Siri On Device

[Boeingfan]

May I ask a question about Siri and what on-device means?

I recently upgraded to the i16PM with iOS 18, and had the impression that Siri was now primarily on-device which would mean an internet connection would no longer be required for basic requests.

My home area has very light and patchy mobile network coverage, and so driving to town takes me in and out of reception.

Last week I asked Siri to, "Shuffle playlist 80's favourites", and she replied with, "You'll need to be online to do that."

Am I misunderstanding what on-device means?

Cheers.

 

[BigBlur]

Only some things can be done on-device, like creating a reminder, setting an alarm, opening apps, etc. I'm not aware of any official list of what she can/can't do.

I find it comical that even basic math questions still require an internet connection. She's unable to do "one plus one" on her own. How hard can it be to translate that to "1+1" and run it through the calculator app?

 

[FlyingDutch]

Only some things can be done on-device, like creating a reminder, setting an alarm, opening apps, etc. I'm not aware of any official list of what she can/can't do.

I find it comical that even basic math questions still require an internet connection. She's unable to do "one plus one" on her own. How hard can it be to translate that to "1+1" and run it through the calculator app?

Google Assistant cannot even set a reminder offline…

 

[FlyingDutch]

May I ask a question about Siri and what on-device means?

I recently upgraded to the i16PM with iOS 18, and had the impression that Siri was now primarily on-device which would mean an internet connection would no longer be required for basic requests.

My home area has very light and patchy mobile network coverage, and so driving to town takes me in and out of reception.

Last week I asked Siri to, "Shuffle playlist 80's favourites", and she replied with, "You'll need to be online to do that."

Am I misunderstanding what on-device means?

Cheers.

Most of Siri’s core activities are on device since iOS 15, mainly for privacy reasons.
What you can do offline is:

• Set and change timers
• Set and change alarms
• Turn many settings from Airplane Mode to Bluetooth, on and off
• Turn volume up or down
• Open any installed app
• Skip to the next track in Music

It could seem a little, but it is stille better than alternatives.
Unfortunately to play a specific track — even a downloaded one — Siri has to understand what title or artist you're asking for. As well as phonetically parsing your sentence, or whatever Apple's servers do, it presumably then looks up a list of tracks to match what you're after So there are several limitations in using Siri offline.
Being on device for Apple means to protect your privacy better, not to provide a comprehensive service in offline mode.