Latest iOS 17 Beta Adds Support for Bilingual Siri Queries Mixing English With Hindi and Other Indic Languages

Apple yesterday released its first set of public betas for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, and these versions add new features for Indian users across platforms, including support for bilingual queries to Siri.

iOS 17 Public Beta Thumb 3
According to TechCrunch, users will be able to ask queries to ‌Siri‌ by mixing English with select Indic languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada, and Marathi.

India-based users often speak a mix of languages in daily conversations, so the ability to mix English with Hindi and other Indic languages when querying ‌Siri‌ will be broadly welcomed.

TechCrunch also highlights some other improvements for Indian users, including:

  • Transliteration support on iOS for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. With this expansion, Apple now supports 10 indic languages.
  • Users can sign into Apple ID using their phone number instead of an email ID on ‌iOS 17‌, ‌iPadOS 17‌, and ‌macOS Sonoma‌.
  • A new built-in Punjabi dictionary to get definition of words and phrases across platforms.
  • Users will be able to see up to 2,000 calls in the call history section including Facetime and WhatsApp calls.
  • Filtering messages by known and unknown senders on iPad.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the ‌iOS 17‌, ‌iPadOS 17‌, and ‌macOS Sonoma‌ updates now. Developers have had three betas so far, and the first public betas offer the same content as the third developer betas.

Apple is expected to release final stable versions of ‌iOS 17‌, ‌iPadOS 17‌, and ‌macOS Sonoma‌ later in the fall.

Related Roundups: iOS 17, iPadOS 17
Tag: India
Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
22 weeks ago
The F, why is this only available for such "unique" languages. I have been complaining about this for YEARS. My iPhone is set to German but when I receive messages in Spanish or English, it becomes just gibberish. It's been working with the keyword forever but somehow Apple never made Siri smart enough to do the same.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nostaws Avatar
22 weeks ago
Can I mix other languages? Like English and Spanish - used on both sides of the border.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wildkraut Avatar
22 weeks ago

The F, why is this only available for such "unique" languages. I have been complaining about this for YEARS. My iPhone is set to German but when I receive messages in Spanish or English, it becomes just gibberish. It's been working with the keyword forever but somehow Apple never made Siri smart enough to do the same.
Same here… my iPhone is set to English, but i communicate in English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian. Apple’s multi-language support is catastrophic.

Eg. Siri can’t read in different languages. Apple navigation read german road names like a moron. The keyboard auto-correction and suggestions works only with two languages, and is not very reliable, too.


Apple is 10 years behind Google at this.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
22 weeks ago
I would be super cool to have this feature with more combination of languages, such as English and Spanish, or English and German.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wildkraut Avatar
22 weeks ago
Many countries use multiple languages to communicate, this is nothing new. Apple is living in a cave. Google knows it better, it supports multilingual requests, text reading and message replies.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Steven.Knight Avatar
22 weeks ago
As many others, I’d like to use my iPhone with multiple languages, but I can’t. Since I live in Italy, I had to set it up in Italian, otherwise maps app would read Italian roads with English pronunciation, which is rubbish. Besides, I’ve got an Apple Music subscription and Siri just can’t understand what I’m saying, for it expects me to have a Super Mario’s style pronounce… and that’s ridiculous.. my pronunciation is more like Luigi’s!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

ios stolen device protection

iOS 17.3 Beta Adds New Stolen Device Protection Feature to iPhone

Tuesday December 12, 2023 10:20 am PST by
The first iOS 17.3 beta rolling out to developers today includes a new "Stolen Device Protection" feature that is designed to add an additional layer of security in the event someone has stolen your iPhone and also obtained the device's passcode. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen reported about instances of thieves spying on a victim's iPhone...
iOS 17

33 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 17.2

Tuesday December 12, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Apple has made available for download its major end-of-year iPhone software update, iOS 17.2, featuring a large number of features and changes that users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 33 new things that your iPhone can do once you've installed the update. Check Settings ➝ General ➝ Software Update on your device to get downloading. 1. Help You Keep a Daily ...
iPhone 16 Mock Back 1

iPhone 16 Early Prototypes: What Apple's Next-Generation iPhone Will Look Like

Tuesday December 12, 2023 3:07 pm PST by
With the launch of the iPhone 15, Apple introduced design changes like a curved frame and a frosted glass back. Information acquired by MacRumors suggests that Apple's next-generation iPhone 16 will build on these updates with modifications to the buttons and the camera layout. We have details on early pre-production designs for the iPhone 16, including a look at the variants and hardware...
CarPlay Phone Call

GM Says It's Nixing CarPlay to Make Drivers Safer

Tuesday December 12, 2023 1:47 pm PST by
Earlier this year, General Motors (GM) announced plans to phase out Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto in its future electric vehicles, with the company instead relying on an infotainment system co-developed with Google. This has not been a popular decision with iPhone users, and today, GM provided some additional insight into the decision in a discussion with MotorTrend. According to Tim...
iPhone 16 Side Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Rumored to Have These 12 New Features

Monday December 11, 2023 10:46 am PST by
While the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are still over nine months away from launching, there are already several rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped new features and changes expected for the devices so far. These are some of the key changes rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models as of December 2023:Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped...
Apple TV 2022 Feature Blue

Apple Releases tvOS 17.2 With Revamped Apple TV App

Monday December 11, 2023 9:58 am PST by
Apple today released tvOS 17.2, the second major update to the tvOS 17 operating system that came out in September 2023. tvOS 17.2 comes more than a month after tvOS 17.1, an update that expanded the availability of the Enhanced Dialogue feature. tvOS 17.2 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Go to System > Software Update to get the new software. ‌Apple TV‌...
maxresdefault

Top Five Features in macOS Sonoma 14.2

Wednesday December 13, 2023 3:21 pm PST by
When Apple releases new software, iOS updates tend to get most of the attention, and there are sometimes useful new features in Mac updates that go under the radar. That's the case with macOS Sonoma 14.2. It doesn't have flashy features like the Journal app that came in iOS 17.2, but there are a number of useful improvements that make it worth installing. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube ...