iPhone 4S Voice Assistant Siri Gets Fully Ported to Previous Generation iOS Devices

About a few weeks after the iPhone 4S was announced, hackers have tried to fully jailbreak the new smartphone and to also port the new voice assistant system, Siri, to previous generation iOS devices.

Troughton-Smith was the first person to port Siri to the iPhone 4, but the system was not functional since it required authentication with Apple servers, only the user interface was working.

 Smith and Grant Paul, another hacker based in San Francisco, have now confirmed that they’ve found a workaround to the server-side authentication issue, in the processes being the first to fully port Siri to the previous generation iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G.

The hackers say more versions are being developed to support other iOS devices, like the iPad.

Smith also said Siri would not be available for download on unapproved app stores, like in Cydia, citing legal issues.

Exact details on how Siri was successfully ported have not been disclosed, but it was revealed that a token from a jailbroken iPhone 4S was required for Siri to work on other iOS devices, meaning although the port works, even if it were released it wouldn’t be any good for public release as a iPhone 4S token is still required for authentication with the current method. But, that is not to say the jailbreak community won’t find a workaround and later package the necessary files and make them available free of charge through a third-party Cydia repository, illegally.

When asked in an interview by 9to5mac how long it took Smith to find a workaround, he said, “It literally took no longer than 10 minutes to put all the pieces in place and perform our first test on my iPhone 4 [jailbroken], and it was an instant success.”

Thanks to Siri exclusivity, a new dual-core A5 processor, a full HD 1080p camera, availability with more carriers, among other features, iPhone 4S sales have been better than expected, selling more than four million units in the first weekend alone, according to Apple.