Rumor: Apple will finally bring Siri to Mac with this year's OS X 10.12
Having debuted on the Apple Watch and Apple TV last year, Siri will finally make its way to Apple's Mac OS X operating system with a new update this fall, according to a new report.
Citing unnamed sources, 9to5mac reported on Wednesday that OS X 10.12 will feature a Siri button in the Mac's menu bar. Clicking on it will bring up a prompt in the upper right corner of the screen, allowing a user to speak a command to their Mac.
In addition, always-listening "Hey Siri" support is also said to be available if the Mac is plugged into a power outlet.
If Apple sticks to its usual release schedules, OS X 10.12 should debut at the Worldwide Developers Conference this June, ahead of a free release this fall on the Mac App Store.
The site also attributed "reliable sources" back in 2012, when it reported that "early builds" of OS X Mavericks 10.9 featured support for Siri voice commands. However, those claims never panned out, and OS X remains Apple's last major platform without its voice-driven personal assistant. The same report did, however, correctly reveal that Apple Maps would debut in Mavericks.
Siri first debuted in 2011 on the iPhone 4s, and is now an integral part of all iOS devices, including iPads. Siri expanded beyond iOS last year when it debuted on the Apple Watch, as well as the new fourth-generation Apple TV powered by tvOS.
Though it can't accomplish complex commands via voice, OS X has had support for dictation since the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in 2012. The feature allows users to convert speech to text within virtually any application on their Mac.
Citing unnamed sources, 9to5mac reported on Wednesday that OS X 10.12 will feature a Siri button in the Mac's menu bar. Clicking on it will bring up a prompt in the upper right corner of the screen, allowing a user to speak a command to their Mac.
In addition, always-listening "Hey Siri" support is also said to be available if the Mac is plugged into a power outlet.
If Apple sticks to its usual release schedules, OS X 10.12 should debut at the Worldwide Developers Conference this June, ahead of a free release this fall on the Mac App Store.
The site also attributed "reliable sources" back in 2012, when it reported that "early builds" of OS X Mavericks 10.9 featured support for Siri voice commands. However, those claims never panned out, and OS X remains Apple's last major platform without its voice-driven personal assistant. The same report did, however, correctly reveal that Apple Maps would debut in Mavericks.
Siri first debuted in 2011 on the iPhone 4s, and is now an integral part of all iOS devices, including iPads. Siri expanded beyond iOS last year when it debuted on the Apple Watch, as well as the new fourth-generation Apple TV powered by tvOS.
Though it can't accomplish complex commands via voice, OS X has had support for dictation since the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in 2012. The feature allows users to convert speech to text within virtually any application on their Mac.
Comments
OS X also has voice commands via the Accessibility preferences. And you can even add your own.
Sarcasm? I'm looking forward to buying the new AppleTV in a couple of weeks.
Yup, OS X (and Mac OS before it) has had "Speakable Items" since the 90s. I'm surprised it's taken Apple this long to really advance the feature on the Mac. Guess they really wanted it "just right" and wanted to make sure that they could meet demand on their servers. Although I do hope the Mac can do its own pre-processing to avoid such a dependency on the internet connection.
Don't be silly, you talk to the mouse!
The first is that I feel awkward talking to a computer, As I type this, I think the words, and my fingers make the text appear. I then read it, and rethink my thoughts. Not so with Siri - I have to think what to say, then say it, and the cognitive process is very different. It just always feels awkward. With my Apple Watch, Siri is on my wrist all the time, but that interface is silent, and more often than not, there is a huge delay in response, and then she tells me (after 10 seconds of staring at my wrist) to go look at my iPhone. Yuck.
The second issue is perhaps a little easier: Siri isn't very smart. Maybe better now, but even when I get past the issue above, she is basically unreliable. Maybe this gets better with time (like I got better at typing.)
But...if Siri is in my household and displays visually and audibly though my mac and apple TV...maybe we're on to something. It seems like maybe the Amazon Echo/Alexis is a bit further ahead here.
TL;DR: I'm a visual person, and Siri's unreliability and lack of speed is frustrating. YMMV etc etc
Conversely it makes perfect sense on AppleTV, and is occasionally useful on iOS, especially in handsfree/eyesfree scenarios.
She's finicky, isn't she?
Last night I asked Siri to play some music. She replied she was having trouble accessing my music. I asked her to play Kodachrome. She responded with Kodak's web site. I asked her to play Kodachrome by Paul Simon. She said "I don't understand what you mean." I cycled power and tried again. Same results.
About an hour later I tried again and it worked. I wish I knew what changed so I would know how to remedy it if it happens again. My guess is it was a server problem, not a "my end" problem.
“Siri, remind me to pick up the laundry at 6pm"
vs
Load Reminders; click new item; type "pick up the laundry"; set the reminder for 6pm.
I’m no "Siri power user", but I use it for stuff like this all the time, and during work hours my phone is frequently buried in a bag or off in another room somewhere.
Also doing the work on the server allows them to continuously tweak the data set and the audio processing, daily/hourly, without updating any devices. Furthermore, networks are only going to get faster to the point where you eventually approach the speed of accessing the data locally and who isn't connected to the internet these days? I think they are taking the right approach for the future.