For the most part, we’ve been equating Siri on iOS with Cortana on Windows Phone and Google Now on Android, but the stark reality is that all three of these digital assistants offer slightly different functionality. Siri might be great for looking up the weather or answering your trivia-infused questions, but she (it?) can’t proactively predict the information you might want the same way that Google Now does. That could be changing with the upcoming iOS 9 update, as Apple could be introducing a new feature called Proactive.

With Google Now, you get presented with “cards” that display information you might want to have. You get warned about traffic congestion for your daily commute before you even head out the door, for instance, or you get reminded of the dentist appointment you have later today, reminding you that you should leave by 2 o’clock if you want to arrive on time. Siri doesn’t do that, but Proactive might.

The key here is that Proactive will tap into multiple data sources on your iPhone, spidering its way through Siri, Contacts, Calendar, Apple Maps, Passbook and even third party apps to glean the information it needs to be proactively helpful to you. Stepping even further, it can present an augmented reality interface with Apple Maps to display relevant points of interest. If it recognizes you are always visiting taco trucks, it’ll show you where is the nearest taco truck. That just makes sense. Just remember to get a napkin.

Chances are that iOS 9, along with the new Proactive feature, will make its debut on the upcoming iPhone 6s and maybe the oft-rumored iPhone 6c too.

Via 9to5Mac and BGR

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