And so, it’s official. Apple says it will not be bringing its Siri voice assistant to the iPhone 4 or iPod touch. Both devices have been hacked to work with the iPhone 4S-only tech in recent weeks, with gossip emerging that Cupertino was testing Siri on the iPhone 4 ahead of a planned release.
But Apple’s engineering department have slapped down such talk, saying on the company’s official forum that “Siri only works on iPhone 4S and we currently have no plans to support older devices”. And for my money, that’s great news. Because it’s time we moved on and left Siri time to prove whether it’s really a worthwhile feature.
Be honest with yourself, iPhone 4S owners. How often have you used Siri for anything other than a laugh with your mates? If you’re here in the UK, you still can’t use it for anything truly useful, like tracking down restaurants and getting directions. It remains a very clever, but ultimately gimmicky addition to what is otherwise a stellar smartphone. That’s not to say it doesn’t have potential, just that it’s not yet the world-beating feature so many are clamouring to claim it is.
As an iPhone 4 owner, I can honestly say I’m not interested in loading up my year-old handset with Siri. The potential for it to slow down my phone, not to mention clog up valuable space I could be filling with tunes or apps, is too disturbing to consider.
Siri has still to convince me of its assumed position of Apple’s latest, greatest invention. I’ve heard all the same bluster before about FaceTime, which was apparently going to change the way we do video calls. Last time I checked, Skype was still out there on its own as the best way to conduct video calls.
The same goes for features like Ping, Apple’s rather poorly thought out music-based social network. At the moment, Siri falls into this category and I’m struggling to see why some gadget fans are so desperate to have it loaded up on their ageing iDevices.
Of course, talk about where Siri could take us in the future is exciting. The idea of a voice controlled flatscreen Apple TV is very cool and deeper integration into newer devices is of course inevitable. But trying to get it working on older Apple kit will only wind up with users frustrated as core features become slow. For me, it comes down to this simple maxim: if you want Siri, buy an iPhone 4S.
Via MacRumors
