Siri

Siri is Apple's artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant that users can interact with verbally using voice recognition. Siri is available across Apple platforms and is built into the company's operating systems, including iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Siri is an umbrella term for the smart voice assistant and the technologies used for on-device intelligence and smart suggestions. Siri responds to a user's spoken queries, speaking back to them through a device's speakers, presenting information relevant to the query, and performing tasks.

Siri was launched as a beta version on October 4, 2011, on the iPhone 4S. The virtual assistant has evolved significantly from its original launch—spreading to new devices, developing new capabilities, and becoming available in more countries and languages. Some of the commands, actions, and questions Siri can respond to include the following:

• Initiating calls
• Sending texts and messages on third-party apps
• Setting alarms or timers
• Creating reminders
• Playing music
• Controlling HomeKit products
• Returning sports scores
• Using Apple Maps for navigation and direction
• Opening and interacting with apps

Siri is available across many Apple products:

• iPhone
• iPad
• AirPods
• Mac
• Apple Watch
• HomePod
• Apple TV
• CarPlay

Siri is available in over thirty-five countries. A full list can be found on Apple's website. Certain Siri features, including translations, sports info, restaurant information and reservations, movie information and showtimes, dictionary, calculations, and conversions, are limited to certain countries.

From its launch, Siri can be activated hands-free by saying the phrase "Hey Siri." Reports on June 5, 2023, stated Apple is changing Siri's trigger phrase from “Hey Siri” to just “Siri.” The change is rolling out with the launch of iOS 17. Users can also activate Siri using a range of hardware inputs depending on the device. For example, holding the home button or side button on iPhones and iPads.

Siri functionality is primarily in the cloud, including the main automatic speech recognition and natural language processing. However, a smaller speech recognizer also runs constantly on the local device, listening for the activation phrase. Siri is highly reliant on cloud computing, and its capabilities are significantly limited when used offline. The software uses deep neural network algorithms to convert the acoustic pattern into a probability distribution, separating events from the pattern to calculate a confidence score that the activation phrase was said. Siri then collects the audio and sends it to Apple servers to go through a variety of flowcharts formed by large databases of questions and answers. If the flowchart fails, Siri responds with standard phrases, such as "Would you like to search the web for that?" If the query successfully follows the flowchart, Siri communicates with other apps to perform the desired function.

While Siri does send data to Apple servers, searches and requests are not associated with the user's identity, and personal information is kept safe. Apple has stated it does not sell Siri data to advertisers or other organizations, and end-to-end encryption is used for all data syncing between your devices and the cloud. Apple sometimes uses Siri recordings to improve Siri's performance. However, users can opt out of Siri data collection and usage.

Siri started as an app for iOS in February 2010, a spin-off from the SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center and an offshoot of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's funded CALO project (an artificial intelligence project that attempted to integrate numerous AI technologies into a cognitive assistant). Nuance Communications, a software company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, provided the early speech recognition technology that made Siri possible. Nuance Communications was a spin-off of SRI International. Apple acquired the app in April 2010, leading to Siri becoming a native feature on some iOS devices. Siri debuted on the iPhone 4S, released on October 4, 2011. Notably, Steve Jobs, who made the acquisition, died a day after its release on October 5, 2011.

In June 2012, Apple announced Siri was coming to the third-generation iPad with the release of iOS 6. Additionally, Siri would integrate with third-party apps. Siri became available on the iPod Touch in September 2012. On September 9, 2015, Apple announced the first Apple TVs supporting Siri. On September 20th, 2016, Apple released macOS Sierra with Siri for the Mac. On June 5, 2017, Apple announced a new HomePod speaker with support for Siri.