In December, Apple published research showing it can make LLM AI models run on-device in a similar way that Qualcomm and MediaTek have done for their chips in Android phones. This may indicate that Siri will get a long-awaited overhaul that iPhone fans have been waiting for, including the ability to chat like ChatGPT.
Only Apple knows what’s next for the iPhone and its other products, but here’s how Siri could change in the iPhone 16.
Siri could improve follow-up requests
Imagine you ask Siri about when the Olympics are taking place. It quickly spits out the correct dates in the summer of this year. But if you follow that up with, “Add it to my calendar,” the virtual assistant tends to respond imperfectly with “What should I call it?” The answer to that question would be obvious to us humans. Even when I responded, “Olympics,” Siri replied, “When should I schedule it for?”
The reason Siri tends to falter is that it lacks contextual awareness. That limits its ability to follow a conversation like a human can. However, that could change in June of this year, when Apple is rumoured to unveil improvements to Siri via iOS 18.
The iPhone maker is training Siri (and the iPhone’s Spotlight search tool) on large language models in order to improve the virtual assistant’s ability to answer more questions accurately, according to the October edition of Mark Gurman’s Bloomberg newsletter PowerOn. A large language model is a specific kind of AI that excels at understanding and producing natural language. With advancements in LLMs, Siri is likely to become more skilled at processing the way people speak. This should not only allow Siri to understand more complex and nuanced questions, but also provide accurate responses. All in all Siri is expected to become a more context-aware and powerful virtual assistant.
Siri may get better at executing multistep tasks
Apart from understanding people better, Siri is also expected to become more capable and efficient in the coming months. Apple plans to use large language models to make Siri smarter, according to a September report from the Information. The article detailed an example explaining how Siri might respond to simple voice commands for more complex tasks, such as turning a set of photos into a GIF and then sending them to one of your contacts, which would be a significant step forward in Siri’s capabilities.
Watch this: iOS 17 Brings Big Changes to Old Habits: Live Voicemail, AirDrop and Siri
Siri may improve its interactions with the Messages app (an other apps)
Apart from answering questions, the next version of Siri could become better at automatically completing sentences, according to a Bloomberg report published in October.
Thanks to LLMs, which are trained on troves of data, Siri is expected to up its predictive text game. Beyond that, Apple is rumored to be planning to add AI to as many Apple apps as possible which could even include a feature in the Messages app to craft complex messages.
Apple never talks specifics about products before they launch. Since Apple usually unveils new iPhone software features at WWDC in June, we’ll likely know more about iPhone AI plans then.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
How about users? I’m a European who will be able to take advantage of all these DMA-related benefits. I already know I don’t want sideloading on iPhone (or Android, for that matter). But interoperability seems like the dumbest requirement of the DMA, a feature I don’t want to take advantage of in WhatsApp or any competing instant messaging app that might be labeled a gatekeeper.
Meta’s explanation of how WhatsApp interop will work is also the best explanation for the unnecessary interoperability requirement. Why go through all this trouble to fix something that wasn’t broken in the first place?
What is interoperability?
Meta explained in a detailed blog post all the work behind making WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger compatible with competing chat apps that ask to be supported.
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That’s what interop hinges on. First, a WhatsApp rival must want their app to work with Meta’s chat platforms. Even if that’s achieved, it’s up to the WhatsApp/Messenger user to choose whether to enable the functionality.
Meta says it wants to preserve end-to-end WhatsApp encryption after interop support arrives. It’ll push WhatsApp and Messenger’s Signal encryption protocol for third-party chat apps. Other alternatives can be accepted if they’re at least as good as Signal.
How will it work?
Meta has been working for two years to implement the changes required by the DMA. But things will not just work out of the box starting Thursday. A competing service must ask for interop support and then wait at least three months for Meta to deploy it.
It might take longer than that for WhatsApp and Messenger to support that service. Rinse and repeat for each additional chat app that wants to work with WhatsApp.
That’s a lot of work right there, both for Meta and WhatsApp competitors. I can’t see how any of this benefits the user. The interop chat experience isn’t worth it to me. Here’s what you’ll get in the first year. Because yes, the DMA has specific requirements in place for what features interop chats should offer:
Interoperability is a technical challenge – even when focused on the basic functionalities as required by the DMA. In year one, the requirement is for 1:1 text messaging between individual users and the sharing of images, voice messages, videos, and other attached files between individual end users. In the future, requirements expand to group functionality and calling.
Thankfully, the DMA also focuses on privacy and security. That’s why WhatsApp and Messenger will focus on ensuring that chats remain end-to-end encrypted. I’ll note that Messenger end-to-end encryption started rolling out months ago, and it might not be available in all markets.
A screenshot from WhatsApp beta 2.24.6.2 shows you can disable interoperability and choose which third-party apps to chat with. Image source: WABetaInfo
Meta’s blog does a great job explaining what’s going on under the hood with interop chats between WhatsApp and third-party apps. It underlines all the massive work and resources Meta is deploying for this.
I’m actually kind of in awe of Meta’s willingness to comply with these DMA provisions. All this effort makes me wonder what Meta can gain from the whole interoperability thing. Maybe the endgame is converting even more users to WhatsApp and Messenger, but I digress. After all, it’s not like Meta could avoid complying with the DMA.
I’ll also say that Meta doesn’t seem to restrict interoperabiltiy to the European Union, as Apple does with iPhone sideloading. Or, at least, restrictions aren’t the focus of this blog, though the title clarifies it’s about chats in Europe: “Making messaging interoperability with third parties safe for users in Europe.”
The obvious warning
While Meta also explains how encryption and user authentication will work, it acknowledges that it’s not in full control. Therefore, it can’t promise the user the same level of security and privacy for Whatsapp interop chats as Whatsapp-to-Whatsapp chats:
It’s important to note that the E2EE promise Meta provides to users of our messaging services requires us to control both the sending and receiving clients. This allows us to ensure that only the sender and the intended recipient(s) can see what has been sent, and that no one can listen to your conversation without both parties knowing.
While we have built a secure solution for interop that uses the Signal Protocol encryption to protect messages in transit, without ownership of both clients (endpoints) we cannot guarantee what a third-party provider does with sent or received messages, and we therefore cannot make the same promise.
[…] users need to know that our security and privacy promise, as well as the feature set, won’t exactly match what we offer in WhatsApp chats.
If you care about WhatsApp interoperability should read the entire blog post at this link. Then promptly disable the feature once WhatsApp informs you that interop support is ready.
It’s March 7th, the big deadline day for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The law came into effect on Thursday,…
