Quick answer: No, Android phones do not support Siri. Siri, similar to apps like iMessage, is exclusive to the Apple ecosystem. The best alternative available on Android phones is Google Assistant.
Despite what reservations you may have about Apple, there’s no denying that the iPhone offers unmatched integration, fluidity, and useful features that are dead simple. One popular feature that most iOS devices offer is the inclusion of Siri. It is one slice of the digital assistant market, a sector that has been booming over the past few years.
What was once thought of as absurd and impractical has now become commonplace in the daily lives of users trying to make calls, send texts, set reminders, attain information, and automate in a general sense.
At this time, Siri is exclusive to the Apple ecosystem. This means those using Android phones (Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, OnePlus, and so forth) will not be able to use the feature. Unlike various exclusive Android features, there is no unofficial APK (Android Package Kit) for Siri.
Why is Siri absent on Android?
Apple thrives on its exclusive suite of features and products, and making something so integral to its growing AI division wouldn’t make sense from a business perspective. The evolution also benefits the growth of Apple’s catalog of services and products.
What is the Android version of Siri?
The Android version of Siri for the most recent version of the OS (Android 11) is Google Assistant. It is available for most Android phones and is arguably better than Apple’s efforts in the digital assistant space. This is largely due to Google’s immense amount of data driven by search and industry leading AI division.
As per Google, the official requirements for Assistant are:
- A phone or tablet with Google Play Services
- 720p or higher screen resolution
- Android 5+ device with more than 1 GB of RAM
- Android 6+ device with 1.5 GB of RAM
Like Siri, Google Assistant is a highly capable digital assistant and can help you perform tasks, manage your life, send texts, search the internet, make calls, take control of your smart devices, and utilize apps more efficiently.
Google’s digital assistant is currently available in Android phones, cars with Android Auto, TVs with Android TV, select laptops using Chrome OS, select smart displays, and smartwatches running Wear OS. Unfortunately, Google Assistant does not integrate natively with Windows 10 or macOS devices.
Some official Google products that feature and integrate well with Assistant include:
- Google Nest Mini
- Google Home
- Google Home Max
- Nest Hub
- Nest Hub Max
- Pixel Slate
While it’s certainly a bummer that one of Apple’s most beloved features isn’t entirely open, the good news is that Google Assistant remains one of, if not the, best AI driven assistants on the market. Apple has also recently driven down the price of entry for iOS exclusive features with the new iPhone SE.
As more and more Android manufacturers edge closer to the $1000 mark, iPhones are no longer as comparitively expensive as they once were. The base iPhone 11 comes in at $699 and if rumors are anything to go by, this trend looks as if it will continue.
With the launch of the iPhone 12 lineup right around the corner, there has never been a better time to consider the switch to iOS among the sea of inflated Android pricing.
Lover of games, tech, nature, and strange electronic music. Shaped by Sega, PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox – platform agnostic ever since. Currently overwhelmed by choice on my Xbox Series X thanks to Game Pass.