Apple, the tech giant never fails to disappoint its customers with new innovative and feature-rich products. But the company is not new to controversies either. With the launch of a new feature in iOS 14.5 beta, it was anticipated that the customers are in for an excellent user experience. It was too good to be true. But unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.
Last month, Apple introduced a new feature in the beta version of iOS 14.5, allowing users to set third-party music or a podcasting app for default Siri voice commands. But the users didn’t know how it worked. It did not let the users ask which app they wish to open audio with. There was no menu available to select the app as well.
To address the issue, Apple reached out to the media to clarify the feature and its function. According to the sources, the feature was not actually designed to set the default app for Siri.
Apple also confirmed that there is no specific option in iOS to set a default music app, as compared to email or other browsing apps. It was only meant to help users to select the app for Siri to make it learn what kind of music users tend to listen to.
Also, the feature helps Siri in bringing out the best user experience for you by allowing it to play the right music for you according to your search history. Maybe you like to visit YouTube fortunes and use Google for podcasts. This preference helps Siri to know what kind of content you want to check out at different times and situations.
It holds true for different music genres in the same way like probably, you would like to listen to tech house on any other music app, but listen to Beyoncé or BTS on Apple Music.
This preference helps Siri to comprehend what type of music or podcast you prefer to listen to, apps that you frequently use for the same purpose, thus helping Siri provide a better user experience to you (the user). The whole process is performed inside the device.
Although it is a minor clarification, it is important nonetheless given the legal scrutiny that Apple is under.
According to The Verge, a popular tech news website, iOS 14.5 beta feature was released in late February this year.
It gave its users an impression that they would be able to personalize and play Spotify and other music apps with several genres by default for Siri. After making the request, Siri would play the song from the selected app without asking for it again.