According to a new report, Apple is going to detail the expansion of Siri at WWDC 2017 next week. Siri is reportedly going to work with a larger variety of apps as Apple seeks to contain the success that Amazon has seen with its Alexa assistant. However, Siri’s expansion is expected to remain limited to a few tasks.
Reuters reports that Apple is likely going to stick to its tested method of focusing on a limited amount of features and perfecting them instead of trying to offer as many features as possible.
Siri currently works with six types of apps which include messaging and calling, ride sharing, payments, fitness, and in-car infotainment. Apple is expected to add to these categories at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 next week.
There have also been rumors that Apple is developing its own smart speaker like the Amazon Echo which will be powered by Siri. However, recent reports have suggested that even if this product is announced at WWDC 2017, it may not be released until later in the year.
It remains to be seen what features Siri will be able to offer and what tasks it will be able to do if Apple launches a speaker powered by it. For the sake of comparison, Amazon’s Alexa has support for over 12,000 skills or tasks that it can perform, so it’s quite a bit ahead of the pack at this point in time.