How to get Siri to default to third-party chat app?

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How to get Siri to default to third-party chat app?

I have a contact with whom I exchange hundreds of messages every day on Telegram. I've never used iMessage a single time in my life. And yet, if I ask Siri to "Send a message to X", it will always pick iMessage unless I explicitly request the name of the app. How do I change this behavior, so that Siri defaults to using Telegram instead of iMessage?

The internet is full of fluff pieces about how Apple supposedly added this feature in some previous version of iOS (14? 15?) after getting hit by EU and US antitrust litigation for this ****, and yet as of iOS 16 Siri still seems to be doing the wrong thing. Am I missing some super secret setting somewhere?

Edit: I tried deleting X's phone number from the contact just to see what would happen, and now Siri has the guts to just complain that "I don't have a phone number or iMessage address saved for X".... rather than just picking the literal single sole messenger that this contact has saved. Words cannot describe the amount of stupidity at play here.

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 12:46 PM

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Answer 1

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deggie

Level 10

167,537 points

Oct 15, 2022 1:02 PM in response to haasn

I've never heard anything about Siri defaulting to iMessage being discussed as an antitrust issue in the EU or the US. Apple does allow setting a different browser as the default and some other apps but I haven't seen anything that allows a default messaging app nor getting Siri to default to it.

If you want this tell Apple by going here -> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Or switch phones and go with one that runs android. Apple keeps restrictions tight due to concern about security, android isn't as worried about that.

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Answer 2

haasn Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2022 11:39 PM in response to deggie

I'm referring to e.g.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/art https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/02/siri-messaging-phone-apps-software-update/

Right now, when iPhone users ask Siri to call or message a friend, the system defaults to Apple’s Phone or iMessage apps. If you want to use WhatsApp or Skype, you have to specifically say that. When the software refresh kicks in, Siri will default to the apps that people use frequently to communicate with their contacts. For example, if an iPhone user always messages another person via WhatsApp, Siri will automatically launch WhatsApp, rather than iMessage.

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/02/siri-messaging-phone-apps-software-update/

Specifically, the update will enable Siri to default to the messaging app that a person uses most frequently to communicate with a given contact. For example, if an iPhone user almost always messages a friend via WhatsApp, Siri will automatically use WhatsApp rather than Apple's own iMessage.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/2/20894806/siri-apple-third-party-messaging-apps-whatsapp-imessage-calls

Back in May, there were reports that the EU was preparing to launch an antitrust investigation after Spotify complained that Apple uses its App Store to stifle innovation and limit consumer choice. Apple is facing similar regulatory scrutiny in the US.

Clearly there seems to have been some quite strong claim of change here. And yet nothing. So what happened to this? Is it all smoke and mirrors, the features promised in 2019 never hitting live, the antitrust investigations fizzling into nothing?

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