iOS 17: How to Choose Which App Siri Uses to Send a Message

[MacRumors]

In iOS 17, Siri has learned a few more useful features worth knowing about. One is the ability to use Siri to send messages to friends and family over compatible third-party apps. Keep reading to learn how it's done.

When you ask ‌Siri‌ to send a message in iOS 17, you can now tap to select which app on your iPhone that you want to send it from. This allows you to send messages not just from Apple's built-in Messages app, but also third-party apps like Telegram and WhatsApp.

The feature is compatible with any third-party app whose settings include the "Use with Ask ‌Siri‌" option. To check if an app has the option, or to enable/disable it, follow these steps.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Scroll down to the apps list and tap the app in question.
4. Toggle the switch next to Use with Ask Siri.

• When Will iOS 17 Be Released?

If "Use with Ask Siri" is enabled for a particular app, you can manually choose it each time you ask the voice assistant to send a message. Here's how.

1. Activate Siri by saying "Hey Siri" or just "Siri," or by pressing and holding the Side button on your iPhone until the Siri orb appears on the screen.
2. Ask Siri to send a message to one of your contacts.
3. In the message card that appears at the top of the screen, tap the Messages icon next to the person's name.
4. Tap another compatible messaging app in the dropdown to select it.
5. Type your message in the input field, then tap Send.

There's nothing more to it. ‌In iOS 17, Siri‌ is also able to recognize and respond to multiple back-to-back requests without needing to be reactivated.

• Will My iPhone Run iOS 17?

You can, for example, ask ‌Siri‌ to tell you the time, and then follow that up with a request to text your friend that you're going to be late all in the same ‌Siri‌ request. For more details on what's new for Siri in iOS 17, check out our dedicated guide.

Article Link: iOS 17: How to Choose Which App Siri Uses to Send a Message

 

[NightFox]

Maybe I missed something, but it seems a bit pointless being able to ask Siri to do something if you've then got to tap away at the screen to do it. Does it not support 'Siri, send John Smith a message on WhatsApp'?

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

Me Speaking: Siri, send my messages to WhatsApp!
Siri Speaking: What's an app? 😏

 

[Gnomeo86]

The whole point of using Siri is that you can do stuff without holding your phone, e.g., in the car. Therefore it would seem from this article that this new drop-down menu is totally useless.

However, I just tried it out and surprise – when I asked Siri to send a message to my partner, Siri said something like "It seems that you usually use WhatsApp to send messages to X, so I'll use that app." Nice change

 

[AndiG]

DMA is around the corner!

It'll be interesting to see how Apple will implement sideloading and third-party app stores (among other things). Will it be limited to the EU? What about the US? When (not if) will the US follow suit?

 

[apples_arrogance]

Test on iPadOS 17.0 (21A5326a) trying to use Monal (XMPP) to send a message:

Me: Message Michael
Siri: Hmm, it looks like you haven't set up iMessage yet

Maybe iMessage is a requirement to use "Send Message" with Siri? Pretty sure this needs work on developers side which is fair. Would be nice to see adoption of this new feature.

 

[nt5672]

People really use Siri?

 

[repoman016]

People really use Siri?

lol I thought the same thing. The only time I ever use it is to set a random alarm if im taking a nap or cooking. Otherwise anytime I ask it something it just says "here's what we found on the web" and I might as well have just searched it from the beginning

 

[SmegFirk1]

Aside from changing the message app being used, I'm not sure what's new about this. For a while now, maybe iOS 14 or 15, you have been able to send a message via WhatsApp for example. "Hey Siri, send a whatsapp message to [contact name]". I was also able to get it to send messages to whatsapp groups. I just created a new contact in the phone and gave it the same name as the whatsapp group. It doesn't need any other information, just the name.

 

[coolfactor]

People really use Siri?

Yes, many do. You're missing out, my friend! 😀

 

[nt5672]

Yes, many do. You're missing out, my friend! 😀

Don't think so, my wife tried to use Siri in the car today and it kept getting confused. Took multiple tries just to send a text message hands free. It was very distracting to her driving, let alone the words Siri didn't like.

 

[svish]

Good article. But hopefully Siri gets better in the future