Article: [How To] Using a Combination of Software to Mimic Siri Functionality

[Anthony Bouchard]

Did you know that you can use a combination of Siri0us, Spotlight, and Google similarly to Siri?

*DISCLAIMER* This isn't a guide on installing Siri on your iPhone 4. More details below.

There was a jailbreak application in Cydia not too long ago for free, dubbed Siri0us. The awesome developer behind this cool little application is Eric Day. Siri0us uses the official iPhone 4S Siri GUI, but it uses Nuance to recognize your voice and put it into text on the iPhone's screen. Unfortunately, Eric Day seems to have removed Siri0us from Cydia. It probably has to do with copyright issues. Since it has been removed, there is no shame in posting the link to the old repo; here it is:



Modmyi writer, Akshay Masand, reported on Siri0us and what it does, as well as how to get it for yourself yesterday.

This article is just to bring to your attention a concept of software combinations that can be used to achieve similar functionality to the real thing. This article isn't meant to re-introduce the software to you as we introduced it to you yesterday.

Since it has been released, if0rce's servers have been crashing on and off; probably due to heavy traffic from people wanting to download it, but that's not for sure. If you were one of the lucky ones who were lucky enough to install it (like me) then you might be reluctant to hear that you can psychologically fool yourself into thinking that you have Siri just by using a wicked awesome combination of Siri0us, Spotlight, and Google. While Siri0us is only dictation, and does not talk back to you, you can still intelligently ask your iPhone questions, and spotlight will do the rest for you. If you want to learn more about what I mean, check out this cool video that I made:



So, while Siri0us will not talk back to you, or anything that Siri will do, you can still use it, Apple's Spotlight, and Google to closely mimic the functionality of Siri. The things you can ask are limited, but I was able to ask for weather, ask for math problems, and even ask what time it was and receive accurate answers from the Google search that was invoked using Spotlight, which was controlled by Siri0us. This is a cool little work-around, but it will never replace Siri.

If you really want Siri0us, even though it's been removed from the repo, I know you can find it somewhere. Unfortunately, that's all the information I can give you. Tech-savvy people will have no problem figuring it out.

What do you guys think about this clever little workaround that I found? Let me know in the comments below!

[onaireves]

if only they made an interface and a tweak so that you would not have to push search the web and so it would look like siri

[Anthony Bouchard]

if only they made an interface and a tweak so that you would not have to push search the web and so it would look like siri

Siri actually does look like that on the iPhone 4S. The dictation does (When you talk and it types what you talk). That is what will come up when you press the microphone button on the keyboard on the iPhone 4S.

There are actually 2 parts to Siri. There is Siri dictation (which this jailbreak application is built off of using Nuance instead of Siri) which can be accessed by tapping the keyboard microphone key, and there is the Siri mainframe which can be accessed anywhere by holding the home button (this is the one you were referring to I think).

[mortopher]

What is the point of this article? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I just don't see what new information is provided that wasn't in Akshay's article yesterday.

[Anthony Bouchard]

What is the point of this article? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I just don't see what new information is provided that wasn't in Akshay's article yesterday.

The whole video that I just spent an hour making, was not in Akshay's article yesterday. This article is about the concept that you can use Siri0us and a combination of Google and Spotlight to mimic the functionality of Siri. Akshay's article was about introducing Siri0us to you for the first time. In this article we go more into depth with a video demonstration.

[ggab]

Is there a way to block Anthony's "stories" from appearing on the homepage?

[sziklassy]

I don't understand everyone's problem with this article. This is competely different than the speach to text article that was posted yesterday. It adds different functionality and is, well, just different. Why is it that all comments on all articles are the same people ********? I admit, some stories are very one-sided, and it gets on my nerves how anti-android some writers are. But this has NONE OF THAT. If you all think it's so bad, just leave. Seriously, your input is neither helpful nor necessary.

[deefruben]

Siri0us wont work for me.. wtf.

[iZangetsu]

Is there a way to block Anthony's "stories" from appearing on the homepage?

Oh leave him alone. Let him do what he wants, which is more than what your doing. If you don't have any interest in the article, you have the choice not to read it. His name and avatar is at the top of the headline so you can avoid it. Keep it up Anthony!

[PHARMIE]

Oh leave him alone. Let him do what he wants, which is more than what your doing. If you don't have any interest in the article, you have the choice not to read it. His name and avatar is at the top of the headline so you can avoid it. Keep it up Anthony!

He's just trollin...

[jobran]

keep it up Anthony, there are few reports that the tweak can affect battery life. did you notice any battery life issue with this tweak ? i'm considering to install it.thanks

[Atari800]

Siri0us wont work for me.. wtf.

It doesn't work on iPads

I use Siri0us for speech to text where needed, but "Voice Actions" is pretty close to Siri functionality

[metaserph]

I don't have any battery issues with Siri0us. iP4 iOS5

[DnBKiD521]

Isn't there a tweak in Cydia that will automatically use spotlight to pull up search results from google? Anyone know what I'm talking about? What's the name of it?

[Anthony Bouchard]

keep it up Anthony, there are few reports that the tweak can affect battery life. did you notice any battery life issue with this tweak ? i'm considering to install it.thanks

I go to sleep at 100% and wake up 12 hours later at 92%. I don't think it affects the battery that much. That's not a lot of power for 12 hours.

[landon418]

Wish it worked on iOS 4.1 ;(

[kos_maverik]

UPDATE: Eric Day removed Siri0us from Cydia due to legal reasons He'll reupload it again when he solves those problems.!

[Anthony Bouchard]

UPDATE: Eric Day removed Siri0us from Cydia due to legal reasons He'll reupload it again when he solves those problems.!

It's not a legal reason. It was removed because Nuance didn't want to power Siri0us.

[bencjedi]

It's not a legal reason. It was removed because Nuance didn't want to power Siri0us.

Will Siri0us stop working if you already installed it? Can Nuance differentiate a request made through an iPhone 4S from an iPhone 4 in the voice package bit it sends to translate the speech to text (presumably at Nuance)?