You can now control WhatsApp with Apple’s Siri, opens up to 3rd party developers

Batsirai Chikadaya Avatar

Apple released its Operating System update the iOS 10 today and with it many improvements and shortcomings.

The update was only made available for iPhone 5 users and above, Apple has essentially stopped supporting the iPhone 4 range and anything below, signalling time for an overdue upgrade.

The update is about 1,1GB and requires your device to have at least 60% battery.

The update to iOS came with many surprises, so far, my biggest highlight has been Siri opening up to third party developers, it is now able to send messages and make calls on WhatsApp!

Apple seems to be evolving into a more open and welcome ecosystem with this move, never would I image the late Steve Jobs allowing developers access to Siri, but times change and consumer demands with it.

WhatsApp conveniently released a new update for its app today, optimizing its settings for use with iOS 10.

Siri guides you through the process step by step, from the message you want to send to who you want to connect with, and will confirm everything at the end even recognizing names of people and group chats along the way. 

To activate this feature go to Settings-> Siri-> App Support-> Activate on “Whatsapp”

I also recommend you enable “Hey Siri” in the Siri menu, where all you need to do is say Hey Siri and it starts up, only your voice can activate Siri on your phone.

From there all you have to do is say “Hey Siri, text Nigel on WhatsApp”.

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It will then ask you what you want to say to your contact.

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After that you simply tell it your message, and its voice-to-text will input it.siri-whatsapp-2After this all you have to say is send a voila, its…

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Other updates to WhatsApp on iOS include being able to answer voice calls right from your lock screen, as if it were a standard phone call, a widget to let you jump to recent chats or see unread messages and if you’re forwarding messages, the app now lets you send multiple chats simultaneously, and chats you frequently contact now appear automatically.

It was long rumored before the update that Siri would be opened up to developers allowing them to connect their apps directly to it. 

The concept behind this was allowing users to  leverage the powerful voice assistant for their favorite third-party apps and not limit its use to just the default Apple apps. 

 

 

2 comments

  1. tipa

    You need to improve on your headlines…….and maybe go for a ‘little extra training’

  2. #BossMajor

    All i have seen here on this site are negative comments (majority of them), if its constructive criticism, damn, then the way its expressed just feels wrong.

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