Apple Patent Implies It Wants Siri To Be Part Of iMessage

Taking a page from Google and its virtual assistant, Google Assistant, Apple is gearing up to incorporate Siri into its own messaging service.

According to a report by TechCrunch examining a new Apple patent, the patent indicates Apple wants Siri to be integrated into iMessage, explaining in the patent that Siri could be used to answer questions during chats. Siri could also be used to schedule meetings, provide directions and weather, check movie times and a slew of other things. Google Assistant is already in its chat app and on its Pixel smartphones.

Another potential use of Siri, based on the patent application, is for Siri to be used to make person-to-person payments. Siri, in theory, would be able to check which payment methods are installed on both users’ devices and provide a selection of options the sender can use to send a payment. Apple argues it would eliminate the confusion over which service to send money through. TechCrunch noted in the patent that Apple said Siri would be able to use semantic analysis to figure out when it is being summoned into the chats and will be able to know when the task of Siri should only be shown to a single person and not everyone taking part in the chat. For example, if one person in a chat was picking the movie time, Siri would know to just show listings to that person.

TechCrunch noted the patent appears to give users control over what happens to their personal information when Siri is present in iMessage chats. One idea, said TechCrunch, is that there would be an opt-in/opt-out button similar to the ability for Apple users to shut off the ad tracking in the privacy settings of its iOS. The patent, noted TechCrunch, reads “such collection [of personal information] should only occur after receiving the informed consent of the users.”