What's new with Siri in iOS 10

Siri on iPhone
Siri on iPhone

Siri has been updated with more brainpower, making it a better personal assistant than ever before. With a better API, you can speak to Siri more naturally than ever. Siri now understands context, so you don't have to be so direct when talking to it. You can say something like "shoot a text to my mom"

Siri now talks to apps

Apple made Siri available to developers through SiriKit. So, third-party apps can make services available within a variety of apps. For example, you can ask Siri to order you a car from Lyft or Uber, search for pictures on Pinterest, or send money to someone using Square Cash. At launch, Siri will be able to work with six category of apps, including ride booking, messaging, photo and video, payment, VoIP calling, and workouts.

Siri can make you more comfortable while you drive

Siri is also more deeply integrated with CarPlay to help you adjust your car's temperature or radio settings. So, you can make it cooler or turn down the tunes without having to look away from the road for even a second.

Now that Siri is compatible with VoIP services, you can ask the digital personal assistant to make a call for you via Skype or another related service.

Siri is working in the background via Proactive Suggestions

You and I won't really notice Siri's hard work in the background, but Apple has added some serious Siri smarts to the iOS keyboard and other built-in apps to make it easier for us to get things done the right way.

  • Contextual predictions in QuickType - When you type using the built-in keyboard, you'll see QuickType suggestions for contacts, recent addresses, and more based on what you are writing about. For example, if you want to tell someone where today's meeting is, the contextual predictions will call up the address for the meeting if it is in your calendar.
  • Suggested apps in the keyboard - When you are typing with the built-in keyboard, you might get suggestions for apps that you can quickly jump to in QuickType.
  • Suggested locations - Developers can send location information from their apps to the Maps app so that, when you open it, you'll automatically get a suggestion for that address.
  • Suggested content between apps - When switching between apps, you can carry over content from one to the other. Ride-sharing apps in the app switcher - Apple is opening up ride-sharing apps in the app switcher, which can be designed to pop up when you are likely to call for a ride.
  • Intelligent scheduling - Siri can automatically create a calendar event based on information exchanged in iMessage and email.
  • Calendar availability - When a date or time is sent to you via iMessage or email, you can tap the information to see whether you are free to schedule the new event.
  • Multilingual language - You can now type in multiple languages within the same sentence without having to switch to a different keyboard language.
  • QuickType Keyboard: Ultimate guide

What do you think?

Are you having fun with all the new features in iOS 10? What do you like the most about Siri's smarter brain?

Lory Gil

Lory is a renaissance woman, writing news, reviews, and how-to guides for iMore. She also fancies herself a bit of a rock star in her town and spends too much time reading comic books.  If she's not typing away at her keyboard, you can probably find her at Disneyland or watching Star Wars (or both).