Apple WWDC 2016: Siri opens to Third-party app developers, Finally!

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has officially thrown open its voice assistant Siri to third-party developers at the WWDC 2016. This will enable not only developers to make use of Siri SDK while developing apps but also users to tap the relevant app and work by saying ‘Hey Siri…”.

Even though we already have few Siri third-party integrations for Yelp and Twitter apps, the new capability expands the potential for iOS users and change the way they work with Siri. However, this will take few months because developers need to obtain the Siri SDK from Apple and learn to integrate Siri into their apps.

During the keynote address at WWDC, Apple showcased an example by saying “WeChat to say you’ll be five minutes late”. According to Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Apple, the iOS 10 has got an intense API and Siri will be capable of doing more than the previous counterparts.

Federighi said that apps like Slack, WhatsApp, Uber, Lyft and Didi will be able to leverage the potential of the updated Siri to a great extent. Users will be able to perform photo search, pause and start workouts in apps like Runtastic and Runkeeper in addition to the ability to transfer payments to friends and perform voice calling like Skype and Viber.

Federighi revealed that the new Siri also works inside the car and showcased the usage of CarPlay app during the event to demonstrate the expanded capability of the updated voice assistant.

During the keynote address, Apple demonstrated the usage of Siri on the Apple TV, which enable users to call up videos they want to watch on YouTube by directly requesting Siri to find them.

Even though Apple has announced the availability of Siri SDK for developers, it remains to be seen as to what kind of privacy safeguards the Cupertino-based company adopts while opening the Siri to third-party developers.

In 2015, Amazon opened the gates of its Echo API for developers and the first third-party apps were launched in August. We saw a steady inflow of new apps after the release of the API.

After the conclusion of Apple’s WWDC 2016 event, developers will be turning their heads towards Microsoft’s Build event, where there is a possibility of launching Cortana API for third-party developers.

Tags

About the author

Anand

Anand Deb

Anand is a social geek blogger and tech enthusiast. He loves writing about technology and photography. He specializes the field of Internet Marketing and interested to dig deeper into the world of media and social networking.