WWDC: Siri SDK to boost Apple’s assistant

Apple opens Siri to third-party apps, writes Caitlin MacGarry

Your iPhone isn’t exactly difficult to use as-is, but imagine if you voiced commands such as “Call an Uber” or “Check savings account balance” and your phone jumped into action without your having to lift a finger. Having a conversation with your iPhone is about to become the norm, thanks to the launch of Apple’s new Siri software development kit, which will finally let third-party app developers give the voice-activated digital assistant more intelligence.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, used the messaging app WeChat to demonstrate Siri’s new powers at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

Just give Siri a command as you normally would and mention the name of the app you want to use. If the app is integrated with Siri, Siri handles all of the legwork of performing whatever task you need. In the WeChat example, Federighi said, “Send a WeChat to Nancy saying I’ll be five minutes late.” The Siri