Apple Reportedly Plans To Open Siri To Third Parties (Just As Hackers Force It Open)

For anyone that wants Siri to do more than set iCal appointments and dictate SMS messages, there may be hope beyond a hack. Apple is reportedly working on allowing third-party services to integrate with Siri so that the iPhone’s digital assistant can carry out tasks — book flights or send texts on other messaging apps — which go beyond the services Apple can provide. Currently Siri syncs to other services with whom Apple has made business arrangements, such as Wolfram Alpha or Open table, but future integrations wouldn’t require painstaking deals according to the report from tech news service The Information.

Apple needs to step up Siri’s abilities in the face of mounting competition from Google Now and a Siri-like digital assistant that Microsoft is reportedly bringing to Windows Phone in early April, called Cortana. Even voice recognition firm Nuance, whose technology powers Siri, is augmenting its own digital assistant Wintermute with the ability to search a multitude of third-party apps, according to one source close to the project.