Siri gets competition on the iPhone

Google’s virtual assistant makes its way to iOS

At Google’s I/O conference in May, the tech giant introduced an iPhone and iPod touch version of Google Assistant, its take on virtual assistants like Siri. This is now available as a free download from the App Store – direct Safari to apple.co/2q76pPW.

Google Assistant and similar tools face a large obstacle when it comes to adoption by iOS device owners: Apple provides no way to swap in a third-party service as a wholesale replacement for Siri, meaning no rival to Siri is able to be triggered just by holding down the Home button. However, Google provides a widget for iOS’s Today view with its personal assistants.

On recent iPhone models, you can raise your device to wake it, then swipe right and tap a button to tell Google Assistant to start listening. However, there’s no getting around the fact that this isn’t as simple as saying something like “Hey Siri” or “OK Google,” as you can with recent phones, to get started.

Though it can’t offer the same level of integration with iOS that Siri enjoys, Google Assistant has the benefit of being backed by Google’s wealth of knowledge about what people want and where to get it.

At the time of writing, we’re waiting to see if Apple can raise its game with Siri-related announcements at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at the start of June.

Google isn’t the first of Apple’s rivals to introduce a rival to Siri on iOS. Microsoft’s Cortana made its App Store debut in December 2015 and, like Google Assistant, is free. Cortana currently enjoys a favorable all-time rating of four out of five stars. It also includes a widget to control it from the Lock screen. To add a widget to the Lock screen, tap Edit at the bottom of the Today view, then the + next to its name.