Google Assistant AI Could Soon Land On Apple’s iPhone
It has been over five years since Apple introduced Siri, which came baked into the iPhone 4S. Since that time, the idea of using a digital assistant has become popular in the mobile space with other players introducing their own digital assistants. One of them is Google. Android users have grown accustomed to using Google Assistant, and though the virtual assistant is primarily an Android tool, it may be making its way to iOS.
The notion of Google Assistant sitting alongside Siri on iPhone devices was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this past weekend. Google product management director Gummi Hafsteinsson hinted of the possibility of pairing the two, though also noted that there is not yet anything to announce in that regard.
"I think the general philosophy is that we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible," Hafsteinsson said.
He talked about the possibility of porting Google Assistant to other devices, including iPhones, after announcing that it would be available on Android Wear 2.0, Android TV, and Android Auto platforms. Those are all logical extensions that Google could easily deploy without too much trouble.
Getting Google Assistant on the iPhone might be a little trickier. It's highly unlikely that Apple would ship a future iPhone model with Google Assistant integrated into the mobile operating system the way Siri is, and instead it would have to be brought over through an iOS app. That could limit its functionality, as it would not have deep access to the kernel.
The level of interaction could also depend on the number of Google-developed apps a person users. For example, Google Assistant is already on the iPhone, at least technically—it's built into Allo, Google's new chat app.
Another interesting layer here is the potential to spark a AI war between Siri and Google Assistant. If Google does manage to make its digital assistant readily available on iPhones, it could prompt Apple to put more focus on improving Siri so that it remains the preferred choice among iPhone owners.
The notion of Google Assistant sitting alongside Siri on iPhone devices was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this past weekend. Google product management director Gummi Hafsteinsson hinted of the possibility of pairing the two, though also noted that there is not yet anything to announce in that regard.
"I think the general philosophy is that we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible," Hafsteinsson said.
He talked about the possibility of porting Google Assistant to other devices, including iPhones, after announcing that it would be available on Android Wear 2.0, Android TV, and Android Auto platforms. Those are all logical extensions that Google could easily deploy without too much trouble.
Getting Google Assistant on the iPhone might be a little trickier. It's highly unlikely that Apple would ship a future iPhone model with Google Assistant integrated into the mobile operating system the way Siri is, and instead it would have to be brought over through an iOS app. That could limit its functionality, as it would not have deep access to the kernel.
The level of interaction could also depend on the number of Google-developed apps a person users. For example, Google Assistant is already on the iPhone, at least technically—it's built into Allo, Google's new chat app.
Another interesting layer here is the potential to spark a AI war between Siri and Google Assistant. If Google does manage to make its digital assistant readily available on iPhones, it could prompt Apple to put more focus on improving Siri so that it remains the preferred choice among iPhone owners.
