Siri, turn on Modern Family: Apple TV may get voice support

Apple may bring Siri to the next generation Apple TV.

A snippet of code inside iOS 7.1’s software development kit suggests that Apple’s voice control agent may make the jump to Apple TV, reports 9to5Mac. First uncovered by iOS developer Pierre Blazquez, the code shows three platforms compatible with Siri.

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Apple documentation shows that ‘1’ represents the iPhone, and ‘2’ the iPad. Elsewhere, Apple has used ‘3’ for Apple TV.

Bringing voice control to Apple TV makes a lot of sense for Apple, which competes with the voice-compatible Roku and Amazon’s new Fire TV in the living room. Amazon touts voice search as one of the Fire TV’s best features — and indeed, it’s one of the box’s primary advantages over Apple TV.

It’s unlikely that Apple will bring Siri to the current generation of Apple TV devices, which don’t include microphone input. While Apple could enable Apple TV voice control through iPhones and iPads, the company will possibly use Siri support as a way to distinguish the upcoming box from its predecessors.

There are references to a new Apple TV in iOS 7 software. As for what a new Apple TV could include, previous rumors point to such features as support for iOS games, an Apple TV-specific app store, a TV tuner that can pick up locally broadcasted TV stations, and an integrated Wi-Fi router.