With the arrival of iOS 14.5 Apple has introduced a new function that allows us to define the default streaming service that we want to use when we request music from Siri. A simple change that facilitates interaction with the assistant of those who don’t use Apple Music or Podcasts as their primary service.
Hey Siri, play The Talks of Applesfera
When we discovered this function several weeks ago, in the version betas, everything seemed to indicate that we could choose one service or another in the app preferences Settings, but the truth is that the operation of the system is different. The implementation of the default streaming service relies on Siri learning to learn from our habits and offer us the content of the service we want without even having to ask for it.
Thus, if we usually request that certain podcast programs of a specific app be played, Siri will learn from this choice and will respect it in the future. In addition, the assistant may occasionally ask us what service we want to use, which will also be a learning point to adapt to our customs.
With the apps installed on our device Siri will learn which apps we use for each content. No configuration, no options, just using the wizard.
Exposed the inner workings of this customization, let’s see how to make Siri play the content using various streaming services. Before starting it is essential that we have, on our iPhone or iPad, installed the apps of the different services we want to use. Once this is done, the steps are simple:
- We ask Siri to play some content, for example with “Hey Siri, play Enya”.
- We touch or say the name of the service that we want to use from the list of all those that we have installed and that Siri shows us.
- If requested, we confirm that Siri can access the data in that app.
Nothing more. With this Siri will learn what content we want to reproduce from which platform and will respect this choice. Let us remember, however, that if at any given moment we want use a specific service just say its name in the request, “Hey Siri, play The Applesfera Talks in Overcast”, so that the assistant does exactly that.
Siri needs fewer and fewer prompts to meet our demands. The truth is that the days when we had to use specific words for the assistant to understand us are long gone. Now Siri takes care of making memories for us with our photos, predicts the words we will use in a text and, of course, knows what streaming service we want to use. What will be next?