Siri AI’s new voice customization could have trumped Alexa+, but scant Home OS updates stall the win for Apple | Tech Radar
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Siri AI’s new voice customization could have trumped Alexa+, but scant Home OS updates stall the win for Apple
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As another WWDC keynote comes to a close, plenty of exciting new software is coming soon to an Apple device near you. None looms so large as the extensively discussed new Siri AI, which dominated most of the presentation; finally, Apple's digital assistant can keep pace with the competition, with a new look in the Dynamic Island, an app, as well as vast improvements to tools like Visual Intelligence.
Largely, Siri AI's newly boosted skillset owes to Apple enlisting the help of Google's Gemini AI models to bolster its own Apple Intelligence models, but amidst the flashy demonstrations, there was one feature that could make Siri AI my go-to voice assistant, and it's all to do with expressiveness.
Currently, I use Alexa+ around my home, but in my heart, I've always been a Home Pod girlie. For two years, my Home Pod mini was my go-to smart home hub, but continued frustrations with its poor user experience and lacklustre automations gradually saw me seeking greener pastures in Alexa's more user-friendly setup.
Since then, I've upgraded to Alexa+, and I've broadly made good use of the benefits that arise with Natural Language Processing; the experience is far more conversational, and it's a whole lot easier to get what you want out of Amazon's voice assistant.
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Alexa+'s interesting control of the English language — or, more specifically, its delivery — isn't quite enough to put me off the service entirely, but it's definitely a source of a fair few laughs in my home.
Whether it's the hyper-enthusiastic, nasal, and abruptly loud "OKAY!" when executing a command or the multiple personalities it cycles through when delivering a longer response, Alexa+ has faced a fair amount of criticism for its uncanny voice delivery.
Now, while we only heard a snippet of Siri's speech patterns during the WWDC keynote, there's one new feature coming to Siri AI that could just turn the tide for my AI usage, and that's the ability to tweak the smart assistant's voice; you can choose between five voices and then tweak the pace and expressivity — yes, that's a word, and no, it shouldn't be.
For those of us who don't need a hypeman whenever they have a query, this is a delightful level of control — provided it actually works in practice.
The downside is that Home OS, the Home Pod's operating system, seems to practically be vaporware at this point, with next-to-no major updates announced as part of WWDC 2026. The Home app was mentioned, sure; grouped event notifications are nice, and searchable AI-generated summaries for security camera footage will come in handy for many a user.
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Improvements to Shortcuts are nice-to-have, too, allowing users to speak automations into existence with natural language prompts — I've long bemoaned the terrible UI and limited IFTTT functionality in Shortcuts, so I won't sniff at this particular upgrade.
Simply read the update history for Home Pod, and you'll catch my drift even if you haven't been using Apple's best smart speaker; the last meaningful update came with Home OS 26, when Apple added support for crossfade with Apple Music and Air Play. Before that was December 2024, when Apple quietly added improved natural language search to Apple Music.
While there's still a small chance some news will crop up this week for Home OS, the outlook is dire. I'm unsurprised, in some capacity, because Home Pod hardware is dragging ever further behind the rest of Apple's powerful devices. The Home Pod (2nd generation) uses the S7 chip, which is the same one used in Apple Watch 7. Given that device isn’t on the watch OS 27 compatibility list, it's hard to imagine we'll see any existing Home Pods getting in on the Siri AI action.
Perhaps a major announcement for Siri AI on Home OS would have given too much away; we've been waiting for Apple's Home Pod Hub smart display and new Home Pod Mini 2 for years at this point, and while signs presently point to a Fall 2026 release, we also heard such rumors last year... and the year before. And, if memory serves, the year before that.
Still, it's hard to imagine Apple taking precious time out of its September event, which is typically i Phone-first, to talk about new Home Pod hardware and software, so I'm struggling a little to predict when exactly Home OS will have its day in court. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later, or my Home Kit compatible smart home devices will continue collecting dust.
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Josephine Watson is Tech Radar's Managing Editor - Social & Engagement. Josephine is an award-winning (PPA 30 under 30 2024), NCTJ-trained journalist. Having previously written on a variety of topics, from pop culture to gaming and even the energy industry, she joined Tech Radar to support general site management. She is a smart home nerd, champion of Tech Radar's sustainability efforts as well and an advocate for internet safety and education. She has used her position to fight for progressive approaches towards diversity and inclusion, mental health, and neurodiversity in corporate settings. Generally, you'll find her fiddling with her smart home setup, watching Disney movies, playing on her Switch, or rewatching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings... again.
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