One of the most popular aspects of the recent versions of the iOS software has been Siri, what is often described as a personal assistant. Each time Apple makes adjustments to the iOS software, they improve Siri even more. AppleInsider has found a patent application showing possible future plans for the assistant that would have it helping users more than ever.
Siri wasn't always native to the iOS mobile software. Initially it was a third-party app, a great third party app. It was still a personal assistant, and helped iPhone users find local businesses, schedule reminders, etc. Apple bought Siri and released it with iOS 5 for use on the iPhone 4S. Folks who were already using Siri as a third-party app on older iPhones and iPads were suddenly left out in the cold. iOS 6 has brought even more changes to Siri, such as sports scores and movie information.
The patent that Apple applied for shows they have even bigger plans for Siri. It appears, though, that this is not a new patent. It includes screenshots of Siri from when it was still a third-party app and also includes names of Siri inventors who co-founded the product. Some of them moved on to having positions in Apple, and more recently have left.
The future look at Siri includes having it be even more of a personal assistant. The thought is to have it be more of a coordinator for the iPhone or iPad, helping users find the information that they are searching for. Instead of telling it exactly what you want, you could leave more vague information, and it would either find possible information or apps on your system to guide you to those answers yourself.
Of course how far away Siri is from being able to fulfill that original desire of Apple's is a question left unanswered. They are definitely closer to that now, but still aren't close enough. There is no other information available to determine if this could be part of iOS 7 or something even further down the road.
