Apple Making Big Changes To App Restrictions, Siri Access

Apple will soon allow Siri to use third-party apps depending on the user’s preference by default, a report says. This feature will arrive in a future iOS update.

In a statement released to Bloomberg, Cupertino tech giant Apple said it will soon lift restrictions on third-party apps, allowing users to get Siri to use them by default. This means third-party apps such as Whatsapp can soon take the place of Apple’s own Messages app, for example.

Currently, Siri defaults to Apple’s Messages or Phone app whenever users tell the voice assistant to send a text or place a call, noted The Verge. Users who want to use third-party apps with Siri will need to specify which app to use.

With the loosened restrictions, Siri will not default to Apple’s homegrown apps anymore. Siri will instead learn what app the device owner frequently uses, and will default to that app instead.

This means that those who regularly send messages via Whatsapp will have Siri default to Whatsapp as well. Third-party app developers, however, will need to update their apps in order for the functionality to work.

A welcome development

The news comes as a welcome development following reports of complaints made against Apple, alleging that it favors its own apps and gives them priority over third-party offerings in the App Store.

Previous reports revealed that in the past few years, Apple’s homegrown apps have ranked highest in app store searches. According to a study conducted by The Times, users who made common search queries in the App Store in the recent years were met with results steering them to Apple’s own apps.

A quick search for the term “podcast” in May of 2018, for example, resulted in seeing 14 Apple apps first, followed by third-party apps next. What’s interesting here is that Apple only had one “Apple Podcasts” app back then; the thirteen other apps weren’t even related to the search word.

Apple has since “handicapped” its own apps in the App Store in response to complaints made by third-party developers. It also opened up the SiriKit framework so that third-party developers can make Siri work on their respective apps. Soon, Siri will be able to do things such as play music using Spotify, and not Apple Music.