Siri

Siri is a voice assistant feature found in the iPad (3rd generation), iPad mini, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (5th generation) and their successors. Siri has been present since iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S.

A legal port to older devices has been completed by @stroughtonsmith with the help of chpwn, and is available in Cydia as Spire. Spire is only compatible with iOS 5.0.1. There are other ports which are compatible with more iOS versions (iOS 5.1.1 through 7.x), but not all of them are reliable. Ports are not needed as of iOS 8 though as all compatible devices support Siri.

From iOS 6, Siri is supported by iPad (3rd generation) and newer, iPhone 4S and newer, iPod touch (5th generation) and newer, and with all generations of iPad mini.

Filesystem

Location	Type	Comments	iOS Version
			5.x	6.x	7.x	8.x	9.x	10.x
/Applications/Preferences.app/*.lproj/*Assistant.strings	Localization file	Localization for Siri preferences.	Yes				No
/Applications/Preferences.app/5.0~General Assistant.plist	PList File Format	Siri settings injection file.	Yes		No
/Applications/Preferences.app/5.0~Passcode Lock Assistant.plist	PList File Format	Siri Lockscreen settings injection file.	Yes				No
/Applications/Preferences.app/5.0~Restriction-Assistant.plist	PList File Format	Siri Restriction settings injection file.	Yes				No
/Applications/SiriViewService.app	Application	Siri interface.	No		Yes			No
/Applications/Siri.app	Application	Siri interface.	No					Yes
/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/AssistantUI.axbundle	Bundle	Siri Accessibility plugin.	Yes		No		Yes
/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/Assistant-SBPlugin.axbundle	Bundle	Siri Accessibility plugin.	No			Yes
/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/AXExtraExtras.axbundle	Bundle	Siri Accessibility plugin.	Yes		No
/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/*-Assistant.axbundle	Bundle	Siri Accessibility plugins.	Yes
/System/Library/Assistant	System Folder	Contains most Siri plugins or functionality resources.	Yes
/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/Assistant*	PNG or ARTWORK file	Siri images and ARTWORK file for iOS 5	Yes	No
/System/Library/DataClassMigrators/Siri.migrator	Migrator bundle	Siri preferences after upgrading iOS/restoring an older backup.	No	Yes
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreMotion.framework/Support/EarGesture_Prototypes_Siri_X.dat	System File	Some resources for Apple EarPod with Remote and Mic used with Siri activation.	No			Yes
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.assistantd.plist	Daemon	Handling communication between Siri (also Dictation) and Apple Server.	Yes
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.assistant_service.plist	Daemon	Handling Siri plugins or trivial stuffs.	Yes
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.assistant.analyzer.plist	Daemon	Siri logging.	5.1+	Yes		No
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AssistantServices.framework	Framework	Resources for Mic sound, Location settings icon and the daemons.	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AssistantUI.framework	Framework	Resources for Siri UI.	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Preferences.framework/*.lproj/AssistantShared.strings	Localization file	Localization for "About Siri And Privacy" section.	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PreferencesUI.framework/5.0~Passcode Lock Assistant.plist	PList File Format	Siri Lockscreen settings injection file.	No				Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PreferencesUI.framework/5.0~Restrictions-Assistant.plist	PList File Format	Siri Restriction settings injection file.	No				Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PreferencesUI.framework/*.lproj/*Assistant.strings	Localization file	Localization for Siri preferences.	Yes				No	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SAObjects.framework	Framework	Resources for Siri objects.	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriClientFlow.framework	Framework	Siri client flow framework.	No					Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriCore.framework	Framework	Siri core framework.	No					Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriTasks.framework	Framework	Resources for Siri's operations.	No			8.2+	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriUI.framework	Framework	Resources for Siri UI/Artwork for iOS 7+	No		Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SiriUICore.framework	Framework	Core resources for Siri UI	No			8.2+	Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/VoiceTrigger.framework	Framework	Resources for "Hey Siri" feature	No			Yes
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/VoiceTriggerUI.framework	Framework	UI-based Resources for "Hey Siri" feature	No					Yes
/System/Library/PreferenceBundles/Assistant.bundle	Preference Bundle	Siri settings.	Yes
/System/Library/SpringBoardPlugins/Assistant.uibundle	SpringBoard Plugin	Mainly handling Siri UI in iOS 6, unusual for iOS 7+	No	Yes
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/AssistantUEA.plugin	System Plugin	Siri logging.	Yes

Installation (iOS 5 - 7)

In iOS 5 and 6, additional keys in the capabilities section of /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/XXXAP.plist would be added to enable Siri:

<key>assistant</key>
<true/>
<key>siri-gesture</key> // Raise to speak, activate Siri when you raise your phone to ear (iOS 6)
<true/>

Since the Model definition file is move along in iOS 7, in a DeviceTree instead. MobileSubstrate Hooking is required in order to inject these capabilities. (MGGetBoolAnswer(CFSTR("assistant")) for example)

The installation of Siri (its filesystems) on other devices requires access to the iPhone 4S or supported devices filesystem, to copy over the files above to a jailbroken device running the same iOS version, with correct files permissions. The Siri capabilities are added as above, and the device is rebooted.

For iOS 5, the stock assistant images from the iPhone 4S are only available in Retina size. On non-Retina devices (iPad, iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS), interface features may look different and the theme Siri Graphics for iPhone 3GS and iPad in Cydia needs to be installed.

Installing on iPad models running iOS 5 causes buggy interface, because the system usually forces the assistant window as full-screen. In this case, you have to manually edit the images to fix. Differently on iOS 6, assistant images are available both in Retina and non-Retina devices (for iPad mini), so you could copy the non-Retina images or artwork file from the non-Retina jailbroken devices.

One last thing you have to do is dyld_shared_cache injection, according to stroughtonsmith 's tweet. Because some of Siri binaries are there, without them mean Siri won't work.

• Copying /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.dyld/dyld_shared_cache_armv7 from Siri-capable devices.

• Placing it in some directory in your target devices, take note for the location.

• Editing /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.SpringBoard.plist using some good text editor, by adding these section:

<key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
<dict>
    <key>DYLD_SHARED_REGION</key>
    <string>private</string>
    <key>DYLD_SHARED_CACHE_DIR</key>
    <string>THE FULL LOCATION OF YOUR DYLD SHARED CACHE HERE (FOR EXAMPLE: /var/mobile/folder_with_dyld_shared_cache_inside)</string>
    <key>DYLD_SHARED_CACHE_DONT_VALIDATE</key>
    <string>1</string>
</dict>

For iOS 6 and 7, both com.apple.backboardd and com.apple.assistant_service deamon must be injected the code too.

• The cache we inject is commonly from Apple A5 devices, so the system won't be able to find the compatible graphics driver binary for Apple A4 devices and causes massive slowdown and animation lag if the target devices aren't iPad 2 or iPad (3rd generation) (A5 devices) as they use the same driver. You can find the A4 Graphics driver named "IMGSGX535GLDriver" from Xcode-inside location: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS[THE iOS VERSION NUMBER].sdk/System/Library/Extensions/IMGSGX535GLDriver.bundle/IMGSGX535GLDriver and place into your target devices at /System/Library/Extensions/IMGSGX535GLDriver.bundle directory. This method seems to be impossible for iOS 7 however, as the SDK no longer included the graphic binary.

• Save it and reboot the devices to take effect. Wrong cache location causes infinite SpringBoard crashing.

Purpose for iOS 5 devices

• Add missing binary at /System/Library/Assistant/UIPlugins/SpringBoard.assistantUIBundle/SpringBoard

Purpose for iOS 6 devices

• Add missing framework binary at /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AssistantUI.framework/AssistantUI

Purpose for iOS 7 devices

• Add missing framework binary at /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AssistantUI.framework/AssistantUI (Applied to SiriViewService.app and SpringBoard)

Changing Server

Holding down the home button for a second should activate the Siri tray at the bottom of the screen (iPhone, iPod and iPad running iOS 5), or at the area close to home button on screen (iPad running iOS 6+), but saying anything will make it say it can't connect because the server rejects any query from these unsupported devices. This is due to the device requiring an identifier that the Siri servers generate every 24 hours for Siri-capable iDevices. SiriProxy can overcome this if you have access to those capable iDevices.

The server that Siri sends its data through can be changed in a number of ways. The most reliable method is to use a DNS server, as demonstrated by plamoni.

An easier approach is to edit the com.apple.assistant.plist file in the device's /var/mobile/Library/Preferences folder. It can be changed either on a jailbroken device with iFile, or via an iPhone backup reading utility. The hostname string simply needs to be replaced with the URL of your SiriProxy (i.e. your computer's IP address). This method could also allow for your SiriProxy to work outside of your Wi-Fi network, if you set up forwarding for port 443 to your computer in your router, and use your external IP address. However, some routers don't do port forwarding inside of their network, so you would need to change this setting yourself when you arrive or leave home. A static IP or dynamic DNS address (such as one from Dyn) is recommended.

The /etc/hosts file on a jailbroken device can also be modified. This can also be used externally, like the above method, though domain redirects are disallowed in host files, so a static IP is required. For instance, if you have a server which has the IP 192.168.1.5, enter this on a new line:

192.168.1.5 guzzoni.apple.com

Make sure there is at least one blank line at the very end of the file, or this will fail.

Bypassing Authentication

It's possible to trick the server that you are using Siri-capable device, without any use of Siri proxy. By faking device model that the system would include as a "header" to send to Apple server (method -[ADAceConnection _startConnection] does that), as could be achieved this way: SiriAuthFix.

References

• stroughtonsmith
• iP1neapple
• SiriProxy repo
• Siri Port FAQ

See Also

• Siri Protocol