Two words may become commonplace in the next few months — App Intents from Apple. It is a way to allow artificial intelligence to bring together complex actions at the request of the user. The user puts forward his intentions and App Intents can deduce the same before looking at the tools it has to complete the task. The feature can be transformative in the way Siri works, making it a hands-free controller of the iPhone.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg talks about the technology in his Power On newsletter: “If Apple nails this, it’s not just a nice ease-of-use upgrade — it’s the fulfillment of the vision Siri promised nearly 15 years ago. And it’s the key to Apple’s next hardware developments.”
App Intents is a framework that lets developers extend their app’s discoverability, visibility and capabilities across the system, and on all Apple platforms. It’s an ecosystem that enables an app’s functionality to expand across the system. It lets you offer users customised results in Spotlight, context-aware experiences for the Action Button on Apple Watch, configurability and interactivity in widgets, easy-to-access controls in Control Centre, and also custom actions for Apple Pencil Pro.
The possibilities are endless, and it may make Apple devices go the voice-first way. Think of a situation: The kids want a thick tomato sauce spaghetti recipe with meatballs on Friday evening. Instead of you having to spend hours going through recipes, the user asks Siri to find a better-than-average recipe that takes into account all dietary preferences.
On Friday evening, Siri reminds you that spaghetti and meatballs need to be cooked around 7pm and, with your permission, places an order for the ingredients at a store that falls on your way home from the office. You collect the items and return home to begin cooking.
The App Intents framework can offer rich experiences to customers. The Bloomberg report mentions that the feature may ship alongside a broader Siri infrastructure overhaul in the spring, and Apple will market it heavily. Apple is reportedly testing the feature with third-party apps like Uber, AllTrails, Threads, Temu, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, and a few games, besides Apple’s own apps. The company may exclude banking and other sensitive services for the time being. If successful, Apple’s ecosystem may have a voice-first approach.
It all starts with the actions your app can perform, such as opening a note, starting a workout, or adding items to a grocery list. When you create an “intent”, you offer the system additional information to properly perform an action. Think of it, you can use the framework on your Apple Watch, AirPods, and whatnot… these devices can become the next hands-free AI offerings.
