboard and better apps.
Some of these great new CarPlay features are long overdue. Here’s everything you can expect from Apple’s in-car platform in iOS 13.
The ability to use Siri to listen to live radio stations is up and running for HomePod users, along with people running the latest iOS 13 beta.
Apple announced the feature at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, boasting support for iHeartRadio, TuneIn and Radio.com streaming radio. That means users can access more than 100,000 different stations using Apple’s AI assistant.