Apple updates Apple Maps, Siri to show support for 'Black Lives Matter'

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2020
Apple is showing its support for the current Black Lives Matter movement and related protests with a pair of recent changes to Apple Maps and Siri.

The Washington, D.C. 'Black Lives Matter' mural on Apple Maps.
The Washington, D.C. 'Black Lives Matter' mural on Apple Maps.


Amid ongoing global demonstrations protesting police brutality and the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly spoken out against racism and injustice. The company is also showing its support in other ways, too.

Apple recently updated its Washington, D.C. satellite imagery on Apple Maps to show off the new Black Lives Matter street mural near the White House. That's an impressive tribute since most satellite imagery is months or years old and the mural was only painted on June 5.

The message was approved by D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, who also officially renamed that specific section of 16th Street "Black Lives Matter Plaza."

Siri's new respone to the question
Siri's new respone to the question "do all lives matter?"


In another small gesture of support, Apple has also updated Siri to respond differently to the phrase "all lives matter," which has become a common retort to "Black Lives Matter."

The digital assistant now says "All Lives Matter' is often used in response to the phrase Black Lives Matter,' but it does not represent the same concerns," and redirects users to the official Black Lives Matter website.

Apple also paid tribute to the current human rights movement with Apple Music, which participated in "Black Out Tuesday" on June 2, and the App Store, which Apple updated to highlight various apps focused on racism, political action and those created by Black developers.

Although most protests have remained largely peaceful, the first weekend of demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd saw opportunists taking advantage of them to smash and loot Apple Stores and other retail locations.

Keep up with all the Apple news with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider Daily," -- or bookmark this link -- and you'll get a fast update direct from the AppleInsider team.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    trashman69trashman69 Posts: 161member
    Apple Maps should highlight the locations of the riots,   
    apple ][bluefire1mtrivisoSpamSandwichlkruppdavgregmarklarkcat52
  • Reply 2 of 33
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    Wow. Now Siri is editorializing and redirecting search results to a predetermined agenda. Not good at all. What's next?
    andrewj5790razorpitbluefire1mtrivisoJanNLJWSClkruppdavgregboltsfan17marklark
  • Reply 3 of 33
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    SIRI is white (the American female Siri at least).

    Perhaps Apple should offer a black SIRI voice to people who are obsessed with race.

    I believe that partisan politics should stay out of OSes and not be coded into them.


    edited June 2020 andrewj5790razorpitbluefire1mtrivisoJanNLJWSCviclauyyclkruppboltsfan17watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 33
    Good to see Apple standing up for human rights. Well done.  
    p-dogmtrivisomontrosemacssphericchiaOferAppleishyoyo2222jony0viclauyyc
  • Reply 5 of 33
    apple ][ said:
    SIRI is white.

    Perhaps Apple should offer a black SIRI voice to people who are obsessed with race.

    I believe that partisan politics should stay out of OSes and not be coded into them.


    Siri isn’t a human - or white for that matter. Also, Promoting human rights for black folks isn’t partisan. 
    p-dogdewmemontrosemacssphericchiaOferjony0drdavidRayz2016MplsP
  • Reply 6 of 33
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    apple ][ said:
    SIRI is white.

    Perhaps Apple should offer a black SIRI voice to people who are obsessed with race.

    I believe that partisan politics should stay out of OSes and not be coded into them.


    Siri isn’t a human - or white for that matter. Also, Promoting human rights for black folks isn’t partisan. 
    I'm not sure what the case is with the newest versions of Siri, but previously at least, Siri was this woman:

    Susan Alice Bennett (nee Cameron, born July 31, 1949) is an American voice-over artist and a former backup singer for Roy Orbison and Burt Bacharach[3]. She is best known for being the female American voice of Apple's "Siri" since the service was introduced on the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011;

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Bennett
    steve_jobswatto_cobracat52
  • Reply 7 of 33
    p-dogp-dog Posts: 131member
    Apple Maps should highlight the locations of the riots,   
    Do you mean the protests, or by riots, do you mean the violent rioting cops? Either way, they are almost too numerous to count.
    Rayz2016montrosemacssphericchiaOferyoyo2222jony0viclauyyclkruppblastdoor
  • Reply 8 of 33
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    p-dog said:
    Apple Maps should highlight the locations of the riots,   
    Do you mean the protests, or by riots, do you mean the violent rioting cops? Either way, they are almost too numerous to count.
    Riiight... Those “violent rioting cops” are just all over the place.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-statistics-you-need-know-about-cops-killing-aaron-bandler
    watto_cobramarklarkcat52trashman69
  • Reply 9 of 33
    Hank2.0Hank2.0 Posts: 151member
    I can see some benefits to this if implemented correctly. If someone wanted to participate in a peaceful demonstration, it could help find parking or public transport. If someone has to go somewhere else, it could provide routing around traffic congestion. On the other hand, it might also help the police with crowd control or violent looters (as opposed to peaceful demonstrators) to avoid the police and coordinate targets for destruction. Like any tool, there is a proper use and an improper use depending on who is using it.
    marklark
  • Reply 10 of 33
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    apple ][ said:
    apple ][ said:
    SIRI is white.

    Perhaps Apple should offer a black SIRI voice to people who are obsessed with race.

    I believe that partisan politics should stay out of OSes and not be coded into them.


    Siri isn’t a human - or white for that matter. Also, Promoting human rights for black folks isn’t partisan. 
    I'm not sure what the case is with the newest versions of Siri, but previously at least, Siri was this woman:

    Susan Alice Bennett (nee Cameron, born July 31, 1949) is an American voice-over artist and a former backup singer for Roy Orbison and Burt Bacharach[3]. She is best known for being the female American voice of Apple's "Siri" since the service was introduced on the iPhone 4S on October 4, 2011;

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Bennett
    Siri comes in lots of different voices, male and female in a variety of accents
    sphericchiaOferjony0dysamoriafastasleep
  • Reply 11 of 33
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Siri comes in lots of different voices, male and female in a variety of accents
    Yes, I know. I was referring to the American female Siri voice.
    watto_cobracat52
  • Reply 12 of 33
    NumNutsNumNuts Posts: 36member
    The BLACK LIVES MATTER text looks just photoshopped in to me, not a new satellite image? 
    jony0watto_cobracat52
  • Reply 13 of 33
    bluefire1bluefire1 Posts: 1,301member
    While I applaud Tim Cook speaking out on social issues that he feels strongly about, his product line should remain apolitical and not become a conduit for his views.
    edited June 2020 agilealtitudeJanNLrazorpitElCapitanJWSCwatto_cobramarklarkcat52
  • Reply 14 of 33
    apple ][ said:
    SIRI is white (the American female Siri at least).

    Perhaps Apple should offer a black SIRI voice to people who are obsessed with race.

    I believe that partisan politics should stay out of OSes and not be coded into them.


    The only people that think racism is political issue are racists. 
  • Reply 15 of 33
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    The only people that think racism is political issue are racists. 
    And the people who go around accusing others of being racists are racists.
    edited June 2020 JanNLrazorpitmike1JWSCmobirdalexmaclkruppwatto_cobrainTIMidatormarklark
  • Reply 16 of 33
    mtrivisomtriviso Posts: 21member
    What an empty gesture.
    razorpitJWSClkruppdavgregcat52
  • Reply 17 of 33
    apple ][ said:
    The only people that think racism is political issue are racists. 
    And the people who go around accusing others of beings racists are racists.
    The mental gymnastics that it takes to say that with a straight face are incredible. 
  • Reply 18 of 33
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    apple ][ said:
    The only people that think racism is political issue are racists. 
    And the people who go around accusing others of beings racists are racists.
    Impressive mind trick there. 

    Have you found anyone it actually works on?
    OferXedjony0drdavidanomeiwantocommentRayz2016LukeCagewatto_cobrabeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 19 of 33
    AppleishAppleish Posts: 687member
    Good. Google?
    iwantocommentRayz2016watto_cobrafastasleep
  • Reply 20 of 33
    yoyo2222yoyo2222 Posts: 144member
    NumNuts said:
    The BLACK LIVES MATTER text looks just photoshopped in to me, not a new satellite image? 
    I'm not sure it really matters but I'm pretty you are correct. The letters don't line up with street/sidewalk features as they do in the photographs of the site.

    As a trolling concept, I still like it.
    Oferiwantocommentwatto_cobra
This discussion has been closed.