It appears that iPhone users could soon be able to change their default AI voice assistant, meaning Siri will no longer have dibs on Apple users’ digital assistant needs.
This news comes from a recent report from Bloomberg regarding Apple’s enforced opening of its operating systems due to European Union rulings. As a result of this, iPhone users in the affected countries will apparently be able to switch their default assistant to other options like Google’s Gemini or ChatGPT.
It is also important to note that the report specifically mentions “operating systems,” which would seemingly indicate that this will also be the case for iPadOS and macOS, too. This could be an enormous change for how Apple and its devices work, but it is worth noting that Apple is only applying the change in areas under EU law, which will, considering Apple’s keeping third-party app store availability on iOS to only EU countries, leave other countries like the U.S. without the option.
Interestingly, this could actually help to put Apple on par with Samsung and Google when it comes to AI on mobile devices. Currently, Apple users have been stuck in a constant cycle of waiting for Apple to release features that it announced alongside iOS 18 almost a year ago. But if Apple users were given the option to make use of a placeholder AI until Siri is ready? Well, that might be the best of both worlds.
There’s also a lot to love about Google Gemini, including the wealth of changes announced after The Android Show: I/O Edition. For instance, Google recently revealed several accessibility changes introduced for its AI, including improvements to Talk Back and the addition of expressive captions. Not only that, we also expect a lot more reveals in the upcoming Google I/O event on May 20.
So, say that Apple users elect to simply wait for the new and improved Siri, how long would they be waiting for? For the most part, it seems that Apple plans to unveil its revamped assistant in the Fall of this year. The question of if it will be worth the wait is harder to answer, but Apple stated that the new Siri will be more conversational, as well as have awareness of personal context and be able to take action for you within and across your apps.
For the time being, we’ll have to wait to see what the result of Apple’s AI plans are in the EU. However, there is little doubt that the company has a lot of ground to make up regarding AI if it wants to remain one of the best phones on the market.
