Let Siri use iCloud to sync its machine learning data across all your Apple devices so you get an improved, uniform Siri experience, regardless of the iPhone, iPad, or Mac you use the voice assistant on.
iOS and macOS allow Siri to keep its “brain” in perfect sync across your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV devices in order to better personalize your queries. This handy feature is essential for offering a more seamless Siri experience tailored to your personal usage of the personal assistant across your devices.
By using iCloud to sync on-device machine learning data across your Apple devices, Siri combines knowledge of your behaviors with contextual data from every device you own. It helps Siri’s machine learning become smarter as it gets a more complete picture of you.
Siri data sync and your security
The ability for Siri to sync data via iCloud keeps your personal information as secure as it has ever been because your data is end-to-end encrypted as it travels between devices.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, at WWDC 2017 said:
“Siri understands context, your interests, and how you use your device. What Siri learns about you on device is kept synced across all of your devices and kept completely private, readable on all of your devices.”
Turn on Siri iCloud sync
You should follow these steps on every device where you want to permit Siri to use iCloud and enjoy a more seamless voice assistant experience.
On iOS
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and tap your name at the top.
- Tap iCloud.
- Tap See All next to Saved to iCloud.
- Turn on the switch next to Siri.
Siri will now sync machine learning data gathered on this device with iCloud.
Note: watchOS lacks this switch because Siri on Apple Watch already uses data from your paired iPhone. In other words, setting up Siri data syncing on an iPhone lets your Apple Watch take advantage of synchronized machine learning data from its paired iPhone. This is also true for Siri on Apple TV.
On macOS
- Open System Settings and click your Apple Account name from the top left.
- Select iCloud.
- Click See All or Show More Apps.
- Turn on the Siri switch and click Done.
Doing so lets Siri on this Mac take advantage of iCloud syncing to use machine learning data gathered from your other devices, along with any data accumulated on this device.
Other Siri tips: