Apple WWDC 2018: Siri Gets Shortcuts on iOS 12 And Little Else

Siri, Apple’s voice assistant gets Shortcuts on iOS 12, which will work with third-party apps.

Shortcuts on Siri was Apple’s big showcase at the WWDC 2018 keynote. 

(Photo Courtesy: Apple)

When Tim Cook suggested that the WWDC 2018 is going to be all about software, I expected some big announcement around Siri. But it turned out to be a drab affair for Apple’s voice assistant, which has been lagging behind Alexa and Google Assistant for a while now.

So, what does Apple have to offer to the developers with Siri? Shortcuts. This, Apple claims delivers a new, much faster way to get things done with the ability for any app to work with Siri.

Siri intelligence can suggest an action at just the right time — whether it’s to order a coffee in the morning or start an afternoon workout.

Apple 

Some of the features highlighted at the WWDC 2018 keynote were finding Keys with Siri, setting a travel routine from a third-party app and reserving a slot on your home screen to order coffee via Siri.

Find keys with Siri on iOS 12. 

Apple gives Siri the power to help you find keys. With this feature called Shortcuts, it'll be able to do multiple things with the help of voice. Craig Federighi demonstrated how Siri can place an order for your coffee as well, as part of its routine.

Apple Shortcuts works with quick actions on apps. Most common actions can be easily accessed by Siri.

You can edit Shortcuts on Siri according to need. 

Apple said that users can customise Shortcuts by creating a simple voice command to kick off the task. They could also download the new Shortcuts app to create a series of actions from different apps that can be carried out with a simple tap or customised voice command.

But is that really what’s going to help Siri compete with Amazon and Google? Numbers tell the true story, and that’s clearly been against Apple for a while now. Is it possible that Apple didn’t showcase all the possibilities with Siri 2.0? Everyone’s hoping that's the case, but from what we’ve seen, there’s been nothing that’ll get the guys at Google or Amazon worried.