When Apple started rolling out ads for the iPhone 4S one of the more noticeable new features was the introduction of Siri, your very own pint-sized virtual assistant. I have to admit, I was excited, very excited. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the iPhone 4S, the mere thought of asking my iPhone to tell me how to get to the train station was enough to make me drool.
Imagine my disappointment when the first requested I made, which was “Where is the closest hardware store?” was answered with “Sorry, I can only look for businesses in the United States and when you are using U.S. English”. Unfortunately, living in Australia has truly tainted my Siri experience due to the fact that only the United States are supported. And as a result, I have found myself hardly using the feature at all. Well that is until now. A fantastic Tweak has been developed by Zaid Elkurdi @Javik90 and is available for Jailbroken iPhones via the Cydia Store. The International Locations for Siri Tweak works with the AssistantExtention Framework which is free of charge and supports non U.S. based countries with location-based searches.
Once the Siri Jailbreak tweak has been downloaded it must be run through the AssistantExtentionChatbox by entering the voice command ‘let’s chat’. You will only need to do this once and as soon as you have the Siri Location Tweak will take over and you will be able to use Siri to her full potential. Questions such as “Where is the closest hardware store?”will be answered with a well designed table which slots right into Siri’s original screen. You will have access to the business name, street name and even the distance from your current location. Better yet, the developer has even worked out a way to use the iPhone’s default maps App to display routes and locations. All you need to do is tap on the search result you want and it will automatically launch the map App showing you exactly where your destination is, and the quickest route there.
Conclusion
If you are anything like me, and love Apples virtual assistant feature, but live outside the United States, this is the Siri Location Tweak for you. All you need is iOS 5.0 or above and a Jailbroken Siri capable device, then you can download the Siri Tweak from theBigBoss repository for $0.99. Please note, if you do not already have AssistantExtentionthis will be installed on your device during the download.