Apple may let EU users shift from Siri to other voice assistants

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Apple is reportedly preparing to allow iPhone users in the EU to select third-party voice assistants to be the default, instead of Siri.

Smartphone displaying a colorful, glowing Siri icon on the screen, set against a purple geometric background.
Siri may become only an optional voice assistant in the EU



Apple has tried hard to deal with the regulatory changes in the European Union, such as the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. It now seems that Siri could be the next major victim in the Apple ecosystem from those rule changes.

According to Bloomberg on Sunday, Apple is working to meet EU regulations that affect Siri. Specifically, Apple is working to enable other digital assistants to operate in Siri's place.

Under the plans, users in the EU will be able to select a third-party voice assistant to work on an iPhone, a person with knowledge of the work explained. This will also include letting users set the third-party assistant as the default for their device.

That could mean iPhone users in the EU have the opportunity to use Google Assistant instead of Siri. There's the possibility of using AI chatbots too, such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek.

Apple currently allows for users to ask Siri to pass verbal queries over to ChatGPT. Such a change could eliminate the step of using Siri as a go-between with the third-party service.

As always for Apple's features, it is unclear when it will eventually emerge in the EU, but it probably won't be offered on a plate. Apple tends to fight to maintain its services in the face of regulation, so it may require pressure from the EU to comply with laws before Apple actually introduces it.

Rumor Score: Likely

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    indieshackindieshack Posts: 339member
    Hoping Apple with open this feature to the US
    williamlondonpichaellibertyandfree
     1Like 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 6
    IAmTomiamtom Posts: 1member
    There’s an obvious way to approach this without the downside of removing Siri. If the user says “Hey Siri”, they get Siri. If they say “Hey Google/Alexa/etc”, they get the other services. This is open without having to remove anything. Users get to choose their muse. 
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    libertyandfreelibertyandfree Posts: 223member
    indieshack said:
    Hoping Apple with open this feature to the US
    Absolutely, Siri is so frustrating at how bad it still is.  I rarely use it since it is very limited and not very helpful and often wrong.  
    elijahgdanoxwilliamlondon
     1Like 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 6
    JinTechjintech Posts: 1,096member
    Pretty soon Apple will be forced to just sell the hardware in the EU and let users decide what operating system they want on the phone! /s
    nubusdanox
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 6
    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt Posts: 2,413member
    JinTech said:
    Pretty soon Apple will be forced to just sell the hardware in the EU and let users decide what operating system they want on the phone! /s

    I'm reasonably certain this is one of the goals of the EU.  So that they can more easily hack into it.
    edited May 19
    nubusdanox
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 6
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,751member
    JinTech said:
    Pretty soon Apple will be forced to just sell the hardware in the EU and let users decide what operating system they want on the phone! /s
    In the end, the EU, Meta, Google, Epic and Microsoft want Apple to just go away from a vertical computer standpoint, the general marketplace still can’t understand why Apple can’t be like Dell, HP or Lenovo why can’t they just stay in their place like other makers of computer only hardware….

    Money for nothing and your chicks (Infrastructure) for free…
    edited May 20
    neoncat
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
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