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Tom
When Apple launched the iPhone 4S back in October of 2011, it also launched a new piece of mobile software in iOS 5. The version of iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S was unique as it came with a personal voice assistant called Siri, a feature that allows you to schedule appointments, shop, search the web, check the weather, and more, just by speaking into the phone.
And while some have labeled Siri as a gimmick, it?s clear that Apple is working to improve the software.
After all, Siri is still in Beta form.
We?ve already heard some whispering about possible features that company might tack onto Siri but those really only scratched the service in terms of some of the capabilities we?d love to see Apple add to Siri at some point in the future.
Here are five that we feel aren?t outside of the realm of possibility and would be great additions to the iPhone?s personal assistant.
A Way to Open Apps
If you?re like me, you have a few iPhone applications on your home screen. Finding and accessing said applications can sometimes be a pain. So what if Apple were to add a way for Siri to open applications for you?
For example, ?Siri, open Pandora.?
Pandora then opens up and you?re free to make a channel.
Or, ?Siri, open Facebook.?
Facebook opens and you can check out your Timeline.
Simple and effective and a feature that iPhone users would certainly take advantage of if given the opportunity.
If you have a jailbroken phone, you can already do this, so there doesn?t appear to be a technical limitation to Siri?s abilities.
Social Media Integration
While Siri is able to unofficially help users post to social networks like Twitter, we wish there was deeper integration. For instance, it would be extremely useful to be able to tell Siri ?Post to Facebook: Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone.?
Throw in the ability to tell Siri to post tweets or check-in on Foursquare and Apple is on the way to really pleasing its customers.
Read: How to Update Your Facebook Status with Siri.
We know that Apple sees the importance in linking up with social networks for integration, Twitter is integrated inside of iOS 5, but Siri would allow for the company to take that integration even further.
Better Web Functionality
Have you ever asked Siri to find you something only to be greeted with failure?
What if Siri read back a summary of the first web results for questions that are unanswerable?
That way, even if Siri doesn?t have a clue about what you?re talking about, you can easily find the search results for the best match to your inquiry.
It would also be great to be able to say, ?Siri, please open GottaBeMobile.com? and not have her take you to search results but instead, go directly to the homepage of Gotta Be Mobile.
A Way to Add Contacts
I can?t tell you how many times I?ve been in situations where I?d love to be able to just dictate someone?s contact information to my phone instead of having to punch in a bunch of information with my fingers.
So, why not just add the feature to Siri?
The ability to add contacts through Siri would be perfect for parties, work events, conferences, and more where you?re bound to meet a bunch of new people and you need to quickly update your phone with their information.
Changes to Settings
Two of the features that were rumored in the build-up to the release of the new iPad and iOS 5.1 were the abilities to turn Bluetooth on and off and a way to connect to a Wi-Fi network just by using Siri.
And while we were disappointed that they didn?t come along with the iOS 5.1 update, we have hope for the future.
Both of these would be fantastic additions but we?d also like to throw a couple of more in as well. How about the ability to get Siri to quickly turn Airplane Mode on or off?
Or how about a way to increase or decrease the brightness of the screen?
I go into my iPhone?s settings quite a bit and this would certainly save me the trouble.
Sports Scores
I lied. There are actually six things we?d love to see from Siri but the sixth is just a personal request of mine and one that actually appears to be on the horizon.
We?ve heard whispers that show that Apple may be working on adding in native sports scores to Siri. So, for example, the ability to ask Siri ?Siri, what?s the score of the San Francisco Giants game??
Siri would then relay that information.
That?s an absolute must for me, and any other person who rabidly follows sports, and I could see myself using this feature at an unhealthy level.
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What would you add to Siri?
Category: Mobile
About the Author (Author Profile)
Adam is a technology writer based in San Francisco, California who loves his iPhone 3GS, iPad third-generation and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. He's also becoming intrigued with Windows Phone. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him by email at adam@notebooks.com.
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