Siri Mac Support Teased in New Apple Patent

Siri has become a staple on iOS devices, but soon it could be coming Mac to give OS X users the same conveniences, according to a new patent application.

OS X already has a nifty dictation feature where you can talk out and loud and your Mac will convert it to text. However, it could be getting an overhaul in a future update to OS X, as a new patent application from Apple reveals that the company is at least looking into Siri support for Mac.

The patent, which is called “Intelligent digital assistant in a desktop environment,” shows off a software technology that essentially is Siri for Mac and provides OS X users with many more features than just the barebones dictation that comes with OS X currently.

AppleInsider has a variety of screenshots of the patent in action, but essentially, the patent application shows that Siri icon would sit in the OS X dock and would be accessible with just a click of the mouse button. Users could then speak commands and even still use the handy dictation feature for talking out text. In one example, users would be able to drop files or folders onto the Siri dock icon and follow that up with a command such as “Sort by date” or “Sort by location.”

Essentially, Siri for Mac would make for a great virtual assistant on the larger machine. It has plenty of use on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad, but we’ve always wondered what’s been taking so long for Apple to bring Siri to OS X. It’s possible that we could see Siri for Mac arrive in a later update to OS X Yosemite, but that is still yet to be seen. However, we wouldn’t be surprised to see such a thing, as OS X Yosemite is a huge towards seamlessly integrating OS X and iOS together.

OS X 10.10 Yosemite was announced and unveiled back in early June during Apple’s annual WWDC developers conference where the company showed off a slew of features that users can expect out of the new operating system come later this fall.

This new version of OS X comes with some pretty sweet features, including an all-new look and feel that finally puts OS X on par with iOS 7, thanks to the translucent windows and menus, as well as a flatter design overall, with redesigned icons that mimic iOS 7 icons, but still include some depth so that there’s still a bit of that classic OS X feel.

Furthermore, OS X 10.10 Yosemite also comes improvements made to Messages, including the ability to send and receive SMS text messages (rather than just iMessages), as well as make and receive phone calls as long as your iPhone is nearby and can connect to your Mac.

OS X Yosemite also includes Handoff, which is a feature of AirDrop that finally adds cross-platform support between iOS and OS X, allowing users to send files through AirDrop to either iOS or Mac computers.

One of the first things that Apple touted on stage with the new OS X 10.10 Yosemite was the look of the new icons. They’ve obviously been iOS-ified and include a flatter design that we’ve seen on the iPhone and iPad, but they still have a bit of depth in order to keep the design from going completely iOS.

Windows are also a lot flatter and less bubbly than we’ve seen with past versions of OS X, and navigation menus (as well as title bars of applications) are also a been transparent, similar to different elements in iOS 7, like bringing up Control Center.