Apple has been granted a patent that hints Siri could be added to iMessage within iOS 11
As discovered in a patent filing approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office originally submitted by Apple early last year, it appears that Siri within iMessage could be unveiled at WWDC in June. The patent details a “messaging environment” to communicate with and command Siri. The patent, “Intelligent Automated Assistant in a Messaging Environment,” specifically describes a conversational-type view in interacting with an assistant, meaning we soon could be seeing a Siri button within the iMessage chat screen.
Given the timing, it’s more than likely that the new iMessage integrated Siri could be unveiled within iOS 11 at WWDC, available to iOS 11 beta testers shortly after the media event and then to the public alongside the official launch of iOS 11 in September.
The iMessage integration will reportedly let Siri act based on conversations. Talking about watching a movie might prompt Siri within iMessage to suggest local movie theatres, movie times and pricing.
It’s starting to sound as if Siri will take centre stage at WWDC this year, with reports claiming Apple will introduce an all new bezel-free 10.9-inch iPad Pro and an Amazon Echo-like AI ‘Siri Speaker’ device that will perform similarly to Siri on iOS, allowing users to voice command the system to perform a range of tasks from controlling their home automation devices to asking for information and receiving voice feedback.