Why Siri is simply no longer needed

In 2011, Apple introduced Siri, its intelligent assistant that responds to users by audibly answering their questions. Siri launched with the iPhone 4S alongside the release of iOS 5. At the time, Siri was among the first iterations of voice assistant technology on smartphones, and since its release, several more have been developed. With so many other voice-controlled assistants and AI tools available in our lives today, Siri may be a tool of the past.

Siri is only available on Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. These days, you’ll find a similar smart assistant on almost every phone brand available, such as Google Gemini, Bixby, and Amazon Alexa. Each allows users to verbally ask a question or make a request for the smart assistant to look up the answer. The assistant will then provide the voice or text response, and it can also search a website and make a phone call on the user’s behalf. The writing has been on the wall for some time for Gemini to replace Siri on iPhones, but with so many AI tools and intelligent systems available, the future only looks bleaker for Siri.

In a recent update, Apple confirmed that Siri is powered by Google’s Gemini. So with Apple and Google now teaming up on updated Siri AI, there’s even less reason to use Siri. Gemini, in itself, is not limited to a single platform, brand or phone, and can be used on any smartphone, including Apple products. The same goes for AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot. With the ease of access to AI apps today, users can download one to their phone and ask it questions, either verbally or via SMS, which they then respond to audibly or via SMS.

The original Siri isn’t as optimized or intelligent as current tools. It took until 2026 for Apple to upgrade Siri to Siri AI, and by then, users had already found their favorite assistant to use for searching or discovering information. Gemini was able to control smart devices, respond to texts, make calls, and pretty much everything Apple’s Siri can do before the update, and it has the tools capable of performing tasks you’ll be glad you never have to do again.

Siri can be useful as software for Apple owners, but it has some problems. Since it’s been around for 15 years, users have had their share of issues with the smart assistant, and they’ve taken to online forums to vent their frustrations. This has led many people to replace Siri with other voice assistant apps.

Those who have used Siri say it can be difficult to get the assistant to hear commands. They would have to repeat the requests several times for Siri to understand what was being said. Another tested the ability of apps like Siri to respond to inquiries. Siri may not be as good as Gemini or even Bixby at subsequent prompts, and it may not fully understand what is being asked.

Apple has used other software outside of its new partnership with Google to help with its Apple CarPlay feature, which now supports third-party AI chatbots including Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. Apple’s update to Siri AI shows it’s looking toward the future, but it may be too little, too late compared to other voice assistants.