Siri Apple iPhone 4 hack gets Apple server support

Apple disappointed many iPhone 4 owners with the news that Siri, the digital personal assistant technology, would only be available on the new Apple iPhone 4S, and efforts quickly began to hack Siri onto the older smartphone. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith got the local app running with no problems, but faced Apple’s servers refusing to play ball with anything but the newest iPhone. Now, with the judicious application of some validation tokens from an Apple iPhone 4S, it’s possible to get Siri on the iPhone 4 and iPod touch up and running, even without official support from Apple itself.

“It does require files from an Apple iPhone 4S which aren’t ours to distribute, and it also requires a validation token from the Apple iPhone 4S  that has to be pulled live from a jailbroken Apple iPhone 4S, and it’s about a 20-step process right now” Steve Troughton-Smith, developer

Still, you shouldn’t expect to see a public release of this particular Siri hack any time soon, at least from its original developer. Troughton-Smith told 9 to 5 Mac that he viewed it as a proof of concept more than anything else, to demonstrate that the iPhone 4′s single-core processor was up to the task of running Siri and that, in short, Apple’s decision to limit it to the Apple iPhone 4S  was one of product positioning.

Siri on iPhone 4:
Meanwhile, a second video has already demonstrated Siri running on the iPod touch, though in this case there are some hardware limitations. That’s around the iPod’s microphone, however, which is less sensitive than that of the iPhone 4/4S: Siri demands a strong, clear voice if it’s going to pick up any commands. No word on whether it’ll run on the iPad yet, though the local app has already been demonstrated as functional on Apple’s tablet.

Siri on iPod touch:
Siri is expected to be Apple’s primary strategy with the oft-rumored Apple television, with the latest rumors suggesting Steve Jobs envisioned a voice-controlled HDTV running iOS and using the intelligent spoken command system to bypass the traditional remote. More on Siri in our full Apple iPhone 4S review.

Related Posts