The Echo Dot especially has been met with praise from just about everyone that uses it. 9to5Toys named it the product of the year for 2016 and it was one of the top gift items during the holiday season.

If anything, the success of Echo should prove to Apple that there really is a market for standalone speakers with integrated virtual assistants.

Earlier this year, Ben Lovejoy asked if Apple really needs to make a Siri Speaker or just improve Siri. My belief is that it should do both: announce a host of Siri improvements and a new Siri Speaker to go along with those improvements.

As Apple develops its own Siri Speaker, it should look towards the smash success that the Echo devices, specifically the Dot, for inspiration.

Software & third-party app integration

Much of the success of Apple’s Siri Speaker will depend on the improvements the company brings to Siri. Alexa offers deep integration with third-party apps such as smart home services like Nest, ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft, and much more.

Apple, of course, introduced support for third-party app integration with iOS 10, but it’s not as solid as Alexa’s support. SiriKit is limited to six types of apps, and while the categories cover the vast majority of tasks you’ll want to complete with a virtual assistant, there’s room for growth.

  • Ride-booking
  • Messaging
  • Photo Search
  • Payments
  • VoIP calling
  • Workouts

Siri is also limited in tasks like weather and music. Siri doesn’t support Spotify, which makes sense considering Apple Music, but that limitation shuts millions of users out. Even integration with the iOS Music app is wonky. Have multiple versions of the same song? Don’t expect Siri to be able to decipher which you ask it to play.

Siri also will only tell you weather from the built-in iOS Weather app. Again, this makes sense considering Apple’s tendency to push its first-party services, but support for apps like Dark Sky would be welcome. Imagine being able to set it up so that your Siri Speaker could use Dark Sky’s prediction features to vocally remind you 15 minutes before expected rain or other inclement weather.

Seth Weintraub made of the best cases for Alexa over on 9to5Toys, noting some of the most simple commands for Alexa that are just not as easy with Siri:

One area that Siri can really shine, however, is HomeKit. Apple’s intensified focus on HomeKit with the new Home app in iOS 10 will allow for it to bring all sorts of capabilities to Siri Speaker. Need to adjust the temperature of your thermostat? Just tell Siri. Need to apply the “Netflix and Chill” scene? Just tell Siri.

  • Request rides from Uber and Lyft
  • Order Pizza from Dominoes/Papa John’s
  • Change my Nest, Ecobee and Honeywell thermostat temperature
  • Ordered a compatible garage door opener

Our morning conversation, before I even open my eyes in the morning is:

In addition to third-party app improvements, Siri also needs to become a truly hands-free virtual assistant to make sense in a standalone speaker. In many cases, telling Siri to do something prompts a return question that requires action on the user’s part. Again, this isn’t something that makes sense for a standalone speaker. This could ultimately be solved by making Siri more conversational than it is now.

A few things I could imagine routinely asking my Siri Speaker:

Nevertheless, while Siri has improved thanks to third-party app integration and other factors, it still has plenty of room to grow and much can be learned from Alexa.

Design

As it has shown time and time again, most recently with AirPods, Apple isn’t a fan of physical buttons. Seeing that the Siri Speaker will rely entirely on Siri for control, putting physical buttons on the device itself just doesn’t make logistical sense. I’m not necessarily saying that’s the correct choice, but I’m willing to bet that’s how Apple sees things.

Price

Now, Apple has never been a company to compete in terms of price. The fourth-gen Apple TV is evidence of that, coming in at more than most other set-top boxes on the market.

The Siri Speaker likely won’t change that, but I think ti will come in for less than the Apple TV, but more than the Echo Dot. It’s hard to predict Apple product pricing, but somewhere around $100 seems like a sweet spot.

Wrap-up

The success of the Siri Speaker truly hinges on Siri itself and that’s something I hope Apple realizes. There are plenty of areas of the Echo from which Apple can take inspiration, but also areas where it needs to provide its “magic touch” so-to-speak.

What does the Siri Speaker have to offer to get you to buy? Let us know down in the comments.