iOS 18 (and AI) will give Siri much more control over your apps

Apple is planning a big AI update for Siri, and it could give you the ability to control specific iPhone app features with your voice, according to a report from Bloomberg. The revamped Siri will reportedly arrive next year as an update to iOS 18.

As noted by Bloomberg, the update will allow Siri to analyze the activity on your phone while turning on Siri-controlled features automatically. You’ll only be able to use Siri to control features in apps made by Apple to start, but the company plans on supporting “hundreds” of commands within its apps, Bloomberg reports.

Siri will reportedly only be capable of processing one command at a time. However, Apple will eventually let Siri handle multiple tasks in a single request, such as asking Siri to summarize a recorded meeting and then send it to a friend, according to Bloomberg.

That sounds a bit like when Samsung’s Bixby assistant promised when it launched in 2017 that “anything you can do with touch, you can do with voice” inside Samsung’s apps. It’s unclear how the technology will work exactly, but a recent demo from Microsoft showed how its GPT-4o-powered Copilot assistant could watch the screen to do things like give tips on how to play Minecraft.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple will focus on handling many AI requests on-device. It could process simpler commands on the iPhone, while fetching more complex requests from the cloud. There are rumors that OpenAI has closed a deal with Apple and that Apple will promote the security of its cloud processing by using M2 Ultra chips with its Secure Enclave, telling users that data processed remotely is as secure as when it’s on their device.

This tracks with the multiple reports we’ve seen over the past few weeks. Research papers indicate Apple is getting ready to overhaul Siri, while findings from AppleInsider suggest Apple could add the ability to analyze and summarize texts in Messages. The company is also reportedly planning to bring AI transcription to Voice Memos and Notes.

Even if a new Siri isn’t expected to arrive until next year, we’re bound to get a glimpse of what Apple’s been working on during WWDC on June 10th.