The Tribune

APPLE is working to make its iPhone and other gadgets smarter, responding to competitors’ recent moves by building more artificial intelligence (AI) into its Siri digital assistant, photographs, maps and other online services.

At its annual software conference this week the tech giant announced new software features for the Apple Watch and Apple TV as well, while unveiling a new design for the Apple Music service. It’s also extending Apple Pay to the web, so users can pay for purchases made on their Mac computers using the fingerprint authorisation on their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Most of these new features will not arrive until the autumn.

Apple is taking a cautious approach to integrating AI into its online services. While Apple is opening its text messaging service to outside app-builders, for instance, Apple made no mention of adding the kind of intelligent programmes, or “chatbots”, that competitors are all rushing to build in.

Apple executives also stressed their efforts to safeguard users’ privacy even while providing recommendations and suggestions based on individual user information. The company says it’s committed to keeping most user data encrypted on individual iPhones or other devices, rather than uploading information to process on Apple’s servers.

Apple’s once-maligned Maps service, for example, will offer traffic information, location-based information for things like restaurants, and let users connect with outside apps to do things like make a reservation or call a car service.

Siri, its wisecracking digital assistant, will play a larger role in Apple’s products. On Monday, Apple announced that Siri will be coming to Mac desktop and laptop computers, where it can locate files and perform other feats. Siri will also gain new capabilities with Apple TV, where it will let you launch live TV viewing with voice command and search YouTube and the iTunes store for videos.

Perhaps more important, Apple is letting Siri work with applications made by other companies with the iOS 10 upgrade. The change will open up new ways for Siri to help iPhone owners get things done more quickly.

Outside developers are eager to work with Siri but the move has trade-offs for Apple. Experts say the changes could make Siri more useful to consumers and help Apple learn more about its users. But it could diminish use of Apple’s homegrown apps, such as Apple Music or Maps. To start, Siri will only work with certain kinds of outside apps, like messaging, payments or ride-hailing services.

An update to the iMessage app will rely on machines learning to automatically suggest appropriate emojis to place alongside texts. It will also show graphics and thumbnails of the information contained in a web link and automatically play online videos when opened by a recipient.

Apple’s photo app will also get smarter by adding the ability to analyse an individual’s photo library and group photos by people, locations or other subjects, automatically assembling them into albums and short movies. It’s similar to a feature that Google has offered users of its photo app, but with some new frills, like the ability to adjust the length of the album or select different kinds of theme music.

Other aesthetic changes include the messaging app letting users alter the size of the bubbles surrounding the text to help convey the feelings underlying the words. An expression of love might get a large bubble while a message of condolence might be shown in a very small one. The feature is similar to an upcoming Google messaging app called Allo.

Apple Music, which now has 15 million paying subscribers, is getting a new interface that is intended to be simpler and that will make it easier to find music you store on your phone, and not just tunes you can stream from the internet.

The retooled watch software, due in September, will include an “SOS” feature that will automatically call for help in emergencies. It will launch software apps faster than before, and will also bring fitness tracking to wheelchair-bound users and let all users share their exercise activities with others people.

BRANDON BAILEY

Associated Press