Apple’s biggest upcoming AI features will arrive in iOS 18.4, with a heavy focus on Siri upgrades.But it’s the Vision Pro that I’m most excited to use those capabilities on.Here’s why.
Siri’s new era is bringing progressive change Siri is in the midst of a transition period.Apple says we’ve entered ‘a new era’ for Siri, but that change is taking place over time.iOS 18.1 launched a new Siri design and some minor improvements iOS 18.2 brought powerful ChatGPT integration but iOS 18.4 is where some of the biggest upgrades will come So far, ChatGPT support has by far been the best part of this new Siri era.
But in some respects, the need for Apple to integrate OpenAI’s chatbot is only further evidence of Siri’s own shortcomings.However, many of those shortcomings will be addressed by iOS 18.4 soon.Three new Siri superpowers coming in iOS 18.4 iOS 18.4 will launch to all users in April, and release in beta as early as next month.
When it arrives, Siri will gain three new superpowers: New app actions: Apple says Siri will be able to perform hundreds of new actions in Apple apps, without the need to ever open those apps.App Intents will bring the same capability to supported third-party apps, too.Personal context knowledge: Like a real-life assistant, you’ll be able to reference texts you received, past calendar events, and more personal data to get truly intelligent assistance from Siri.
Onscreen awareness: Siri will know what’s on your display, so you can easily ask it to take action on whatever you’re looking at.If these features work as intended, and with the level of reliability we would all hope for (and yes, I’m skeptical), they could be game-changers.Siri might finally become the kind of intelligent assistant it was always meant to be.
But let me now pivot to the Vision Pro, because that’s where Siri’s changes could be especially appealing.Spatial computing works best when Siri’s at its best I’m a pretty new Vision Pro owner.I’ve had the device less than a month, and haven’t used it a ton yet due to holiday travels and busyness.
But one thing I discovered very quickly is how important Siri is to the platform.Spatial computing makes voice computing more important than ever.On my iPhone and iPad—my main computing devices—I use Siri regularly, but I don’t depend on the assistant.
Siri’s nice for quickly starting timers, setting reminders, and other small tasks.But on Vision Pro, I’ve found myself relying on Siri for a lot more things.For example, Siri’s my preferred method for opening apps in visionOS.
Maybe it’s just part of my visionOS learning curve, but I find it much faster and more intuitive to use Siri to navigate the system.I never open apps with Siri on my other devices, but it works extremely well on Vision Pro.Siri’s my go-to for dictating replies inside Messages and Mail too.
Even though I often have a hardware keyboard connected via Bluetooth, it just feels more natural to dictate a response.iOS 18.4’s features on Vision Pro could prove transformative Apple Intelligence isn’t yet supported on Vision Pro—though it’s likely coming this year.But imagine what iOS 18.4’s Siri capabilities could be like on Vision Pro.
When Siri can perform hundreds of advanced app actions, and understand what you’re looking at and your personal context, spatial computing can truly start to deliver on its sci-fi promise.Siri’s upgrades will be great for the iPhone, but they could be crucial to Apple’s ‘spatial computing’ finding success.The dream of just speaking out loud to your computer, and having it take intelligent action for you, is starting to get more real.
Do you use Siri much on Vision Pro? What do you think about iOS 18.4’s upgrades coming to visionOS? Let us know in the comments.Best Vision Pro accessories Vision Pro aluminum dock stand Spigen travel case for Vision Pro AirPods Pro 2 (now just $179, discounted from $249) Battery holder with belt clip and more You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.
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